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 Plants need water
Just like you, plants need water. There must be a constant supply because plants are like giant wicks. Water is sucked from the soil by roots, drawn up the stem and lost through the leaves.
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Your ‘soil moisture content’
The amount of water in the soil is influenced by:
- Local annual rainfall
- Time of year
- Soil type
- Aspect
- The water table - the point in the soil at which water drains away
- Shady or north facing corners often have damp soil
- Much of the rainfall tends to come from the south west. Easterly aspects, protected by the house, tend to be dry.
- South-facing beds, or those in the ‘rain shadow’ of a wall, tend to be dry.
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Plants have evolved to take advantage of variations in moisture content. So on wet soil you can plant a bog garden and grow moisture-loving plants; on free-draining soil you can create a gravel garden full of drought-tolerant species.
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