Home & Garden Tips
Reducing irrigation requirements in the landscape
By Roosevelt McWilliams County Extension Agent

As you analyze the water use patterns of a landscape, you might discover that you can not significantly

reduce irrigation frequency in a particular area without also sacrificing quality. Therefore, a re-design of an area may

be necessary

to reduce its long-term irrigation requirements. For instance, a lush, green turf area near the entrance to a property may decline or look unattractive when irrigated less frequently, so changing it to a natural mulch area with scattered grouping of ornamental grasses or other drought-tolerant perennials may be a cost-effective alternative.

Replacing a large bed of annuals that requires frequent irrigation with drought-tolerant herbaceous perennials, such as Purple Coneflower, Black-eyed Susan or Lantana, is another example of how an area can be shifted toward lower water use. Granted the plants used in the re-design will require regular irritation during establishment, the long-term benefit will be a reduction in irrigation without a loss of aesthetic quality.

During dormant winter months, it may be necessary to move certain established plants to more suitable locations in the landscape where they are less prone to moisture stress. Azaleas, for instance, are best grown on an eastern exposure where they are shielded by a building or other plants from the hot afternoon sun. When planted on a hot, western exposure, their demand for water increases. Therefore, the best long-term solutions are to re-locate them to an eastern exposure or to build a structure, such as an arbor, or to plant another plant to cast shade upon them in the afternoon.

You should match plants to the local environmental conditions. Drought-tolerant plants alone are not the solution to a drought-proof landscape. They must be suited to local environmental conditions. Junipers, for instance, are extremely drought tolerant, but when planted on a site that periodically floods or stays too wet, they will become prone to insect and disease problems and are likely to become an eyesore.

Likewise, don't plant native plants thinking they are more drought tolerant unless you can approximate their native environment, including soils and site conditions. Native plants may be regionally adapted, but if the local site conditions are to their liking, they can be high-maintenance nightmares.