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Watering in General Category

Improvement Project:

How to water efficiently by planting water-conservative plants (flowers).

Tools / Materials (See Below for Applicability):

Guide:

In growing and maintaining a garden of flowers, you don't have to shell out a lot of cash to pay for a lot of water usage, let alone actually use a lot of water to begin with.  No plant can, of course, survive without water, but there are plants that need a lot less water than others.  So, with this in mind, if you desire to be really water efficient, the key is to start thinking this way from the very beginning when first starting your garden:  Know exactly what kinds of flowers you will be planting, narrowing your selection to those plants that need the least amount of water as part of your "xeriscaping"--i.e., water-conservative landscaping. Such plants that need the least amount of water may be termed as "water-conservative plants," "drought-tolerant plants," or "drought-resistant plants"; look for product packaging advertisements that contain such terms.

Some of the water-conservative flowers that could be successfully planted in warm-climate environments include the following:

• African Daisy

• African Iris

• Aloe

• Alyssum

• Aspidistra

• Autumn Sage

• Bellflower

• Bush Germander

• California Fuchsia

• California Poppy

• Carpet Rose

• Cast Iron Plant

• Chrysanthemum

• Coral Bells

• Coreopsis

• Cosmos

• Daisy

• Daylily

• Dusty Miller

• Eurphorbia

• Evergreen Candytuft

• Fleabane

• Fortnight Lily

• Gaillardia

• Gaura

• Hollyhock

• Knotweed

• Lantana

• Lavendar

• Liriope

• Mexican Daisy

• Oriental Poppy

• Penstemon

• Peruvian Lily

• Poker Plant

• Primula spp.

• Purple Coneflower

• Red Valerian

• Russian Sage

• Scabiosa

• Sea Holly

• Wallflower

• Zinnia

Some of the water-conservative flowers that could be successfully planted in cool-climate environments include the following:

• Aster

• Bonica

• Columbine

• Evening Primrose

• Flax

• Island Bush Poppy

• Primrose

• Snow-in-summer

• Yarrow

Of course, the successful planting of plants is not only dependent upon a water source, but also the nutrient condition of your planting soil, sunlight exposure and temperatures that such plants are likely to encounter.  Also, even these water-conservative plants will need to be watered quite regularly at first until such plants are well adjusted to their environment.

Considering to plant any of the water-conservative plants above will help cause you to use a significantly less amount of water than you would otherwise use with regular plants, save you money in the process of using less water, and prevent the environmental detriment known as urban runoff.

Ed the Handyman

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Your Handyman Zone Team