Step 1) Improve your soil. Step 2) improve the soil’s water retention. Step 3) Stop blowing away your leaves and natural mulch. Step 4) Choose drought tolerant plants. Step 5) Change your attitude about lawns!
And plant the bloody trees and shrubs at the proper distance from the house (like a fully grown tree and shrub distance), … and the same distance for the sidewalk trees to the road.
I switched many years ago from emitters and used the same small tubes to each plant because of incorrectly sized emitters or them clogging. You run each zone for a few seconds so water is still used efficiently and using mulch, the soil retains this moisture so drying out of the plant does not occur. I also do this for my fruit bushes and vegetable garden which additionally reduces weeds.
We used to have a 10cm layer of wood chips in our rose beds, but the roses really did not like that. We did some research and learned that the wood chips sucks all the nutrition and leaves none for the roses. We removed it again and the roses seems a lot better now. Of course, we don't have a drought in Sweden, but wood chips may not be suitable for everyone.
YES, YES YES ! Where I live we get 110 + degrees ( 117 today ) and I have been saying this for thirty years ! One of my neighbor lady had a nice back yard with some nice citrus trees and others, I know because for 25 years I took care of them! For all of those years I made a point of useing mulch and whatever I could to cover the sand and save water. She received many compliments and comments on how nice and healthy everything was. She has been gone for two years and the first thing that the new owners did was rake up all of the mulch, down to the sand! They have spent a small fortune on water and the plants are not doing well but I can't get across to them that they need more than just water! Hurts to see such a nice place go down like that ! You can have a nice yard, and save water IF you go about it the right way ! Thanks Blair !
The chips will let that yard absorb so much more water when it dose rain. Hard baked soil/dead lawns act more like asphalt to water so everything runs right off.
What an important video. Here in Long Beach CA we have a free city mulch yard, also. Bring your trash cans or back your truck up. Smells nice, looks nice, feeds the soil and helps keep moisture from evaporating.
I don't bother with lawn maintenance except mowing and edging when needed. I also leave the clippings where they fall, the lawn reuses the nutrients as the clippings break down, it reduces exposed soil in bare lawn areas, which reduces evaporative loss. In my region, dry, hot summers hurt the lawn, and in winter severe frosts do the same. I've never watered lawns, a month or two of normal weather and they are back and healthy. I use eucalyptus mulch on my garden beds, it's cheap here and breaks down into the soil, I just re top it every 12 months or so (about 4" thick). When we moved in here, the region was in the middle of a several year severe drought- the garden beds were dead and the soil was hard as rock and hydrophobic, now I have a good foot depth or more of nice black soil with very active earthworms, which the mulch preserves in this condition, even in the driest summer. We have excellent, extremely drought tolerant ground covers and small shrubs here in Australia that would work in your arid and cold climates, all I have in our yard (apart from a few ornamental non natives), is native plants. Zero maintenance, zero watering and just get on with life! We have about 50% garden beds to lawn in our yards, a good compromise between maintenance, appearance and usable space.
Wow BG, the overmulching fad must not have hit the West coast yet. Absolutely, Mulch benefits the "O" horizon by adding Organic medium, insulates soil temp. and holds in moisture content. Prevents unprotected bare soil from turning into poreless hardpan from Sun and raindrops. Etc… *But be aware Scientifically, there is a fine line between beneficial and detrimental mulch applications!* Here in the Midwest, trees are learning the hard way anytime a mulch layer reaches over four inches. The matted chips intercept moisture from average rain events, and tree roots that have become suffocated, grow upwards into mulch in search of Oxygen. Biggest problem comes from continually adding new 3"+ layer each year, just to freshen color. If too much mulch turns into rich soil over time, wouldn't it be same as raising the grade around a tree? A lot of pungent Anaerobic life produced, offsetting Aerobic balance.
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And plant the bloody trees and shrubs at the proper distance from the house (like a fully grown tree and shrub distance), … and the same distance for the sidewalk trees to the road.
