Re: Mediterranean??
- To:
- Subject: Re: Mediterranean??
- From: M* &* L* D*
- Date: Sun, 25 Jun 2000 09:31:13 -0700
Concerning the use of irrigation in a "mediterranean" garden, I have a few
comments, although I personally have not come to a definite conclusion.
California typically has less summer rain than the European part of the
Mediterranean area. To quote Plant LIfe in the World's Mediterranean
Climates by P.R. Dallman:
"Throughout the Mediterranean Basin, summer is always the driest season. But
summers in the western Mediterranean, including the Iberian Peninsula,
southern France, and Italy, are not rainless. Late spring and/or early fall
are often wet. Consequently, plants do not have to endure six or more almost
completely dry months, as in much of California and central Chile."
I've seen tables in this book and other books that show how much drier
California is in the summer than the Mediterranean area (the European part).
So, I think it reasonable that a garden in California uses some irrigation.
There is not a single mediterranean-type climate. Although such a climate is
characterized by relatively dry summers and mild winters, just how dry the
summers are and how hot the summers are varies greatly and should influence
the amount of irrigation applied. So, the climate that the garden is in and
the climate of where the plant is from should be considered.
Although there hasn't been many studies on the effect of amount of summer
water on mediterranean plants, there has been some. The ones I'm familiar
with (for almond, olive, and fig trees) usually show that the plants respond
favorably to surprisingly large amounts of summer water. I know that almond
and fig trees can survive a long hot summer with no water applied, but they
grow better with some water.
It seems to me that a "true" (whatever that means) mediterranean garden
should have a feeling of dryness during summer, but can still have some
water (perhaps a lot in hot and dry areas of California) applied.
--Mark
Mark Doster
central San Joaquin Valley, California
