Living In Colorado And Being A Gardener Has Been Rather Stressful In Thepast Few Years, As This State Has Been Undergoing A Rather Severe Drought.The City Is Imposing Watering Restrictions Which Are Not Giving Enoughwater To Lawns And Plants. Ive Had To Renovate My Garden To Make It Morewater Efficient. Now, Because Of The Techniques Ive Employed, Im Theonly One In My Neighborhood With A Garden That Isnt Completely Brown. Soif You Live In An Area That Is Going Through A Drought Or If You Just Wantto Save Water, I Suggest You Use Some Of These Techniques As Well.First, I Took Out All My Plants. The Soil I Was Using Didnt Retain Watervery Well, So I Had To Water About Twice As Much As Necessary In Order Toget It To Actually Absorb Into The Roots. If You Have This Same Problem,you Can Fix It By Loading The Soil Up With Lots Of Compost. This Not Onlyprevents Water From Escaping, But Encourages The Plants Roots To Behealthy And Able To Survive More.Once I Was Done Optimizing The Soil For My New Low Water Consumption Plan,I Was Ready To Replace All My Plants. I Decided That The Placement Of Allmy Plants Would Reflect The Amount Of Water Necessary To Keep Them Alive.All The Plants That Dont Require Much Water I Placed In On One Side Of Mygarden, And Then Just Progressed In The Amount Of Required Water To Theother Side Of The Garden. As A Result Of My New Arrangement, I Dont Haveto Waste Water On Plants That Dont Need It As Much.The Installation Of A Drip Irrigation System Was Another Move On My Partthat Reduced The Amount Of Water I Needed To Fully Water My Garden. Thegreat Thing About These Systems Is That They Constantly Drip Into Yourplants, So That Every Single Drop Is Absorbed. With Traditional Wateringsystems, Usually The Roots Get Too Overwhelmed With The Sheer Amount Ofwater In The Soil. Thus, Lots Just Seeps Right Past. This Is All Takencare Of With The Drip System.If You Still Seem To Need More Water Than You Can Supply To Your Garden,you Might Consider Which Plants You Could Replace With Less Waterdependent Plants. If You Want A Good Shrub That Doesnt Use Up More Thanits Share Of Water, Look For Heavenly Bamboo. It Is Not Only Tolerant Ofdroughts, But Looks Rather Decorative In Any Garden. Herbs Such Asrosemary Are Useful In Preparing Meals, And Are Rarely Thirsty.If Youre Trying To Find Flowers That Will Still Be Lush And Beautifuldespite The Lower Amounts Of Water, Look For Penstemon Varieties LikeGarnet, Apple Blossom, Moonbeam, And Midnight. You Can Attracthummingbirds And Butterflies With Varieties Like Cosmos And Yarrow. Thebest Part About All These Plants Is That They Dont Look Rugged Andwithstanding, But They Sure Are. Your Neighbors Wont Be Saying Look Atthem, They Downgraded Their Plants Just To Withstand The Drought. Whatchumps! Instead They Will Be Marveling Over How You Keep Your Flowers Sobeautiful In The Midst Of The Watering Regulations.One Of My Favorite Drought Resistant Plants Is The Lavender Plant. I Couldgo On For Pages About It. A Large Group Of Lavender Plants Looksunbelievably Gorgeous In Your Garden, And Hardly Requires Any Water Toflourish. Pineapple Sage Is Another Personal Favorite. It Is A 2 Footshrub That Smells Strangely Of Pineapple. Its Another Major Attracter Ofhummingbirds, And The Leaves Are Also Useful To Add Taste To Drinks.So If You Are In The Position I Was, And Youre Dealing With A Drought Andperhaps Watering Regulations, I Suggest You Try Some Of The Things Ivementioned. Even If Youre Just Trying To Conserve Water Or Be Generallymore Efficient With It, I Think Youll Still Be Able To Benefit.PPPPP(Word Count 662)
