Now that the weather's warming up, it's time to get serious about saving water in the garden. Here in Long Beach of course we can only water Monday, Thursday and Saturday. I'm trying to winnow down my lawn little by little to eliminate the turf and shut down the sprinklers entirely. I'm about halfway there. My next big challenge is the parkway. Currently, there's a shapely magnolia whose roots are starting to wreak havoc with the sidewalk. Half of the groundcover is well-established ivy which requires trimming 3 or 4 times a year. The rest is patchy weeds. I'm toying with the idea of alternating paving stones with low-water use plans.
Aquafornia suggests decomposed granite: elegant, tough, and pedestrian friendly. It's a little stark when positioned between a traditional turf cover and a garden-like grouping of agapanthus. Maybe a trip out to the Water Conservation Garden at Cuyamace College would be inspiring. They have a ground cover exhibit that alternates plants and hardscape that work as alternatives to turf. The H2ouse Garden Gallery features several parking strip plantings. I particularly liked the Snow in Summer with Tom Thumb Flax arrangement. Now I'll head over to The Garden Spot at BeWaterWise.com for some planting tips
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