After California’s dry 2006-07 “rainy season,” ways to soothe water worries are turning up in the media. On the Web site insidebayarea.com, reporter Joan Morris reported that the East Bay Municipal Utility District expects a 15,000 acre-feet water shortfall this summer. The district asked its residential customers to limit irrigation to three non-consecutive days a week. (insidebayarea.com is the Web page for the Oakland Tribune and other local papers in the in the Bay Area.)

Morris went to UC Cooperative Extension horticulturist Bethallyn Black to get advice for Bay Area residents on how to cope with water restrictions. Although making changes in the garden to favor drought-resistant plants may be an excellent long-term goal, Black suggested putting off new planting until the fall.

“Spend this summer planning and prepping,” Black is quoted in the article, “and plant in October, when the winter rains will keep them happy.”

Black suggested gardeners get plants established before next summer’s water restrictions are put in place.

“Although low-water plants don’t require much water once they are rooted in place, newly set plants do,” the article said.