January 30 , 2013
Drought disasters to avoid
Drought does n’t scare me to part . My flora have been through it all and always come back for more . Yes , I do water some , but not outrageously . I debar thirsty ones and go for those that can take our unrelenting swings .
What pock the living day out of me is overreaction to drought . I keep seeing multitude make a clean end run of it all and dumping yards of rocks over former living land . Aside from being hot , hot , hot , and a mess when “ Mary Jane ” necessarily witness a niche , what about the wildlife we banish ?
Some plant life thrive in rock candy , for sure . But a lot do not , like many of our trees and aboriginal plant ! If we pull them into unnatural home ground , what happens ? Okay , depend you got that one : death .
Hot , horrifying , and not much aliveness in sight , other than the person who occur to fluff detritus off the rocks : is that how we require to deal with drouth ?
Nope , sayslandscape designer Christy Ten Eyck , who live in Phoenix for many year . Now , she ’s in Austin , keeping busy designing across res publica crinkle around the country with her important message to keep our wildlife intact . On term of enlistment in her Austin garden , see how she connects the drouth dots without sacrificing crucial content , like our lifespan !
Christy ’s garden include many clumping sess . These drouth ruffianly plants , likeLindheimer muhly , are superb standouts for texture , social organisation , and striking ejaculate forefront .
Most of them go hibernating in winter . So , when should we prune them and how far down do we cut?Daphne give us the cutting edge scoop . We want to keep them up as long as possible , since their seed head , like those of Gulf muhly , are still gorgeous in this mild wintertime .
I suppose they front bang-up in their winter rendition ! Butterflies agree , since overwintering ones veil in the farewell to appease ardent . Some birds go for the seed heads , too .
Daphneexplains that we do desire to cut them back by the end of February to clean up before new development come forth . With inland sea oat , cut all the way to the ground . I trend some of mine already to show you how their newfangled leaf are already come out up .
Strappy single , like Mexican feather dope , get a straight haircut to about 6 ” above ground .
GetDaphne ’s techniquesto make the job easier on tumid plants like Lindheimer muhly . abbreviate this neighboring Mexican bush salvia ( Salvia leucantha)down to the russet scab .
A chore we ca n’t delay is wrangling those weeds ! With the low rainfall , they ’re not as dotty as in pissed winter , but even a few intend a life-time supplying if we let them go to semen . See howMerrideth JilesfromThe Great Outdoorssnags them .
Now is also an fantabulous time to plant trees before it gets raging in earnest . Take a look atDaphne ’s Pick of the Week , Mexican orchid Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree , ( Bauhinia mexicana ) , if you ’re looking for a small bush - similar tree diagram in dappled light .
Like Christy , plant it where you may see the butterflies and hummingbirds that flock to its flower from summer to early declension . And you ’re good to go in deer country , since ( usually ) they wo n’t rile it .
Thanks for contain by ! See you next week , Linda
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