- Author: Tammy Majcherek
Published on: July 19, 2013
You have taken the first step to reducing your water use and improving water quality by adjusting your irrigation and making repairs as necessary. Now it's time to create a garden that is low-impact.
A low-impact garden will use less water, minimize run-off, reduce potential water pollutants, decrease green waste, decrease energy consumption and air pollution.
So what can we do to garden “green”?
- Plant the right plants – Mediterranean plants, California natives, succulents, other water-wise plants, California friendly plants, for example: Coral Bells, Sage, Galvezia, Bay Laurel, California Live Oak, Manzanita, California poppy, Ceanothus, Yarrows, Cyrtanthus (South Africa), California Redbud, Mahonia, Arctotis, Statice, Lantana, “Lions tail,” Banksia, Sedum, and Agave, to name a few.
- Plant a lawn only where needed for pets and children
- Use turf alternatives, for example, Carex pansa (plugs, meadow-like, evergreen, takes six to eight months to fill-in, mow two to three times per year, takes moderate traffic) and Buffalo grass (takes one year to completely fill-in)
- Use fertilizer intelligently – use the appropriate amount and keep fertilizer on the landscape, not the pavement
- Create hydrozones – areas where plants have the same water needs (low, medium, high water need plants should be grouped in separate zones)
- Avoid open soil on slopes and next to paving
- Use permeable surfaces
- Drain water to the garden not to the gutter
- Consider water harvesting rain-barrels or storage tanks
- Do not wash down the driveway, etc
- Compost green waste
- Apply mulch to suppress weeds and retain soil moisture
- RELAX and ENJOY!
For more information on what to plant in your landscape, visit:
http://arboretum.ucdavis.edu/arboretum_all_stars.aspx
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