A garden is an important part of everyone’s home today and most people would want a garden they can enjoy all year round across all the seasons including during drought. This means growing plants that would survive even during the drought period. As a gardener, it is important to be open minded and be ready to welcome new ideas as times change. Gardening is as dynamic as everything else and so over time new plants will come and it is important to be flexible and adapt from time to time.
If the weather forecasts predict that there could be drought in the near future, it is importance to landscape your garden to incorporate plants that do not need a lot of water and constant watering if indeed you want to have through the drought period.
Creating an appropriate landscape can be quite difficult but can be a beautiful experience if you take time to put your ideas together and get down to specifics. If for example you want to restructure your landscape from one that demands constant watering to one that can make it with little or no water, or even from a dull landscape to a bright one, here is how to go about the transformation journey.
Garden Locations
The first thing is to identify the perfect location for your garden. This could be a fraction of the backyard or the front of the house that in most cases is ideal.
After, you’ve chosen the perfect location, take time to study the place, study the soil texture and structure whether it is loam, clay or sand. This would determine how much water the place will take, study the topography as well if it is a slope or flat area. All this will help you identify plants that can thrive in your garden as per the available conditions.
Next is a very important step: choosing a theme for your garden. A theme based on your character and expectations will help in identification of plants that suit your expectation and those that match the landscape. There are numerous drought-resistant plants available I especially in the Mediterranean regions across the globe. This particular design will be utilized by plants from the native California region; you can choose to use native plants available within your locale. In California, the plants have over the years transformed to cope with changing climates and soils of the region growing areas as well as adapted to benefit from relationships with the flora and fauna around them.
Next is to pick a group of plants that will help you come up with clusters of similar plants that will give an ideal image and a consistent layout throughout the garden. A lot of professional landscape designers prefer landscape designs consisting of plant clusters that are repeated and stay away from detached singular species.
You can visit garden nurseries and centers around you to help you come up with suitable plants for the theme you’ve chosen. Most plants are available if you order online, but you can find them also in the native nurseries around California.
Scientific Names
The following are the scientific names and most used names of some of the most preferred Carifornian native plants that can grow well in a drought-resistant plan that is well exposed to the sun:
For trees most people choose; Arbutus, Aesculus, Quercus.You may also want taller shrubs for your garden; Ceanothus, Rhamnus, Rhus would be ideal. As for shorter shrubs: Arctostaphylos, Artemesia, Baccharis will do very well. Good perennials include Dudleya, Penstemon, Salvia. For the Bulbs you can go for: Allium, Brodiaea, Calochortus and finally some groundcovers: Epilobium or Zauschneria, Eriogonum would be perfect.
These plants
need irrigation after planting and for a while till they are stable. The results from your soil study and topography will allow you to know how frequently you will need to water. All you need to do is ensure the soil is moist for long enough to allow the plants to stabilize in your garden. As soon as they are well rooted, you will not need to water them frequently, and they will even survive through drought on their own.
