Leslie Patten - Gardening for a Dry California Future

Gardening for a Dry California Future

By

Leslie Patten

www.ecoscapes.net

www.thehumanfootprint.wordpress.com

Published by Far Cry Publishing

Cody, Wyoming

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2014 by Leslie Patten

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted without the express consent of the author.

All photos by Leslie Patten

First edition

Gardening for a Dry California Future

Table of Contents

Gardening for a Dry California

In a changing climate, water is fast becoming the new oil. Northern California serves the water needs for 2/3 of the state. Besides agriculture, much of our water goes to landscaping. With some planning and good design, you can still have a wonderful garden with very low water needs.

In my many years of designing for clients, Ive found that people think of gardens in an idyllic manner that is a throw back to some place from their childhood. Garden heaven is a utopia from everyones personal past, whether it be a hide-out at Grandmas, or watching your mother tend her flower garden. People also want to have a garden that reminds them of their home base; for instance, clients who come from the mid-West to live in California like to have lawns; or people from the east invariably ask for birch trees. These requests come from an unconscious longing that is akin to comfort foodand could be called comfort gardens. As a designer more than half my job is to educate clients about The West and what is appropriate to grow here.

California is part of the Westthe Far Westand is essentially a dry state. Much of California could be considered a dry climate, with minimal amounts of rainfall. Our native plants have adapted to two seasons rather than the well-known four season climate. These two seasonswet and dryare called Mediterranean and are found only in five locations around the world. The Mediterranean climate is found in the Mediterranean, of course, as well as Chile, South Africa, California, and Australia. So most of coastal California is quite unique in terms of climate and plant adaptations. In designing a low water garden, this is crucial knowledge, because not only can you use California native plants, but also supplement these other Mediterranean plants that have the same cultural needs.

Although we dont know exactly what climate change will bring in the future, some things are for sure. The West has always gone through dry periods, some of them lasting for hundreds of years. In the 12th and 13th centuries, the Anazasi were forced by severe drought to abandon their homelands in the Four Corners region and migrate southward into Mexico. Scientists are predicting that, at least in our near future, California will experience severe and long dry periods with rain coming in gully washers all at once. So much rain will make collection hard, with erosion and run off a certainty. The southwest United States will become drier and drier; the Rocky Mountain regions, where most of the Wests water originates, will lose their glaciers and have less snowpack. Water will for sure become a precious commodity. So conserving water in places like our man-made landscapes will be extremely important.

My eBook on design covers how to flush out what you want in terms of designing your garden. In this eBook Ill go over several different areas of low water garden needs. First, examine your property. Every property has microclimatesareas that are hotter, colder, wetter, or drier. Maybe you have a slope. At the top of the hill it might be sunny, and therefore hotter and drier. Water, including rainfall and irrigation, runs downhill and so plant material at the top of a hillside will have to be more drought tolerant. Yet at the bottom of a hillside, the water table is higher. Think about taking advantage of your topography for water needs when you lay out your garden design.

• Lawns Low water gardening doesnt mean you cant have a lawn. It means youll have to adjust your idea of what a lawn is and how it functions. If you want a large lawn where your family can play rough games such as football, then youll pay big water bills and must use a regular lawn seed like Kentucky blue grass. Of all types of landscape, conventional lawns use the most water. But in all my designing, I have found that couples with young children who think they want a lawn for their kids find out their children really dont use the lawn enough to justify a high-water type lawn. Theres always the local playground or school for that. But a smaller lawn with a low water sedge like Carex can be mowed and used just like a lawn, although for lighter uses. The dog will like it, you can play catch with the kids, and even have lawn parties. And the good news is once its grown in, you might only mow four times a year and water every 2nd or 3rd week in the summer, versus three times a week for a conventional lawn. I personally have tried many types of groundcover lawns and found that Carex pansa is the best, most reliable lawn. In the Addendum, I tell you how to plant a Carex pansa lawn.
  
  

• Proper zoning saves water Every yard is different, but almost all back yards have high use areas where people congregate--usually in a patio next to the house--as well as lower use areas such walkways, solitary sitting areas, or just general planting beds. Your entire yard doesnt have to be low water or xeriscape, it just has to be zoned properly. What I mean by that is plants with similar water needs should be planted together on the same irrigation zone. Irrigation timers are set to divide watering needs by zones. That way you can water one zone more than another. Grouping plants with similar water needs actually saves water. If you want showier plants, more luscious plants that flower for long periods, plant them around your patio and high traffic areas, and put them all on one irrigation zone. These areas are usually quite small. Plan your general, lower use areas with low water native and Mediterranean plants.
  
  

Another method is to plant your entire garden with low water plantsthese could be a succulent or desert environment for instancebut then use your patio areas for special plants in pots. Potted plants require their own irrigation valve, in other words, their own zone, which comes on daily for a few minutes. Potted plants have perfect drainage, yet need daily watering because they dry out so quickly. Almost any plant, low or high water, can be grown in a pot and watered daily. That is because of the perfect drainage. Believe it or not, even drought tolerant plants like Ceanothus can be grown in a pot and watered daily. This is because the critical factor for most drought tolerant plants is good drainage.

• Produce gardens What if you want a vegetable garden? Vegetable gardens are high water. They need watering daily, except in the winter. Winter is the best time in California to grow a garden (except if you live in the mountains of course). This is because our mild climate allows us to grow a wide variety of produce, especially leafy greens. And winter is when the rains come, and that cuts down on watering needs. Of course, we have winters where rain is sporadic and you will have irrigate your produce garden. But still, you will not have to water as much as you do in the summer.