The greatest landscaping concern for homeowners in San Diego is water. We pay the highest prices in the county for water, and those prices are expected to go up another 10% next year. Summertime watering restrictions have also gone into effect, which means you can’t water overhead – with a hose or irrigation sprinklers – between 10 am and 6 pm. Fortunately, we are not in a drought, or additional restrictions would kick in – you can only water 3 days a week depending on whether your house number is odd or even. Keep in mind though – the drought will be back, and San Diego’s water restrictions were made permanent last year.
At Eco Minded Solutions, we promote water-wise landscapes that use drought-tolerant plants and drip irrigation. But, today, I want to focus on what any homeowner can do to make the best use of expensive water regardless of how thirsty your landscape may be.
Whether you have an irrigation system that runs automatically on a programmable timer clock, or you water by hand, many of the same strategies apply. First, watering infrequently and deeply is much more efficient than frequent and shallow watering.
Plants will grow their roots depending on where the water is. Shallow watering means shallow roots, which means plants that are dependent on their next dose of water. Shallow watering also results in losing a lot of water by evaporation from the soil surface, especially if there is no mulch layer to slow that loss. (Hint: if you don’t have mulch, don’t rake the leaf litter out of your planter beds! It is even better than purchased mulch, and will provide nutrients for you plants as it decomposes as well).
Let’s assume that you have been watering shallowly, running your irrigation daily or every other day, or standing outside with the garden hose giving the plants and turf a short drink. You will have to adjust your watering schedule with some care, giving your plants the time to send their roots down to where they will start getting most of their water.
An effective way to get the water down deep while still getting water to your spoiled plants is to water daily for a week, so the water will soak down at least a foot in the soil profile, and hopefully more. (Hint: this is also an effective way to get new plants established quickly.) Check with a narrow shovel or hand spade to see how deep the water is percolating into your soil. If you have typical San Diego clay, it can take several days for the water to get through, but because clay retains water so well, it will stay put. If you have sand (very near the coast) or decomposed granite-based soils, the water fill filter through quickly, and will not be retained as in clay-based soils.
After that treatment, you can start to decrease the frequency of watering gradually – to every other day, every 3 days, and longer intervals. Drought-tolerant plants will not only survive but thrive with infrequent watering. Plants that require regular moisture will also do better, as they will have a good reservoir of water available, and will not suffer as badly when your irrigation system goes haywire or you are out of town and can’t water by hand.
In the end, you will be able to use less water by watering deeply and cut your water bill. You will also have healthier and more drought-resilient plants. This strategy will work whether you have a typical San Diego landscape with fescue grass and tropical palms, or if you have caught the move to landscaping with water-wise plants that will reduce your water bill even more. If your water bill is still high, consider reducing your lawn to only what you use, and saving your thirsty plants in an oasis near entryways and places in your landscape where spend time. But, I’ve talked about this before….
My last blog was about the virtues of minimizing the amount of grass, to make your landscape more eco-friendly. Even the New York Times recently reported on this topic, as the average lawn becomes smaller.
This time, I want to blog about the virtues of trees. My love of trees may make be biased – they are my favorite part of a landscape, and the older and craggier they are, the better I like them. Salon just posted a slide show about some of the world’s great ancient trees.
Fortunately, well-selected and sited trees are a key to designing an eco-friendly landscape that is also beautiful and functional.
(caption: This mastic tree in its prime frames the view of the house, anchors the front yard landscape, and creates a woodland-like setting for the understory plants.)
If you live in an older neighborhood, you may be fortunate to have the blessing of trees planted by someone wise enough to leave behind this legacy for you to enjoy. Full-grown trees, more than any other part of the softscape, announce that the landscape has come into maturity. If you are particularly fortunate, those trees will have been well cared for and properly selected and sited: growing to a desirable size, and providing the right about of shade at the right time of the year.
Often though, you are left to deal with a tree that has grown to overwhelm your landscape, takes too much water to thrive, is messy, hard to garden under, cracks concrete features with greedy surface roots, or invades the water and sewer lines with feeder roots. Reduction pruning and thinning can be done to alleviate some of these problems, and avoids the drastic solution of removing the entire tree and waiting for the replacement to grow and takes its place as a better citizen in your landscape.
(Caption: These pines were “threaded,’” opening up the view, and taking their part in a water-wise landscape.)
Owners of new homes in recently built developments face the challenge of a bare landscape and the time it will take for trees to grow, but also benefit from the opportunity to choose and site trees carefully. Designs must be done to account for the full-size tree: the space it will take up vertically and horizontally, and the shade it will eventually provide. Planting the biggest box size possible can help to achieve an “instant landscape,” but, with the exception of adult-size palms that can cost tens of thousands of dollars, it still takes time for even the fastest-growing tree to come into its full potential.
