What Are Drought Tolerant or Drought Resistant Plants?

What is a drought tolerant plant? Drought tolerant plants are advertised many places and they are usually very beautiful plants. But why are these beautiful plants considered drought tolerant or drought resistant? Most drought resistant or drought tolerant plants grow roots that go deep into the soil, letting them get to moisture that is down deep in the soil. Because these plants grow roots that move deep through the soil searching for moisture, they do not require the gardener to water them as often.

Do these drought tolerant or drought resistant plants require different care than other plants, short of less water? Yes, these plants do require different care or they at least do require some care. These plants can not be taken straight from a pot, where they have spent their entire life with their roots all bunched up, and simply be planted into the garden plot and forgotten. No, they will have to have some care because they are not drought tolerant or resistant at this point in their lives because of the condition in which their roots have been in as they are bunched up in the pot and not allowed to grow deep and search for moisture as they would have had they been grown in the ground from the time they were a young seedling. These plants can take as long as two years from the time they were transplanted from their pot to their permanent home in the garden before they are drought resistant or drought tolerant and do not require much watering. In the mean time treat these plants as you would any other plant in the garden and water them often.

After about two years of growing time, you can begin to treat these plants as drought resistant or drought tolerant plants and begin weaning them off of the water they have been getting. At this point their roots should have had ample time to grow deep enough for them to find their own moisture deep in the soil.

If the gardener has some concern to the availability of water in the area where their garden is in the future, then drought resistant or drought tolerant plants may be the answer. But if this is the direction that the gardener chooses for their garden, then they must be aware of the time and money it will take to get their garden to the point that it can be considered a drought tolerant or drought resistant garden and will save on the water bill each month.