Waterwise Gardening

Rating:
Summary: Great For Creating A Drought Tolerant Garden
Review: Live in the desert or want to plant a drought tolerant garden in the West? This book is for you. This book focuses on creating a garden that won't take lots of water and it proves you don't need to make the well run dry to have a beautiful garden.

I bought this book during the drought in Southern California in the early 90's. I ended up with a beautiful garden filled with showy flowers that required little, if any water.

I will never have another garden without lavendar, rosemary, mexican evening primrose and sage. Not only are they lovely to look at, their fragrance alone makes them excellent choices.

In typical Sunset fashion, there are plenty of pictures and great plant information. I take this book with me every time I vist my local plant nursery.

Rating:
Summary: Great For Creating A Drought Tolerant Garden
Review: Live in the desert or want to plant a drought tolerant garden in the West? This book is for you. This book focuses on creating a garden that won't take lots of water and it proves you don't need to make the well run dry to have a beautiful garden.

I bought this book during the drought in Southern California in the early 90's. I ended up with a beautiful garden filled with showy flowers that required little, if any water.

I will never have another garden without lavendar, rosemary, mexican evening primrose and sage. Not only are they lovely to look at, their fragrance alone makes them excellent choices.

In typical Sunset fashion, there are plenty of pictures and great plant information. I take this book with me every time I vist my local plant nursery.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent guide if you face water shortages
Review: Water thrifty gardens make sense because most places experience droughts and sometimes there are restrictions on use of tap water when most needed for the garden. Despite water limitations, the pictures in this book show that Xeriscaping can still be very beautiful as a successful waterwise garden uses limited water not because it skimps on plantings but because it makes wise use of plants. It also creatively employs everything that does not grow such as decks, patios, walkways, fences, wood, stone, gravel, bark, wood chips and bricks laid in sand.

There are several components to creating a successful garden - water collection and distribution, soil composition and drought resistant plants; - and this book deals with them all in a very easy-to-read manner. Lawns use four times as much water as any other landscaping feature and is the first item to be considered. A small area of drought-tolerant lawn is desirable as a play area for the children but the remainder can be converted to other plants, especially unthirsty ground covers with mulch on slopes to prevent erosion. Place beds of thirsty annuals or vegetables near turf areas where they will benefit from the extra water applied.

It is best to bunch together plants of similar water requirements as there are efficient irrigation techniques for tress, shrubs, ground covers, lawns, vines, bush crops, and for flowers and vegetables planted in rows or in masses. A timer is invaluable, not only to make sure that plants are watered when you are away but also to make sure that each plan grouping receives the optimum amount.

The Chapter "If you are not ready to start over" tells how an old landscape can be easily renovated in stages to make it less thirsty. "Working with soil" provides valuable information on how the composition of the soil influences water absorption and retention and governs the amount of water to be applied and frequency of application. Adding organic matter - the decaying remains of once-living plants and animals - improves the soil's ability to conserve water. It also improves aeration and water penetration, as soil air is vital to good root growth and to the health of soil microorganisms.

Wise watering ensures that plants always receive enough water to thrive while eliminating wastage. Plants in sandy soil need less water at each watering but more frequent application as explained in the chapter "Watering guidelines and methods." Ways to make the most of available water are: water early in the day, water deeply and thoroughly, eliminate run off, use low-volume watering devices, change water schedules seasonally, automate your watering, eliminate weeds, use mulch to retard evaporation, and use soil polymers - gel-like particles that absorb and hold large quantities of water. Mulch - a layer of loose textured organic material spread over the soil to slow evaporation - is especially valuable as it suppresses weed growth and improves the soil while decomposing. Plastic and rock are used instead of organic matter; they conserve water but do not improve the soil. The book closes with two chapters on plants for a water-thrifty landscape.

'Waterwise Gardening' should be on the bookshelf of anyone who wants to garden under today's conditions of water restrictions.