California is facing another drought, and so are many other states.  Water use may be curtailed causing water rates to go straight up. Summer is when our water bill goes ballistic with >$100 months commonplace. Gardens use a lot of water. Lawns can easily use 50-80% of  a household’s water. Our garden uses close to 75% of our water, probably because we conserve so much. Drought Tolerant Plants, drought resistant plants, and Xeriscaping, help you by saving water in garden.

Xeriscaping

Xeriscaping and xerogardening (based on Greek word for ‘dry’) are landscaping and gardening in ways that reduce or eliminate the need for supplemental water from irrigation. Denver Water pioneered the first Xeriscape garden. They suggest the following 7 principles:

1. Plan and Design your garden on paper. How will it be used? Hardscaping or using soil, gravel, or rock pathways use no water. Space plants further apart to give roots more space.
2. Compost and mulch to help the soil retain water, prevents erosion, and keep weeds away. Some people use old newspaper as mulch. Add a generous two to three inch layer of mulch around the base of plants.
3. Water your garden efficiently. Intelligent sprinklers, zones, water deeply and infrequently, water in morning. Collect rain water.
4. Select Drought Tolerant plants and Native plants. Group plants with similar light and water requirements.  Put moderate water-use plants in low-lying drainage areas, near downspouts.  Plant Vegetables in shaded areas.
5. Plant Native grasses
6. Maintain your garden. Fertilize, cut grass and recycle grass, prune, compost remains.
7. Use water without waste with these tricks: recirculating fountains, bird bath, dry creek bed, or water jars and urns.

Some cities and water departments like Austin, Texas and Cary, North Carolina pay “cash for grass” .

Saving Water by living with Lawns

Keeping a green lawn takes a lot of care and cost.

• During hot weather, lawns need 1/2″ of water ever other day.

• Best time to Water your lawn, grass, or garden is early in morning to lessen evaporation. Water not at night as lawn disease may occur.
• Water more deeply, not more often. Water every other day.
• Make sure your sprinkler system is setup correctly, water times are set optimally,  and water does not leak. Utilize drip irrigation, flag drippers, spot watering, smart controller, high tech sprinklers, rain shut off and micro spray watering heads for particular areas.

Lawn Alternatives

• Ditch the lawn or replace it with artificial turf
• Flowers use less water than grass.
• Make your water go towards food, read Economics of a Vegetable Garden

San Francisco Bay Area Native Plants

Here are some suggestion for the San Francisco Bay Area, consult your local nursery for additional ones. Many Mediterranean, South African, and Australian plants can thrive here with low water footprints. Try to group plants of similar watering requirements.

Mexican bush sage, Mexican sage, velvet sage

photo credit: thisisbossi

Salavia Apiana

photo credit: anemoneprojectors

Achillea millefolium

photo credit: wanko

Antirrhinum

photo credit: Eran Finkle -ערן פינקל

Solanum

Bearberry (Arctostaphylos UVA-ursi), Baja fairy duster, Firecracker penstemon (Penstemon eatonii),Wild lilac (Ceanothus), Nepeta, Lambs ears, meadow grasses, fesuca occidentalis are all good low water tolerant plants too.

San Francisco Bay Area Bay Area Water Supply and Conservation Agency or BAWSCA has free landscape education classes and also a Lawn Be Gone Rebate program of $500-$3000.

Re-imagining the California lawn

This book includes practical advice on how to replace thirsty, water-guzzling lawns with more sustainable, drought-resistant and interesting landscapes. As the author mentions, lawns go away as water rates go up. More people are moving towards Mediterranean plants and California natives. Other lawns alternatives include kitchen gardens, rock gardens, meadows or carpet/tapestry garden.

Green Eco Friendly Garden Tools

WSJ has a review of more eco friendly green garden tools that use battery power or propane. It is good too see more alternatives to gas guzzling garden gear. Most of the products performed better than expected indicating few compromises.

Home Depot even sells corded and battery-powered push mowers, Lehr trimmer fueled by a propane canister, and the Ariens battery AMP Rider online.

Other resources

Sunset Magazine has a plant finder.

This article has tips on less thirsty landscapes including using permeable surfaces, Permeable paver stones, stepping stones, pea gravel, decomposed granite, mulch, irrigation.  The article’s resources are useful.

Key elements in gardening include:

• Avoiding pesticides
• Composting
• Drought Tolerant Plants, Xeriscaping, Saving Water in Garden, minimizing water use
• Avoiding weeds, and recycling

Green your Garden – Eco Friendly Garden Quiz

How Green is your Garden? We are not asking how lush your garden is! We want to know how eco-friendly your garden is. Here are some resources to help build a green, sustainable garden.

Sunset Magazine has a hungry use your garden quiz.

recycleworks has a sustainable gardening page

Key elements in gardening include avoiding pesticides, composting, planting native plants and trees, minimizing Drought Tolerant Plants, Xeriscaping, Saving Water in Garden, and recycling.

California and many other regions are having droughts.  Water bills are sky high. Time to save water and money.

1) Replace older toilets with water saving dual flush toilets or stick a displacement bag in your old toilet. Fix or replace leaky toilets.

2) Install low flow water saving shower heads with aerators. Average 10 minute shower uses 40 gallons of water. A bath can use 30 to 50 gallons of water. Look for shower heads with aerators that use 2.5 gallons a minute or less rather than the usual 5 gallons per minute. They can cost $5 or less.

Fix leaky shower heads.  Shower less and use more deodorant. Keep showers under 5 minutes. You can save upto $65 a year on water and water heating with low flow heads.

3) Install water saving faucet aerators.

4) Collect and reuse water in the shower that comes out as it warms up.

5) Turn off the water while brushing your teeth or shaving.

6) Turn off the water while soaping up or shampooing in the shower

7) Fill a bowl and then wash fruits and veggies

Keep a jug of water in the fridge to keep cold water

9) Collect and reuse water from unfinished glasses, pasta cooking, etc. Use it in the toilet or to water plants.

10) Install a gray water system to reuse water.

11) Replace water inefficient appliances with efficient ones when they break.

12) Redo your garden with drought resistant plants and lots of mulching. Green lawns require a lot of care. Ditch the lawn or replace it with artificial turf. Lawns use 50-80% of  a household’s water. During hot weather, lawns need 1/2″ of water ever other day. Flowers use less water than grass.  Pathways use no water. Mulch prevents soil erosion, helps keep moisture in the soil, and keeps weeds away.

13) Water your garden in early in morning (3AM) to lessen evaporation, but not at night or else lawn disease many occur.  Water more deeply, not more often. Water every other day.

14) Washer clothes in cold water.

While you are at it reduce water heater energy use and see if your local water district has water use audits.