Drought may prompt gardeners to seek Mediterranean inspiration.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)

Will it ever end?

For the fifth straight summer, many Southern gardeners face a drought that turns their lawns brown, wilts their plants and makes their spirits droop.

With no forecast for its end, the drought could finally force some fresh thinking about the size of lawns and the selection and arrangement of plants in beds and landscapes.

Gardeners in some parts of the world, such as Italy and other Mediterranean countries, are accustomed to long stretches without rain during hot weather, yet have managed to create distinctive gardens and landscapes of beautiful trees, shrubs and flowers.

Borrowing ideas from such climates may be the thing to do as we move forward in a drier world.

The Piedmont Carolinas lost about one year's worth of rainfall since the drought began in July 1998. Last year's rainfall deficit was the worst on record, and this year's may be close to it. One-third of the contiguous 48 states, including North Carolina and South Carolina, are in severe to extreme drought, climate experts report.

The long stretch of dry, hot summers has some people thinking the Piedmont is approaching a more Mediterranean climate. Mike Bush, executive director of Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden in Belmont, draws some parallels and distinctions between the Piedmont and the Mediterranean.