Next week I will be starting the certification process to become Bay Area Landscape Friendly certified in Sustainable Garden Design practices. LINK http://www.stopwaste.org/home/index.asp?page=8
I’ve been practicing some of what they preach for many years now but I feel it is always a good thing to keep current with new and emerging techniques and also brake some old traditional habits.
Below are a couple of ways that you can save WATER, a valuable resource, in your landscape.
1. Choose drought tolerant plantings that do well in your climate and soil conditions.
-succulents and leucadendron
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| From Pina Colada |
leucadendron, yucca, agonis, anigozanthos, miscanthus
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| From Garden Porn |
phormiums, salvia leucantha and salvia pt. sal
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| From portfolioMay08.jpg |
euphoria, grevillea, succulents and chondropetalum
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| From portfolioMay08.jpg |
salvia leucantha and pennisetum ( check your local climate to understand if pennisetum is invasive in your area)
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| From Carmel Valley Estate |
2. Conserve moisture in the soil by applying mulch - Here at this Carmel Valley we used the native Oak leaves.
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| From Carmel Valley Estate |
3. Reduce storm water run off by keeping your rain + clean grey water on your site.
Below is a slow percolation dry stream bed which takes on excess runoff water in the winter rainy season
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| From portfolioMay08.jpg |
4. Plant a deciduous shade tree on the South West side of your house to keep your house and hardscape surfaces and surrounding soil cool, this reduces the need to water and the eliminates possible heat sinks.
Trees are Crape myrtles and Citrus.
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| From portfolioMay08.jpg |
5. Consider alternative materials for a groundcover instead of using live grass.
Gravel-
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| From portfolioMay08.jpg |
Recycled plastic and soy based artificial turf
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| From portfolioMay08.jpg |
6. Use permeable surfaces in the landscape as in this dry laid stone path
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| From portfolioMay08.jpg |
Dry lay permeable path meanders through a drought and deer tolerant hillside garden
Kniphofia, salvia, cistus, berberis ( not invasive in our area - not even an aggressive grower ) and sterile variegated pampas grass
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| From portfolioMay08.jpg |
How are you making an effort to conserve, recycle or reuse water ?
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2 comments:
Great tips - and thanks for the beautiful illustrations - that make sense for any climate!
Yes I am. Sydney has had an unusual surfeit of rain recently, but normally I rely on drought tolerant plants, micro-climates, grey water recycling, rain water tanks and lots of mulch.
Nice to see the word getting out there.
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