Design a drought tolerant garden

June 22, 5:26 PMBackyard Living ExaminerJane Gates

Previous Next

2 comments Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Backyard Living Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

A colorful drought tolerant garden (Photo by Jane Gates)

After yet another dry winter, it seems appropriate to think about gardening with drought tolerant plants. Water restrictions have already begun in Los Angeles city and many parts of the county.   Although the illusion of living in Hawaii may the ideal for some homeowners’ landscaping wish list, the reality is time consuming, lacking in durability, and wasteful in a way that can impact all residents who are dependent on the water supply.  Yet with careful design, drought tolerant landscaping can look anything but dry and parched.

Drought tolerant gardening or xeriscaping has become popular over the years encouraging plant hybridizers and nurseries to import and develop decorative plants of all descriptions to meet demand. You can actually have a ‘lush and luxuriant’ drought tolerant garden -- something that was once considered an oxymoron! You can find drought tolerant flowers, ornamental grasses, groundcovers and trees. You can even find plants to flower at different times of the year, and a few that will flower for long periods of time.

Some of the most common drought tolerant plants are the colorful-leaved Euonymus and Photinia. Euryops is a medium sized bush with big yellow daisies. You’ve probably seen many pink-flowered Rhapiolepsis shrubs in and around the Los Angeles area. The Lily of the Nile, a clumping perennial with big balls of white or blue flowers on a long stem is both showy and tough. Even the ever-present oleander can grow with remarkably little water. These common plants are often taken for granted since they are somewhat overused. But if you clump them or use them for back drops for more interesting and unusual plants, they will fill in inexpensively requiring little care or water.

Then you can consider trying some more creative selections for the rest of your drought-tolerant garden. If there will be no water other than what nature provides, consider Californian, Texan, Arizonan and Australian chaparral natives. Cactus and succulent gardens with rocks and boulders can be striking, too.

There is a whole selection of plants that can do well without daily water from the showy Blue Hibiscus, the floriferous Texas Ranger, the bizarre Kangaroo Paws, the colorful Gaillardia to the brilliant – but frost intolerant – Bougainvillea. Try some of the many graceful ornamental grasses that come in a wide range of colors or drought-tolerant trees like the colorful pink Silk Mimosa or the delicate Chilopsis.

Learning all about the  plants that suit your taste and live in harmony in the environment can be as much fun as planting and enjoying your garden.  You can design your own drought tolerant garden to be as decorative as any of the more thirsty landscapes.

Jane's Articles

Showing: Water-wise articles