{"id":1474,"date":"2015-04-20T03:51:52","date_gmt":"2015-04-20T03:51:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ongardening.com\/?p=1474"},"modified":"2015-04-20T03:51:52","modified_gmt":"2015-04-20T03:51:52","slug":"gardening-during-drought","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/ongardening.com\/?p=1474","title":{"rendered":"Gardening during Drought"},"content":{"rendered":"

Californians are agonizing over our severe drought and its probable future. Those going through the greatest stress are homeowners maintaining verdant lawns and gardens in southern California\u2019s deserts, farmers using 80% of the state\u2019s surface water, and policy makers working to move the state\u2019s burgeoning population toward life styles and businesses that use our limited water wisely.<\/p>\n

This will be a lengthy slog.<\/p>\n

The good news for Monterey Bay area residents is that we have already made excellent progress in reducing water usage to the target level, which is 25% below the usage of February of 2013.<\/p>\n

We all need to conserve more to reach that target, but not nearly as much as people in southern California, especially in desert areas, where water usage is double the state average.<\/p>\n

Growing grass and common perennial plants in sand unavoidably requires unusual cultivation methods, including lots of water. Such gardening ignores the first rule of gardening: right plant in the right place.<\/p>\n

The primary strategy for drought-tolerant gardening, then, is to grow plants that are native to your own patch of land. The corollary strategy is to grow plants that are similar to plants that are native to your site. For the Monterey Bay area, this means plants from the world\u2019s regions with a summer-dry climate. These include (if you need yet another review) the Mediterranean basin, South Africa, Chile\u2019s central coast, Australia\u2019s southwestern coast, and of course, much of California, especially the central coast region.<\/p>\n

Keep in mind that each of these regions includes a range of microclimates, so it is still wise to know the particular conditions within your garden, and to favor plants that thrive in those conditions. That is the crucial method for low-maintenance gardening.<\/p>\n

I have just received Sunset\u2019s latest book, which addresses this point in a timely, effective and attractive manner. The Sunset Western Garden Book of Easy-Care Plantings<\/em> has chapters on Gardens, Beds and Borders, Succulents, Groundcovers, and Containers. Other sections provide an overall introduction and seasonal tips.<\/p>\n

\"Sunset<\/a>

Click to Open<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Kathleen Brenzel edited this book, and has edited several earlier books that merit a prominent place on California gardeners\u2019 bookshelves. This new book includes advice from such experts as John Greenlee and Robin Stockwell, who know all there is to know about grasses and succulents, respectively, and who have shared their knowledge with gardeners often over the years. During Robin\u2019s 2014 Succulent Extravaganza, for example, I enjoyed John\u2019s presentation of a companion planting of grasses and succulents.<\/p>\n

California\u2019s drought results from the combination of several factors: cyclical weather patterns, climate change, population growth, and agribusiness expansion. It is a complex picture, to be sure, and avid gardeners need to adapt to changing conditions.<\/p>\n

My initial scan of The Sunset Western Garden Book of Easy-Care Plantings<\/em> impresses me as a good source of guidance and inspiration for that adaptation. I welcome the opportunity for learning from each chapter, and anticipate enjoying the experience, which surely will motivate even more sustainable gardening.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Californians are agonizing over our severe drought and its probable future. Those going through the greatest stress are homeowners maintaining verdant lawns and gardens in southern California\u2019s deserts, farmers using 80% of the state\u2019s surface water, and policy makers working … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[129,149],"tags":[14,89,11,96,22],"class_list":["post-1474","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-essays-2015","category-spring-quarter-essays-2015","tag-book-review","tag-california-native-plants","tag-design","tag-drought","tag-landscaping"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2WCVL-nM","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/ongardening.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1474","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/ongardening.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/ongardening.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ongardening.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ongardening.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1474"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/ongardening.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1474\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1476,"href":"http:\/\/ongardening.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1474\/revisions\/1476"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/ongardening.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ongardening.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ongardening.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}