- Author: Susan P Croissant
"Mint Edition" is a monthly newsletter from Morningsun Herb Farm in Vacaville. In the November 2015 issue, Rosemary Loveall-writes about the seminar she recently attended at Lake Merritt, Defining a New Northern California Landscape. Ideas to provide healthy, sustainable landscapes by rethinking how to garden in our area. Here's Rosemary's quote on one presentation entitled "Water-Wise Landscapes":
"Now, I use the term ‘water-wise' frequently, generally in terms of what types of plants are used in the landscaping and what kind of irrigation is used, but a watershed wise landscape uses the concept of working with the natural systems of the earth, as well as the man made constructs, to create a balanced sustainable system where you live. I always think of a watershed as something large that I look at on a map, but actually each of us lives in our own ‘watershed'. Our roofs, patios and decks, the amount of non permeable spaces, the slope of our property, all greatly affect our watershed."
How to build a rain garden. Which, of course, companions well with her consistent advocacy of building healthy soils. The new term at the conference was "a living soil sponge."
View her article at http://morningsunherbfarm.com/ssp/article1_nov2015
She provides an excerpt/link from The Drought Tolerant Garden Los Angeles County Handbook that has detailed instructions, including calculating water amounts coming from surfaces around your home. Along with other ideas.
You can access this link via her article or here: http://morningsunherbfarm.com/multimedia/docs/RainGarden.pdf