Everyone loves San Diego for the weather, but it’s easy to forget that we’re in a desert climate. With the increasing demand and cost of water, it’s critical to use as little of it as possible. When it comes to smart landscaping, the best approach is water wise or drought tolerant landscaping. Water wise landscaping involves various strategies to conserve water without sacrificing beauty.
Here are ten tips for drought tolerant landscaping to boost your conservation efforts this year.
1. KNOW YOUR LAND
Get to know your land. When you start out with drought tolerant landscaping, your first step might be as easy as taking a look around. Pay attention to the details. What kind of slope is there, if any? What sort of soil do you have? Is it sandy and loose? Or is it more dense, almost like clay? How hot does it get in the winter? In the summer? Even with San Diego “seasons”, temperatures can really vary. The answers to these kinds of questions will really help guide you as you set out on your journey to smart landscaping.
2. PREPARE FOR THE DROUGHT
Perhaps the most straight forward technique to reduce the amount of water you’re using is to ask yourself what kind of plants you really want. If you approach your plant selection with a water conservation mindset, it’s easy to select some truly gorgeous plants that also fit in with your water needs. Using drought-tolerant plants will give you a low maintenance landscape that doesn’t break the bank.
3. HYDROZONE
Hydrozoning is a technique of grouping plants together in your yard based on their individual and collective water needs. If you are able to identify your plant’s water needs you can arrange them in groups of low, medium, and high water use. This doesn’t always mean you have to do a full scale landscape remodel, but placing your plants with intention to reduce overall water use will go a long way to saving your water and your wallet.
4. IRRIGATION SYSTEMS
Time to break out the big guns: have you thought about how much water you’d save if you changed just how that water is distributed? It can be a daunting task for the novice landscaper, but installing an updated irrigation system is the most effective way to tackle water conservation. Nowadays, you can install all kinds of systems that will help you water your plants only as much as they need to be watered. There are plenty of options for sprinklers, timers, soaker hoses, drip emitters, and more to make your landscape remodel work for you, and not the other way around!
5. IT’S JUST DIRT – OR IS IT?
So you have your fancy new irrigation system, and you’ve rearranged all your plants based on whether they’re low, medium, or high water use plants. Have you thought about the dirt? One angle that people are inclined to overlook is dirt, but if you think about it, the ground does seem like a pretty vital part of your landscape. If your soil isn’t great at retaining moisture, you’re going to wind up wasting water to overcompensate for the dirt. You can add compost and mulch. Compost will help your soil hold water, and mulch will stop the soil from overheating – and it can prevent weeds!
6. STAY IN CONTROL
Even if you can’t install a fancy new irrigation system with low-flow, timed sprinklers and soaker hoses, it doesn’t mean you can’t tackle your water waste. It’s a good idea to have a set, fixed schedule of watering your yard. This way, you can monitor your water use directly by controlling the timing, the amount, and the placement of the water. You’ll need to control where you’re placing the water too. By aiming to water your plants at grade level, you can cut down on issues like over spray, run off, and evaporation.
7. STAY NATIVE
Using native plants is a wonderful way to cut the use of water and pay some tribute to this beautiful city. If you approach your native plant selection with a water conservation mindset, it’s easy to select some truly gorgeous plants that also fit in with your water needs. Native plants tend to be very drought resistant, but you can also find some that have adapted to the climate here in San Diego.
8. WATER AT NIGHT
The key is to water wisely. After all, they do call it water wise landscaping! You will want to water your yard at the coolest point in the day to make sure the sun doesn’t end up drying out your yard and undoing all the work you’ve just done to water it. If you’re utilizing an irrigation system that allows you to plan ahead and time out a watering schedule, choose night time, when the temperature is at most mild.
9. NATURE ALWAYS WINS
You can fight it – up to a point. Why make it harder on yourself? There are simply some areas in every yard where plants will not grow, and there are areas in those same yards where plants will flourish. If you have a “dead-zone” in your yard, don’t force it. There are plenty of ways you can utilize the space to create more outdoor living space. Consider installing an outdoor living area with a TV for entertainment, a BBQ island or firepit and pergola. The sooner you accept that some of this will be out of your control, the sooner you can move forward and work alongside of nature.
10. HARDSCAPES – GET YOUR ROCK ON
One of the most effective ways to cut down on water use is to rid your yard of things that need watering and incorporate things that do not need watering. Rocks need very little watering. People can incorporate rocks into their landscape remodel in a myriad of ways. You can install hardscapes, which are exactly what the name implies – the harder parts of the landscape. Pathways, flagstones, gravel, and all sorts of things can be used to define space and give depth to a yard – and it’s one less area you need to water!
Whether you’re here because of new drought restrictions or just looking to save a buck, we applaud you for wanting to be more water conscious. For those of you that are just beginning to delve into water wise landscaping, don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions you may have!