!#7# Conserving Water This Summer In Your Yard

!±8± Conserving Water This Summer In Your Yard

Many state water districts estimate that homeowners use over 50% of their summer water for landscape irrigation. In light of global warming and drought, doesn't that make you feel a little guilty? It's time to end our long, luscious love affair with needy, thirsty plants. We all had a good time and have fond memories of those days spent in the hot August sun running around with the hose, all codependent! Yards that conserve water with drought tolerant or native plants are now all the rage.

My life-coach pal at CoachBetty.com always says, "It's time to change your perspective. Think out of the BOX!" It's time to shift our "backyard" mindset and "think out of the LAWN." Planting huge lawns and thirsty ornamentals is like driving a gas-guzzler and wearing pink leg-warmers. That's so 80's! Growing natives and drought tolerant groundcovers is like driving a hybrid and texting on your Strawberry-Chocolate cell phone.
OMG! DYGI? (Oh my God! Do you get it?)

Growing natives will provide you with a beautiful, low-maintenance landscape while lowering your water bill. It's probably too hot to actually do the transformation in your yard this month, but start designing a plan ready to rip and rock in the fall. In autumn you'll want to remove high maintenance plants that just aren't cutting it.

Questions to ask yourself:

Does the plant demand lots of water?

Is it needy and cranky in the summer heat?

(If yes, ask yourself why you attracted such a whiner.)

Did it bloom profusely and make you look like a horticultural wizard?

If not, it's time to do some plant tossing straight into the compost pile.

Before digging in new plants, work a good amount of organic matter(compost) into your soil and after you plant, cover the soil with mulch. Amended soil will retain more water than soil lacking organic matter. Amended soil is populated by micro and macro organisms that excrete nutrients and aerate your soil, allowing water to reach down to the roots.

Last month I attended an informative class at Suburban Habitat in Novato, Ca. led by Ryan Grisso, our Water Conservation Coordinator and landscape designer Matt Buchholz. I asked, "How can a dirt diva make her yard look spectacular in the hot summer sun with the least amount of mental and physical labor?" The answer is twofold: A diverse selection of native plants and a reliable, efficient timer controlling your drip system.

Buchholz recommends Ceanothus (California Lilac) and Archtostaphylos (Manzanita), two easy native shrubs. "Both are evergreen, yet require little water. Additionally, both plants can be found in a variety of forms from ground covers all the way to tree-like large shrubs. Ceanothus boasts lovely purple to blue flowers in the late spring or early summer that are enjoyed by bees & butterflies. Archtostaphylos is admired for its twisted, smooth, orange to mahogany colored trunks & branches, a true California classic."

Okay Buchholz, I understand the beauty of Ceanothus but Manzanita puts me to sleep. How about some color for us Type-A gardeners who want our backyards plants blooming and strutting like flamboyant rock stars?

I sensed he rolled his eyes, but we we're on the phone so I can't say for sure. Some perennials he suggests are Erigeron glaucus 'Cape Sebastian which' is a native replacement for the ubiquitous Santa Barbara daisy as well as many varieties of native Salvia, or Sage, such as Salvia Clevelandii, or Salvia 'Bee's Bliss'. Other colorful water wise natives to consider are Mimulus (Monkey Flower) varieties, Iris douglasiana and Fremontodendron (Flannel Bush), which requires almost no water and features nice structural form, fig-like leaves, and large yellow flowers. And for striking year-round blue-gray foliage color, plant groupings of Festuca idahoensis.

Replacing your lawn with a low-growing ground cover that requires less mowing, maintenance and water is the way of the future. If your lawn has light foot traffic, you may want to try these ground covers instead: Prunella incisa,Chamomile, Creeping thyme, Lippia, Scotch or Iris moss.

For more native plant information with photos, pick up a copy of California Native Plants for the Garden published by Cachuma Press In the meantime, remind you local nursery staff that "green is the new pink!" It's time to order a broad selection of native plants.

Grisso has some recommendations to conserve water this summer:

This will keep you from fainting when you see your summer water bill . . .

1.Reduce the run times on your irrigation system by lowering the minutes per cycle. (Reduce the run times by 2 minutes for every ten minutes set.)

2. Replace turf with low water use state natives, which once established, will adapt to grow in our climate with no watering in the summer.

3.Install drip irrigation with 1/2 gallon emitters and heavily mulch.

4.Irrigate between midnight and 6am to reduce water loss from evaporation and wind.

Visit Annie at dirtdiva.com and bring your friends!