All those amazing agave and aloe pups! And the miraculous senecio, echeveria or graptopetalum cuttings! They are so tempting to propagate to extend a bed or add interest elsewhere. After all, they’re offspring of plants you love in your garden. And they’re free! Not so fast. They take water. And space. Space in a new… Read More Fight the ‘freebies’ urge
Irrigation is crucial when it seldom rains, and drip (unlike spray) is an effective mechanism to keep plants healthy with minimal waste. But it has some downsides, and now in our 6th year of a drought and 3rd of rationing, a gardener can either get creative or crazed. Drip is just that – a drip… Read More Offset drip’s downsides
With a heavy heart, I have come to the conclusion that sedum is not suited for waterwise gardens. Those in my prior gardens, such as Autumn Joy in Vermont, flourished, but ones I planted in Southern California’s dry climate wasted money, water, and time. I failed miserably with 4 varieties – Sedum rupestre ‘Angelina’, lineare… Read More Now you sedum, now you don’t
Who would have thought waterwise gardening would at times take Holmesian sleuthing? Unexpected increase in a zone’s consumption, change in a plant’s health, or surface moistness are all signs of potential waste. Sometimes, the signs are oh-so-subtle. Take a case with 3 oddities that haunted me for 2 1/2 years: My hypersensitive nose smelled something… Read More Channel your inner Sherlock
In yet another dry summer in year 5 of a drought, I’m reminded how names influence perceptions and actions. Shakespeare’s Juliet argued “That which we call a rose / By any other name would smell as sweet.” Maybe for Romeo, but not for amorphous concepts to transform water-intensive landscapes. Take ‘drought-tolerant,’ the industry-standard coinage for… Read More What’s in a name?
As smoke from the Sherpa fire stings my eyes and planes loaded with fire-retardant fly overhead, an ah-ha moment struck. Firewise landscaping is lean, clean, and green. Hmm…that’s waterwise too. Five years of drought, 58 million dead and dying trees just in California, and hot and windy weather make a tinderbox. The more flammable the… Read More Firewise…is…waterwise
A new NASA and Mountain West study reveals that lawn is now 2% of the continental U.S. surface and America’s single largest irrigated crop. Gulp! That’s 40 million acres or 63,000 square miles of green carpet, dominating many regions’ residential water use. Removal, a top priority in dry climates, saves the most hands down. Second… Read More Reform lawn irrigation
How much to water dry-climate gardens can be a puzzle. The consensus for lawns, the poster child for waste, is 1″/week. Beyond generic groupings into low, moderate, or high water use, the answer for plants is less clear and can challenge long-standing practices. Let me wade into the morass with the Goldilocks principle. Applied to… Read More Too much, too little, just right?
Want to radically increase water effectiveness at no cost? Rather than run a zone for its total time, divide duration into 2 or 3 parts separated by a brief respite. This cycle and soak technique minimizes runoff and maximizes absorption. Since implementing it 2 years ago in my one-acre Southern California garden, it has proven… Read More Cycle and soak gardens
Now into the 5th year of a deep drought, California’s May 2016 suspension of urban water restrictions strains credulity. Given that El Niño did not materialize, climate change is unabated, and old habits die hard, reversing the course set only one year earlier seems premature. April 2015’s statewide mandatory reductions (coupled with surcharges, penalties, and… Read More 5 years and counting
Landscaping Water Wise 