Blog

At Gerbert & Sons, Landscape and Irrigation we take our climate projections seriously. We have been in a moderate drought for a number of years and it has made us get creative with the lawn material we suggest to our customers. We have the advantage of learning ahead about the next seasons through our membership in Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA).

Drought Resistance is Possible

NOFA is dedicated to a vision of interconnected healthy communities living in ecological balance deeply rooted in a sense of place, grounded in organic care of the land. We fully support that with our Gerbert & Sons organic approach. When we are focused on the drought tolerance, we have options for our grasses, our ornamental grasses, our perennials and the  ground cover we choose.

Water Supply Issues

Before we get into specific materials, its good to talk about what long periods of drought can do to the water supply. It can affect the health, safety, and welfare of communities. We are focused on the streamflow, groundwater, reservoir, and snowpack. All this data is key to monitoring and forecasting water supply. If you talk with Jeff or John, they will give you an earful about everything they are doing to create a healthy outcome for your yard.

Let’s Talk Grasses

For drought-tolerant grass options in New England, consider tall fescue, fine fescue, blue fescue, and buffalograss. These grasses are known for their ability to withstand dry conditions and require less watering than other types. There are numerous ornamental grasses are affected by our hydrological drought. This is the prolonged period of low water levels in rivers, lakes, and groundwater. Groundwater recovery takes the longest to recover so we have a number of grasses to suggest to make it successfully through the summer. Ask about some various goldenrods, prairie dropseed, and beach grass.

Perennials and Ground Cover

Is you want some color, consider these drought-resistant plantings such as coneflowers, black-eyed Susans, yarrow, lavender, and blanket flowers. Two ground covers to consider is creeping thyme and moss phlox. These provide a lovely coverage and are great for rock gardens and slopes. Lastly, shrubs need water but some are both drought and salt tolerant and offer a real variety for your yard: Bayberry (smells great), Barberry (so many colors), Summersweet (fragrant white and pink flowers. Juniper or shrubby cinquefoil are two good shrubs and can be both drought and cold tolerant.

Monitoring

We could go on forever! We will leave it at monitoring. We are closely monitoring all our sources both locally and in the Northeast to building long-term drought resilience for all our customers. Enjoy the summer and let’s help you plant away!