Xeriscaping

Irene:

It sounds like you and I are working with similar irrigation constraints
(a marginal well — mine pumps only 2 gal/min. on a good day) and we're
both planting and designing our gardens from the house outward into
wildland. So, my focus is xeriscaping and native plant gardening. For
more info on xeriscaping see:

http://www.highcountrygardens.com
High Country Gardens web site. It has an informative section on
xeriscaping principles

http://laspilitas.com/
Las Pilitas Nursery web site. Click on the section called "The Book" and
go to "hard stuff" and look for info on xeriscaping. You can do a word
search in the site and find xeriscaping info.

http://www.cabq.gov/resources/xeric.html
City of Albuquerque landscaping tips.

You can also find a lot of info by doing an internet search with the
keyword xeriscape.

As for plant recommendations ... it's awful difficult to do this without
seeing your garden space. I recommend planting native flowering shrubs
and, possibly, trees at the outer fringes of their wildland gardens. A
big bush of color can be appreciated from a distance (your deck or
looking out a window). Also, there are lot of great xeriscape plants
that are a bit too invasive for the cottage garden and are better suited
for the wildland garden or outer fringes. A few suggestions of
low-irrigation, low-care, high-beauty, deer-resistent favs:

• Cercis occidentalis / Western redbud
• Aescalus californica / California buckeye.
• Arctostaphylos / manzanita (There are many great cultivars available.
• lupines, especially the bush lupines native to CA. My favorite is
lupinus albifrons / silver bush lupine.
• Ceanothus spp.
• Zauschneria spp. / California fuschia (a spreader that can be
invasive, but in the outer garden that's a benefit.)
• Philadelphus lewisii / wild Mock Orange (needs moderate water until
established)
• drifts of narcissis (I recommend the pure white "Thalia," which is
fragrant and looks wonderful in drifts - like native globe lilies or
other white wildflowers)
• Try a native wildflower meadow. The backbone plants can be California
poppy and annual lupines. Sow in the fall.
• Perovskia spp / Russian sage. (It's not a salvia. A great Xeric plant)

• Nepeta / catmint. (Usually cited as a backbone of Xeric garden. Plant
between and in front ot the shrubs)
• Buddleia davidii / Butterfly bush (Non-native,but a great shrub. A
butterfly magnet. Needs moderate water)

I could go on, but that's a start.

Paul Harrar
Nevada City, CA
Sunset Zone 7
2,700 feet
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