Drought and Water-Wise Gardening

Gardening and Irrigation

Drought: Gardening Tips
UC Master Gardener techniques and practices for edible gardens, lawn care, plant care, ornamental trees, and fruit and nut trees. Includes links to other resources at the bottom of the page.

Drought: Irrigation Tips
UC Master Gardener information on irrigation adjustment, lawn watering and the use of recycled water. Includes links to other resources at the bottom of the page.

Gardening with Limited Water
The Master Gardeners of Sacramento has a list of tips and resources to help you save water in the home landscape including how to keep various plantings alive under drought conditions or water restrictions.

Water-Saving Vegetable Garden in a Time of Drought
The Treehugger site covers soil, how to plant to save water, the Three Sisters Garden companion planting method, when plants need water and choosing the right vegetables for drought tolerance.

Water-wise Plants and Landscaping

Butte County All-Star Plants
A collection of landscaping plants that are easy to grow; well suited to our climate and soils; low-maintenance, especially in terms of fertilization and pruning; drought tolerant; able to support beneficial wildlife; and readily available to home gardeners. Section includes a copy of the brochure with planting instructions, plant photos, and an excel spreadsheet to aid in planning.

Climate Appropriate Plant List for Northern California
Compiled by Butte County Master Gardeners and organized by plant type, this document contains information about plant size, bloom time, drought tolerance, sun requirements and wildlife attracted.

Gardening and Horticulture
The California Native Plant Society covers a wide variety of topics on designing and creating a low-water California native plant garden.

Water-wise Gardening in the Gold Country Region
Regional Water Authority’s guide contains a plant list, garden tours and galleries for ideas, information and garden design and irrigation

Redding Water Smart Gardening
Contains information on sustainable, climate-appropriate, and drought tolerant plants, trees and grass that thrive in the north state.

UC Davis Arboretum All-Stars and Database
The horticultural staff of the UC Davis Arboretum have identified 100 tough, reliable plants that have been tested in the Arboretum, are easy to grow, don’t need a lot of water, have few problems with pests or diseases, and have outstanding qualities in the garden. The site also has a handy plant search function.

California Native Plant Database
Created by Theodore Payne Foundation for Wild Flowers and Native Plants, the database contains information and photos about California Natives. There's also a Plant Guides for Garden Needs section with seasonal planting guides, special garden conditions, plants to attract wildlife, plants for containers, fragrant plants, and plants for special geographic areas.

Plant Combinations for Northern California gardens
Shows different combinations of plants that do well in Northern California.

Water Use Classification of Landscape Species (WUCOLS)
Conserve water by matching water supply to plant needs, and by planting similar water and sun needs together. WUCOLS IV provides evaluations of the irrigation water needs for over 3,500 taxa (taxonomic plant groups) used in California landscapes.

Calflora
If you're looking for California Natives to use in your landscape, check the Calflora database to help narrow your options.

Water-Wise Living

California Drought Watch
Visitors can read about the latest drought news and get tips for practicing and embracing sustainable living.

Landscaping Tips
The US Environmental Protection Agency provides information on soil, plants, and irrigation by region.

Articles from The Real Dirt

Water Conservation

Lawn Removal

Native Plants

A variety of colors, textures, and shapes to add interest to this California Native Plants Garden in the Master Gardener Demonstration Garden.