I switched many years ago from emitters and used the same small tubes to each plant because of incorrectly sized emitters or them clogging. You run each zone for a few seconds so water is still used efficiently and using mulch, the soil retains this moisture so drying out of the plant does not occur. I also do this for my fruit bushes and vegetable garden which additionally reduces weeds.
We used to have a 10cm layer of wood chips in our rose beds, but the roses really did not like that. We did some research and learned that the wood chips sucks all the nutrition and leaves none for the roses. We removed it again and the roses seems a lot better now. Of course, we don't have a drought in Sweden, but wood chips may not be suitable for everyone.
Wouldn't last a week here and they'd all be gone in the wind.
YES, YES YES ! Where I live we get 110 + degrees ( 117 today ) and I have been saying this for thirty years ! One of my neighbor lady had a nice back yard with some nice citrus trees and others, I know because for 25 years I took care of them!
For all of those years I made a point of useing mulch and whatever I could to cover the sand and save water. She received many compliments and comments on how nice and healthy everything was. She has been gone for two years and the first thing that the new owners did was rake up all of the mulch, down to the sand! They have spent a small fortune on water and the plants are not doing well but I can't get across to them that they need more than just water! Hurts to see such a nice place go down like that ! You can have a nice yard, and save water IF you go about it the right way !
Thanks Blair !
The chips will let that yard absorb so much more water when it dose rain. Hard baked soil/dead lawns act more like asphalt to water so everything runs right off.
What an important video. Here in Long Beach CA we have a free city mulch yard, also. Bring your trash cans or back your truck up. Smells nice, looks nice, feeds the soil and helps keep moisture from evaporating.
gravel and xeriscape the place doesn't California do that??
I don't bother with lawn maintenance except mowing and edging when needed. I also leave the clippings where they fall, the lawn reuses the nutrients as the clippings break down, it reduces exposed soil in bare lawn areas, which reduces evaporative loss. In my region, dry, hot summers hurt the lawn, and in winter severe frosts do the same. I've never watered lawns, a month or two of normal weather and they are back and healthy.
I use eucalyptus mulch on my garden beds, it's cheap here and breaks down into the soil, I just re top it every 12 months or so (about 4" thick). When we moved in here, the region was in the middle of a several year severe drought- the garden beds were dead and the soil was hard as rock and hydrophobic, now I have a good foot depth or more of nice black soil with very active earthworms, which the mulch preserves in this condition, even in the driest summer.
We have excellent, extremely drought tolerant ground covers and small shrubs here in Australia that would work in your arid and cold climates, all I have in our yard (apart from a few ornamental non natives), is native plants. Zero maintenance, zero watering and just get on with life!
We have about 50% garden beds to lawn in our yards, a good compromise between maintenance, appearance and usable space.
How do you control the wood dusts in a windy day?
Nice short video, great explanation throughout the video.
Depending on your climate zone, watch out for ground termites. I found out the hard way.
Wow BG, the overmulching fad must not have hit the West coast yet. Absolutely, Mulch benefits the "O" horizon by adding Organic medium, insulates soil temp. and holds in moisture content. Prevents unprotected bare soil from turning into poreless hardpan from Sun and raindrops. Etc… *But be aware Scientifically, there is a fine line between beneficial and detrimental mulch applications!* Here in the Midwest, trees are learning the hard way anytime a mulch layer reaches over four inches. The matted chips intercept moisture from average rain events, and tree roots that have become suffocated, grow upwards into mulch in search of Oxygen. Biggest problem comes from continually adding new 3"+ layer each year, just to freshen color. If too much mulch turns into rich soil over time, wouldn't it be same as raising the grade around a tree? A lot of pungent Anaerobic life produced, offsetting Aerobic balance.
Not all wood species are good for this, some may actually be harmful. But in general its the right thing to do
What are your thoughts on using stone vs chips? With stone I would include base fabric.
There are plenty of attractive, low maintenance water wise alternatives to lawn grass.
Thumbs up!