It’s official. This week the primary water supplier of water to Orange County gardeners urged us to immediately reduce our usage. Officially, a “water supply alert” was declared. This is the final step before cities water supplies are allocated and reduced. Huge fines will be levied on those cities that exceed these allocations. For the moment at least, water conservation is still voluntary.
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Explanation: local gardeners are one step away from water rationing and mandatory water restrictions.
Said the General Manager of The Metropolitan Water District on Wednesday, "If we can't get the right kind of response out of the public, at that point we have to move to more severe measures."
The message couldn’t be any louder or clearer; we need to use less water in our gardens, where about 60% of our water goes. During the drought of the late ‘80’s and early ‘90’s the easy water conservation adjustments were taken; low flow shower heads and one and a half gallon per flush toilets are now almost universal. Putting bricks into toilets isn’t going to conserve enough water anymore. We’ve already done the easy things, now it’s time to get innovative, and that means in our gardens.
All of us, including you and me, need to take a serious look at how we use water in our gardens. If we don’t take the necessary actions now, by this time next year being a gardener might mean water mandates: watering only on specified days, reading our own water meters each week to see how much of our allocation is left, and water warnings and citations in our mailboxes.
I am an optimist. I believe that gardeners will take the right steps; it is already happening. Big, lush, green lawns, a tradition more than a need, will be re-thought; replaced by lawn substitutes, groundcovers or alternative plants. Plants being purchased will be selected more intelligently, with their water needs in mind. We will call these California Friendly plants. Plants will be grouped properly; the impatiens under the olive tree will move to another location, in the company of other thirsty plants. Petunias won’t be planted with lavender, or roses with rosemary, or bougainvillea with boxwood.
And I believe gardeners will embrace new technology. It will start with a small little rectangular piece of equipment about the size of a cigar box. It’s the sprinkler controller that’s hiding somewhere on the property. After locating the box and dusting off the cobwebs, gardeners will open it and discover that they actually have control over how much, how long and how often their irrigation systems operate. Many gardeners will take the next leap in water conservation, undoing the cables, unscrewing it from the wall and installing a far more efficient WeatherTRAK “smart” controller that irrigates according to the weather.
The future of gardening, even in an era of less water, is bright. It will be an exciting time, a time of enormous innovation, enjoyment and discovery for gardeners. Our gardens will experience a renaissance as never seen before. We will experience a revival of plants and plantings that mirror our climate. As we work and play and commute through our neighborhoods we will feel more like Californians than ever before. Our gardens and landscapes will look like they “belong”. This outdoor renaissance will introduce us to hundreds of exciting new plants that we will want to experiment with and incorporate into our new gardens.
As these new gardens establish themselves an unexpected thing will happen. Surprisingly, homeowners will enjoy their gardens more. They will find that there is less effort necessary, less struggle, less of a battle with our climate. Less contain-control-sustain; more relax and enjoy.
I’m in. Bring on the drought.
Ron Vanderhoff is the Nursery Manager at Roger’s Gardens, Corona del Mar
Questions from Readers
June 14, 2008
Question:
The jacaranda trees in our neighborhood vary in the hue of lavender each year. Sometimes the blossoms are soft lavender and other years they are a deeper shade. Why?
Kathy
Costa Mesa
Answer:
Jacaranda trees, native of the high, dry plains of Brazil and Argentina vary quite a bit in their flower color. Jacarandas often flower best when grown in poor, slightly dry soil. They are grown easily from seed, but mature trees grown out, even from a single pod, will vary in their flower from soft blue through mauve/blue to almost purple. I suspect that you may just be noticing the natural variation in flower color that Jacarandas naturally show.
You may also notice that the color of the flowers on a particular tree will lighten or fade somewhat as they become older and bleach out. Finally, humidity may even contribute to the flower color from year to year. Many flowers intensify their color when grown in lower humidity. For instance, the Jacarandas growing in Palm Desert and Rancho Mirage seem to me to always have a slightly deeper color.
