Drought Tolerant Garden Update

Here’s an update on the waterwise garden that I’m designing. I’m trying to keep the costs down, too, because the property is a rental.

I would like to encourage more landlords to remove more lawns and to create drought-tolerant landscapes. And I don’t mean filling the front yard with rocks. While this will save you money and water, you will lose the love of your neighbors.

They will think you are a cheap miser with no taste.

They will give you stink eye and talk behind your back.

I was trying to make the yard not only drought-tolerant but also interesting. I am rebuilding the yard on a budget so my thinking was, If I could make the garden attractive enough, no one would notice that there (still) sits the sixty-year-old driveway and walkway. Cracked and raised and uuugggglyyy.

The price of cement and other hardscape materials have skyrocketed—at least in California. It’s outrageous. If it was my own home that would be one thing—but it’s a rental.

The idea is to create a green and eco-friendly place that has a much smaller carbon footprint than it did before without spending a bundle or covering every square inch in rocks

Stumble It!

Comments

[Kalyn]

Looks like it's going to be nice. Next summer (if I have any money left after the outside renovations I'm doing now) I'm going to do some changes in my front yard to cut down on water use. It will be fun to watch what you're doing here.

[Ottawa Gardener]

The shape looks great and I imagine that you will make nice use of that space as well. Is this a garden you're designing for someone else or for your own residence?

[Emily@remodelingthislife]

I love the design! Looks really good!

[Aiyana]

I looked at the post regarding landscaping with rock. These houses look like ones in Sun City, AZ! Same style home, same types of landscaping (or lack of.) Nowadays, unnatural granite colors are banned by HOAs. I saw something that's even worse than white granite. A whole front yard filled with river rock. Weeds were growing in between them. Weeding would have been impossible. You can't account for the taste of some folks!
Aiyana

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I heared That most important consideration in any garden design is, how the garden will be used, followed closely by the desired stylistic genres, and the way the garden space will connect to the home or other structures in the surrounding areas. All of these considerations are subject to the limitations of the budget I think you are doing a excelent job I want to see the results
thanks nice article and very creative way to work garden