Teri Dunn Chace - Low-Water Landscaping for Dummies

Low-Water Landscaping For Dummies

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2022949552

ISBN: 978-1-119-98580-8 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-119-98581-5 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-119-98583-9 (ebk)

1. Chapter 2
2. Chapter 3
3. Chapter 4
4. Chapter 5
5. Chapter 9
6. Chapter 10
7. Chapter 11
8. Chapter 14
9. Chapter 15
10. Chapter 16
11. Chapter 17
12. Chapter 18

There comes a day when you reckon with the state of your yard. Your lawn is turning brown and the other plantings look distressed. Meanwhile, your water bill creeps higher, and the news about low reservoirs and depleted aquifers grows more alarming. You look up at the blue, cloudless sky, you look down at the dry sights around you, and you wonder what to do.

This book is here to help you adapt to the reality of low water in your landscape. I assure you, you can act in many ways.

You can make all sorts of tangible changes, like taking steps to help your garden ground retain water better and to reduce runoff.

You can tackle a project as large as installing an in-ground irrigation system and as seemingly minor as planting some attractive native wildflowers in the part-day sheltering shade of a boulder or wall.

You can try clever innovations pioneered by gardeners who grow crops in arid regions, from using strategically placed clay pots or pipes to get water right into root zones to creating watering zones to positioning thirstier plants on the downhill side of a slope.

You can once and for all, no more dithering take out that scraggly lawn and not look back.

Its time to explore and install a whole new range of (yes, beautiful!) plants that are adapted to minimal water.

I promise you the results wont look barren and scrubby; the landscape will come alive as you shift your approach and change the ways you plant and maintain everything. Now its time to stop fretting, delve in, and do it. Soon youll be delighted with your yards new, improved look and proud and relieved that it was accomplished while consuming substantially less water.

Low-Water Landscaping For Dummies provides you a mixture of ideas, step-by-step instructions, and answers to practical questions like:

• How do I stop water from running off and away from my yard?
• Which dry-adapted plants are the most durable, most colorful, most long-blooming?
• Whats the best method for installing and watering a new plant?
• Is there a better way to deliver water to my plants?
• Is there a way to landscape with large and small rocks that doesnt look like a gravel pit?
• Whats involved in removing a lawn? What are suitable replacement plants?
• What material makes a good mulch and how thick should I apply it?
• Whens the best time of day to water and why?
• Whats the best way to install a dry streambed so it looks natural?
• How should I collect rainwater?
• What is gray water, and is it safe to use in the yard?
• Whats the best way to raise edible plants with limited water? What are the recommended plants?
• Are there tricks for watering moisture-greedy potted plants?
• Can I add a water feature without consuming a lot of water?
• What is xeriscaping, and how can I apply its principles to my own yard?

This handy guide addresses all of these matters and more no question is too elementary, no concern too trivial! This book also gives you a handle on the best practices and explains what has worked best for others in similar situations.

As you proceed through this learning curve, youll find a common and reassuring theme: Being careful and frugal with outdoor water use leads to a successful home landscape. Im here to help you get the groove on!