| Wednesday What's New: California-Friendly Landscapes |
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| Written by Heleigh Bostwick Wednesday, 08 August 2012 | |||
 Many parts of the world--including the US--are suffering from prolonged heat waves and severe droughts, which is why using native plants and planting xeriscape or drought tolerant gardens is more necessary than ever--driving home the importance of "going native" and planting drought tolerant species. In some respects drought tolerant landscapes are much like "California-friendly landscapes" as one Orange County gardening columnist observed several years ago. According to her article on drought tolerant landscapes, gardens in Orange County for example, use about 70,000 gallons of water a year--in a location that has an annual precipitation rate of little more than 2 inches of rain. People tend to over water their gardens rather than underwater them, but you'd be surprised at how drought tolerant plants can be. Much of that water is wasted as well because it results in excessive runoff that disappears down the drain instead of being channeled into rain gardens. Lawns are the biggest water guzzlers so reducing the amount of turf and replacing it with native grasses and groundcovers is always of benefit in conserving water. Photo source: http://photos.ucdavis.edu |
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