Seventh in a sequence republished with permission from the San Diego County Water Authority web site.
When designing a residing panorama that saves water, you need your new out of doors area to slot in with your private home, your neighborhood, and your life-style. Discovering that match begins by asking some fundamental questions.
First, how do you need to use your area? It is potential to considerably enhance your private home’s water effectivity and meet your life-style wants on the identical time.
For instance, you could need to use much less water and hold some grass in your kids and pets. Focusing most of your landscaping plan on low and reasonable water use whereas leaving a small garden space with high-efficiency irrigation lets you obtain a water-saving panorama.
In case your objective is an outside area for entertaining, use largely low-water crops, a water characteristic, and a reasonably environment friendly irrigation system.
You possibly can cut back water use, decrease upkeep and create a panorama that would be the envy of your neighbors with a mixture of very low and really low water use crops and a extremely environment friendly irrigation system.
At any time when potential, think about alternate options to conventional grass, corresponding to low-water-use groundcovers and mulch, or permeable laborious surfaces corresponding to gravel or decomposed granite paving. But when an space of grass is essential to your loved ones, say, a playground in your kids and pets, hold it however use a extra drought-tolerant grass selection within the warm-season grass class.
Your total planting format
Earlier than you start deciding on crops, visualize your total planting format. Decide your panorama type and assume by way of plant measurement and traits earlier than transferring on to the precise plant choice.
Take a while to think about the type of landscaping that appeals to you. Take into consideration the way it suits into the structure of your private home, your neighborhood, and your life-style.
You could discover a wealthy tropical look interesting. Nevertheless it requires cautious number of water-efficient crops for the arid area of San Diego.
San Diego shares its local weather with many areas of the world, and there are numerous plant palettes to select from.
Contemplate your views and entry
Crops can be utilized for display views. Would clean partitions or fences look higher with a fairly bush in entrance of them? You possibly can body the view from a window, however you most likely don’t desire a big bush blocking the view.
Crops may create hotspots. Is entry wanted from the facet of the home to deliver trash cans to the curb? If that’s the case, you’ll want to embody a protected path in your design.
The San Diego County Water Authority provides applications, sources, and incentives to enhance water use effectivity for residential, industrial, and agricultural customers. For extra water effectivity sources, go to WaterSmart.SD.org.