As the trees grow, your landscape will slowly evolve. Privacy will develop, unpleasant views will become filtered, and pleasant views will begin to be framed by the spreading canopy of branches. That canopy will also provide relief from the relentless sun. The trees will bring shade that will expand the livable areas in your landscape. The shade that develops over planting beds will also provide the opportunity to grow a wider array of shrubs, perennials, bulbs, and groundcovers.
The designers and horticulturalists at Eco Minded Solutions select trees for landscape plans with utmost care. The selected trees must be the right size for the site at maturity. It is tempting to plant that cute little conifer you see at the nursery, unaware that it will eventually grow to perhaps 80 feet tall and 40 feet wide. We avoid these problems by selecting trees for the size of the property and how they relate to the other design elements. Many old favorites and standard selections are simply too big for today’s lot sizes.
(Caption: This pine, planted too close, is already overtaking the house.)
The palette of trees for San Diego is changing, partly because of this issue. There are many small and medium sized trees that we make use of in our designs. A tree in a patio corner may be selected to be only 12-15’ tall, and a tree selected to provide a larger shade canopy may still only grow to 20-30’ tall. A properly selected tree will not require expensive reduction pruning.
(Caption: Crepe myrtle serves as a small-scale focal point for this front yard patio.)
We also keep in mind the amount of shade that a given tree will develop. Some species provide a dense cover and complete shade that may be desirable for effective screening. Others have more naturally open branching and/or smaller leaves that cast a more dappled shade. These lighter-textured trees will not require thinning that is often done on San Diego’s coastal trees, where dense canopies create cold spots and block desirable views.
(Caption: Pepper tree, introduced from Peru during California’s mission period, is delicate-looking, yet tough. )
Any tree must be considered for its strengths and faults, and how it will fit its desired role in a landscape. It must also be attractive to your eyes. All these considerations are important as the range of landscape styles diversifies, from formal and contemporary designs to rustic and cottage designs, from eastern-influenced zen gardens to western-influenced courtyard gardens, from edible landscapes to those that are strictly decorative, and from the tropical-themed landscapes that came to be standard in post WWII San Diego, to more water-wise landscapes that make use of a surprisingly wide array of plants from around the world.
We advocate choosing trees that are water-wise. San Diego’s water restrictions have been made permanent, and water prices are likely to keep going up. One strategy to use water wisely is to design a landscape with a mini-oasis: a spot that features the thirstier plants, including a favorite tree or two that you must have. This oasis should be where you spend the most time in your landscape: a lounging and dining area. Away from this oasis, the plant selections become less water-demanding. Such a landscape will be practical and affordable to maintain as water costs increase and availability becomes more limited. Water-wise trees can cut your water bill, as they shade they provide reduces evaporation from the soil. The protective canopy of trees becomes more important the farther you are from the coast, with its higher temperatures and lack of cloud cover.
With a thoughtful selection of trees and other plants, you can look forward to a shady, restful retreat, and not end up with a parched landscape that requires yet another makeover. Eco Minded Solutions is here to provide you to plan for the future by providing you with a landscape that will be beautiful and sustainable for a lifetime of enjoyment.
Although eco landscape design concepts have been around for decades, an increasing number of property owners are adopting green gardening ideas to limit their use of the earth’s finite resources. Whether you are completely redoing the landscaping scheme on your property, or want to gradually convert your yard into a more environmentally friendly space, these are the guidelines that you should follow.
1. Conserve Water
There are many ways that you can reduce your outdoor water use, including use of:
- Professional irrigation assessments
- Drip or another type of irrigation system
- Rain barrels or cisterns
- Native plants
- Fescue grass or artificial turf
2. Limit Use of Chemical Fertilizers
Eco landscape professionals avoid use of harsh chemical fertilizers that do more damage than good to the environment. Natural, organic fertilizers can be used as an alternative.
3. Minimize Energy Use
In addition to conserving water, eco landscape principles also promote reduced use of gas and electricity in the yard. This can be achieved with:
- Muscle-powered lawn mowers
- Energy efficient lighting
- Solar pool and spa heating
4. Choose Plants Carefully
Use of plants that are native to the region in which you live can significantly reduce the amount of water that you use and the amount of time that you have to spend maintaining your yard. If you have a lawn, consider replacing it with artificial turf or fescue grass.
5. Compost
When doing yard work, or cutting back plant life, be sure to add garden scraps to a compost pile rather than throwing it away in the trash where it will be sent to a landfill.
