Are you thinking about ditching your lawn or other thirsty landscape plants? The heat of summer is not the time to remove and replace your current landscape. Fall is the best time to establish most plants. Here are a few tips.
Select water efficient plants that grow well in our climate. Use the Sunset climate zones because the Sunset zones are smaller and more precise. Colusa County zones are 8 and 9.
Apply water directly into the root zone of newly planted ornamentals until roots become established and expand outward and downward. Drip irrigation helps with this.
Place plants with similar water needs together and irrigate them accordingly. This is especially important when landscape and edible plants are irrigated by automated systems.
Mix compost evenly and deeply into the soil before planting to improve water retention or drainage, depending on your soil. Avoid adding soil amendments to holes dug for individual trees, since roots grow in rather than expand outward and downward.
Drip irrigate areas of your landscape not planted in turf and groundcovers. Drip systems deliver water directly into the root zone of the plant. This minimizes evaporation from the soil. Drip irrigation systems reduce runoff by delivering water slowly to the plant.
An alternative to our thirsty lawns can be groundcovers. There are many to choose from. Check your local nursery. ■
