How are your gardens coping with the dry weather?

Oh, that's a nice postcard! Our reception area, if I am not mistaken, for newcomers to relax and getting used to the weather gradually.
Mount Heat, where I worked, is less touristy but way nicer though, without too much air conditioning, I highly recommend it for a stay!
Frankly, I do miss my old job quite a bit, weather aside. And my implements too, I was very proud of those and without them I felt quite lost and miserable for several years, after moving here.

But then I discovered gardening and this expats forum!
And Amazon too, my tools collection is growing again

 

I'm glad that I got 300 gallon water tank to take water from the greenhouses last year. I still use the hosepipe and the outside tap, but the tank certainly reduces mains usage.

 

That's a good point, it is common in Sardinia as well, which has a climate comparable to the driest parts of Portugal.
It might be a matter of specific varieties, as Pete mentioned.
Also, species in the wild in dry climates go through a ruthless genetic selection process. I have seen large plants seemingly growing out of tiny cracks in rocks, getting no rain for months while enduring 36C or more every day.
But they might be the descendants of hundreds generations of survivors producing thousands seeds every year, of which only a percentage makes it.
Then, at least in my place, even when people plant drought resistant varieties for hedges, and never water them, the grass and other plants in the garden get watered frequently enough. So some of that water ends up benefitting the hedges too.

 

I agree with you @Aldo. I think mine is the V tinus. Admittedly, I did water mine when it was small but not now that it is 4 meters tall and nearly as wide.

I am in Algarve so not as hot as the interior (Alentejo) but certainly warm enough. I am also on red clay.

When it was small in 2006 I did water it ...

 

I really dont mind paying for the water I use on the garden.

What does wrangle me is paying for the disposal of that water via the sewage works, when it doesn't go there.

 

Well I water the baskets and container plants every day, plus the borders with new plants in them. Back lawn I am putting sprinkler on twice a week - until we are banned ( soon ?). Front lawn I have given up on
Question, on lawns in dry/drought conditions is it best to leave grass long or to mow ( I never mow it very short) ?

 

Yes they said yesterday it was and they were surprised how quickly it changed, but they couldn't say that it was climate change because the jetstream can change quickly also.

 

Where does it go then?

 

Don't water the lawns but the bedding plants get watered when they've just been planted.

 

On the ground and then into the atmosphere, but they charge for disposal based on your usage.

 

It still has to go through the pipes?

 

I'm not sure how you pay your water bills, but we basically get two, one for supply and one for disposal.

The cost of the disposal is based on the supply minus a few percent.
At this time of the year I probably use more on the garden than I do in the house.
But I still have to pay for disposal on what I use on the garden.

 

@pete I got an external use water meter fitted about 10years ago. On the water that goes through that I only pay supply not disposal. Sewage rate is about 2* the supply rate per cubic metre.
I don't mind paying for what I use, but I like to minimise the cost though, hence the tank and water meter.
I just get one bill from SWW.

in my case what doesn't evaporate runs down the hill through the ground coming down to lakes at the bottom and out to sea as overflow.
In Lincolnshire there used to be a separate land drainage rate that paid for the maintenance of the pumping stations and drains that prevented flooding. I think it's all one these days.

 

Well, if anything that survives the drought its weeds. Nettles, maple saplings, bramble, are to name but a few. They are the most tenacious and ground hogging of all. I can cope with doing one bit at a time, then the rest of the day is rest. I cannot cope with the beggas.

 

Yes we do, but we had a water meter fitted because usually it's cheaper, but i don't know about this year, last year we did ok even though we did a lot of watering.