Around Town Woodland

Drought Resistant Planting

By David R. Giger, The Garden Coach

Some say that we are in a drought year. When many home gardeners hear this they automatically start thinking of drought tolerant plants because they want to conserve water. You’d be surprised how much vegetation there is currently around your home landscape that doesn’t require a lot of water. There are also many plants you can install that are not super slurpers.

Those old shade trees around your house are a great example of plants you don’t worry about watering. The important thing to do of course is to deep water them for the first two years after planting. After that just be sure to keep your lawn at least 18 inches away from the base of the tree! Those big shade trees are also really important for water conservation all around your home. The more shade you have the less water you will be using on the rest of the plants, specially the lawn. Energy conservation of your home will be improved also.

Like trees, shrubs also do not need a lot of water after establishment. This is about a year after planting. Infrequent deep-watering is good. A drip system or soaker hose works well for this. Some shrubs don’t need much supplemental water at all like photinia, nandina and dodonaea (purple hop bush). This depends, however, that we get the normal rainfall in the winter. Also, soil type makes a difference. Heavy soils that are high in clay content will hold water much longer than sandy soil. This is a big problem with lavender in clay soils. The soil holds so much water that the plant gets root rot and dies. Your shrubs should stay healthy as long as you don’t prune them when the weather is hot and dry. Actually, only a few acid-loving shrubs such as camellias and azaleas need frequent watering.

Most perennials need regular water. That is when the top several inches of the soil is dry it is time to water. I have found that some perennials like agapanthus, common geranium and bearded iris are drought tolerant. Like lavender, armeria (sea pink) and scaevola don’t like wet feet. The main thing with perennials and shrubs is that they are in the right environment. If they are in the environment they are meant to be in they will be fine. This environment is usually listed on the plant tag. The Sunset Western Garden Book will also have all the pertinent cultural facts on your plants.

Some people recommend native plants. These are great because they are used to only what nature provides. You will have to look hard, however, to find them in nurseries. My favorite native is the California poppy. These are easy to find in seed packets. Just spread them in the fall. One great place to see and buy California natives is the UC Davis Arboretum (arboretum.ucdavis.edu). Also the Arboretum Terrace next to Borders Bookstore in Davis is a great little place to see hardy Central Valley plants together in a landscape setting.

-David R. Giger has been a professional landscape gardener in Woodland since 1993. He can be reached at Dmmegiger@aol.com.