Angela Pratt, owner-operator
The Plant Foundry
3500 Broadway, Sacramento, CA 95817
www.plantfoundry.com
@PlantFoundry
- If you’re installing a new lawn or over-seeding an existing one, consider using water-saving blends like Pennington Smart Seed’s fescue blends, which use 30 percent less water than ordinary grass blends. Fescue blends are durable, attractive grasses, and can be fed organically. Use a mulching mower to recycle nutrients and keep grass clippings out of the landfill.
- One of the best ways to preserve soil moisture is to apply a thick mulch around plants. A two- to four-inch layer of organic mulch helps preserve moisture, suppresses weeds, and when broken down, adds to soil fertility. In winter, mulch helps to protect tender plant roots from freezing temperatures.
- For every thirsty plant you consider planting in the landscape, ask your nursery person for suitable drought-tolerant substitutes. For example, African Boxwood (Myrsine africana) makes a great low-water substitute for English Boxwood (Buxus sempervirens). Like English boxwood, African boxwood has glossy, evergreen foliage and can be formally hedged.
- Embrace Mediterranean-style gardening by choosing plants that have adapted to our low- to no-summer water climate. Nurseries used to be somewhat limited in their low-water options, but now we have an incredible low-water plant palette to work with. Your garden can look lush and colorful andbe drought-tolerant.
- Fall is the best time to plant California native plants. Mild fall temperatures and fall/winter rains help natives get established. Come spring, watch your natives burst into spring glory.
- In northern California, fall is the best time to plant native wildflowers like California poppies (Eschscholzia californica). Find the sunniest, most inhospitable part of your yard and sprinkle the seeds. They’ll germinate with the first rains, slowly establish roots over winter, and burst into color in spring. Then let them go to seed so the cycle repeats.
