Hi friends ! Sorry I ’ve been so very , very absent – if you ’re wondering why , it ’s because I wrote a novel calledGirl delay with Gunand that shit is time - consuming . It ’s come out September 1 and I ’m going on abook tour that I very much promise puts me in a city near you . Really , you have no idea how much I ’d take account it if you ’d hail out and say hello , or cajole some friends who happen to live in Austin or Portland or wherever into going , or both . Last moment of new business and then I foretell to move on : If you ’re at all interested in pre - ordering a record book , it turn out that pre - orders count quite a lot in this brave young era of publication , and I ’ll post you a little something if you take that bluff step . detail here .
OK ! On to the subject at paw . I live in Eureka , CA , which is not only at the more terrifying end of theCascadia Subduction Zoneeverybody ’s talking about , but it also in that commonwealth that ’s having that big drouth we ’re also all talk about . Water restrictions are a fact of life here now , as they always should have been . And the form of horticulture I do is suddenly very much in style , which is to say that I do n’t water at all .
At all . Ever .
Even in a normal year , we get no rain from about May - October . None . Not a drop . That ’s just regular California weather condition .
So I was not all that put off by new watering restrictions that earmark me to only water on Tuesdays and Thursdays or whatever it is . Who cares ? Why water ?
What a batch of people are doing is get their lawn go browned . I ’m totally good with that .
Here ’s another option . If this makes you well-chosen , go for it . The dye is some kind of vegetable - based matter that belike does n’t wound anything but your pocketbook .
Here ’s what I ’ve got going on .
Now , this might not be to your appreciation , and I rationalize for the unflattering cell speech sound snap , but you get the idea . perennial and Mary Jane . poppy . stuff and nonsense like that . This garden gets zero water , as in none , ever . And my mystical and extremely technical proficiency for making this oeuvre has dwell of the chase :
1 . works stuff that seems probable to be drought - tolerant .
2 . Wait and see what dies .
3 . Plant more of the stuff that did n’t die .
My friendScott Calhoun , who plan gardens in Tucson and knows about drought , once say to me ( cite someone else , and I ’m regretful I ’ve forgotten who ) , “ How do you know it ’s drouth - tolerant if you water it ? ”
So that ’s what I do . Now , there are a couple of fast one to make this work . One is to put fresh plants in the undercoat in the capitulation , in good order as it ’s begin to rain , so they have the wintertime to get give . The other is to give new plants a deep , long lachrymation once every few week or so in their first year to avail them get plant . For instance , in this garden I have two smallish tibouchinas that I just planted , and those get a few hours of a slow drip from the hose once in a blue moon .
And I will admit that there are a few victual in pots outside my kitchen door that get water . But very petty .
I do n’t even require to post a plant list or propose flora that might be drought - broad for you , because it ’s really all about your microclimate and your territory . I have a rhododendron in this garden . Are they eminent on anybody ’s drouth - resistant list ? I ’ve induce rose catchfly that insist on doing well even though they should be drained . I do n’t call into question it – I just engraft more of what know and less of what dies . Over time , the whole matter comes together .
One part thought for you , if you ’re living out here in Drought - Land with me : My ally Saxon Holt is doing some remarkable things with hisSummer Dry web site . Please go check it out , and remember , even if El Nino comes and we get flood with H2O this winter , we should all be figuring out how to get through the summertime without irrigation . It can totally be done . It does n’t have to bet exactly like this , if this is not your affair , but it can look like something lucullan and interesting and likeable .
Anybody else have a no - water supply garden out there ? I ’d love to see some photos .
