Long before it was chic, you knew that watering your plants wasn’t cool!
Slave away in your garden when you’d rather be….well…anywhere else?
H-E-double hockey sticks NO!
Oh, slayer of plants, Joe Schmo with his bright green, lush lawn has finally had his “come to Jesus” moment upon receipt of his most recent water bill and is now running alongside your wagon in his soggy, pesticide-filled shoes pleading and begging for you to show him the way!
I say we let him ride and he can keep his palm tree-print Hawaiian shirt because, after all, many varieties of Palms, once established, don’t guzzle water like a thirsty Labrador who slops water all over the kitchen and needs a towel under his….sorry, I digress.
WHAT?!
Back to my story….
It was a beautiful morning. The sky was blue; birds were chirping and, hark, my first phone call of the day!
“You killed my garden! Because of you, my entire garden is DEEEAAAD!”
“Good morning to you too, my little ray of sunshine!” I thought.
And so the day began…….
I was doing an HR job at a local water agency when I received that call. This particular agency serves a largely unincorporated area where people have a lot of land and exercise their right to water it (and the street)….often. This particular week, residents received their first bill since the recent rate increase and notification of scheduled increases over the next year. Let’s just say, that wasn’t the first phone call of its kind for the day. Landscape Armageddon was upon us! Probably the best comment repeated throughout the day was, “I don’t want to have to grow cactus in my yard!” (Note: when emotionally charged, logic doesn’t always run rampant).
No, nobody is limited to rocks and cactus, drama queens (and kings)!
There are many plants (some shown below) that, when established, are fine to be neglected. I’ll post more down the road but wanted to give you a few that I like to start off with. Of course, always check your Sunset gardening book to make sure that it grows in your area.
TREES
SHRUBS
ANNUALS/PERENNIALS/GROUNDCOVER
THE FUN STUFF
And not one cactus in sight (maybe a rock or two)!
Many, ok, most of these will not be found at Home Depot so you’ll need to venture out to a local nursery but that’s part of the fun!! Everybody can plant Agapanthus and Bougainvilleas. Don’t be a sheep and stop being so serious!! Go out and buy something different and have fun!
I hope this has provided you with a little bit of inspiration. As you look at these pictures and others on the web, pop them into a program such as PowerPoint or Publisher where you will be able to slide them around and have fun making your own combinations.
Tammy Martin Landscape Design 