A Water-Wise Gardening Start
By Paula Rodriguez de la Vega
Sagebrush Nursery
So, you would like to have a water-efficient garden that looks beautiful, is low-maintenance once established, and also helps wildlife such as birds, butterflies, and other pollinating insects all at the same time. Where do you begin?
Xeriscape gardening incorporates seven basic principles:
1. Planning and Design
2. Soil Analysis and Preparation
3. Appropriate Plant Selection
4. Practical turf areas
5. Efficient irrigation
6. Use of mulches
7. Appropriate maintenance
It’s important to take a big-picture approach. Take a look at your whole property and begin by making a landscape plan. Sketch out your yard showing existing structures, trees, shrubs, and lawns areas. Figure out your solar exposure (where is south?), the views you want to block out or enhance, and where your current irrigation lines are. Also map out your soil types (sandy, silty, loamy, gravely, rocky area, etc),
Think about the water needs of the plants themselves. To save water, it helps to divide your landscape into watering zones: Low, medium, and high water zones. This way you can plant your most drought tolerant plants in the ‘low water zone’, and your lush greens in your ‘high water zone’. If you live near a creek, wetland, or pond, the area closest to the water often can be designated ‘high water zone’. In these areas the ground water levels are often close to the surface and the plant roots will naturally have access to that water.
Learning more about xeriscape gardening is easy. The local library has several books. One I highly recommend is by Penticton author Eva Durance called Cultivating the Wild: Gardening with Native Plants of British Columbia’s Southern Interior and Eastern Washington. It is a self-published book and available at Sagebrush Native Plant Nursery and Future Gardens. Another much simpler booklet is published by the Osoyoos Desert Centre and is called Native Plant Landscaping for the South Okanagan – Similkameen. Both of these feature many native plants with descriptions of their moisture and solar exposure requirements, their wildlife value and growth habits.
Professional assistance in planning and implementation is also available. Look for Landscape Designers, Architects, or nursery staff that specialize in xeriscaping. They can assist with planning challenges such as particular soil types, solar exposure, native plant adaptations, and uses for your garden areas.
You’ll notice that drought-tolerant plants have different soil requirements than ornamental ones. Most native plants of the Okanagan prefer well-drained soils of low to medium fertility. Native plants are adapted to and thrive in the neutral to slightly alkaline desert soils of the area, so be sure to amend acidic soils by adding dolomitic lime.
If your site has compacted soils with little to no soil organisms, be sure to loosen the soil to about a two-foot depth and add organic material like compost. Baled sphagnum peat moss is acidic so avoid using it as your organic material.
As with ornamental gardening, weeds can be a problem. Before you plant your garden, first get rid of any weeds and their seeds. If you’re dealing with invasive weeds, you can get more information on how to manage them from the Regional District of the Okanagan - Similkameen office or go to www.weedsbc.ca