PLANT SUGGESTIONS
we are consulting with a specialist, Thomas Betts-Aranda, for the best selection of native plants...Currently for Teramo hillside and along Ridge Route, considering: sage, coyote bush, Salvia, buckwheat, Artemisia sagebrush, and monkey flower - all can survive well with no additional watering after the first year.
Tom is available to advise you for your particular location and your intent in your garden...
THE ART OF GARDENING WITH CALIFORNIA NATIVE PLANTS
Dryer and Hotter
The writing is on the wall, and in all the media: we’re using up our precious water where we shouldn’t.
This is not a short-term finding for a year or two, science has us pegged for the real desert that we live in, and a fact that we have denied because we have a great water storage system in this state. Newsflash: almost all reservoirs are below 50% capacity as the Jetstream has shifted north of us.
So, what does that mean for our ‘decorative plantings’ and wasteful green lawns - the Scotts’ people from back East want you to sustain? We must see that using fresh drinking water to ‘water our yard’ or plants is going to deny others and eventually, ourselves the drinking water we need. Reclaimed water is one reasonable answer, but so far, it’s only available in public parks.
Another reasonable alternative is xeriscape and the use of California Native Plants that require little or no watering! Further, the maintenance requirements are as little as twice a year. It’s become an ‘artform’ to design the use of colorful gravel and rocks with California Native Plants and succulents (from all over the world).
We can do this starting right now! - before it becomes a requirement. Start by attending a seminar, a class, watch you-tube videos, or consult with a landscape designer. We as a community can be a resource to one another by showing a good example to our neighbors.
Learn More here:
http://www.plantnative.org/how_intro.htm
https://www.audubon.org/content/why-native-plants-matter
https://www.wildflower.org/about/why-native-plants
https://www.bhg.com/gardening/design/nature-lovers/benefits-of-native-plants/
https://www.cnps.org/gardening/prepping-and-planting/grass-removal
