Gardening During A Drought
by Mike Lizotte
As I look at my Tulips peeking up through the snow – yes snow – I have visions of beautiful burst of color soon to follow! While I wait for Mother Nature to bring us warmer days, I can’t help but wonder how all our customers in the drought stricken areas of the country are going to tackle their gardens this season. Nevada, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah and California are just a few states that are dealing with severe drought conditions with no end in sight. Mandatory cutbacks on water usage, by up to 25%, are being enforced in entire states.
A big part of my job is helping provide solutions to people's gardening problems. From brightening up a shaded area, to establishing Wildflowers on that hard to maintain slope, the satisfaction of not only providing a solution, but also having a success story from them a few months down the road is very rewarding!
This drought is serious business. Here at American Meadows, I’m always researching and working with growers from around the country trying to find the most drought resistant wildflower species in hopes of providing a solution for all our customers being impacting by these serious conditions.
Our Xeriscape Mixes and our Drought Tolerate Mix contain some of the hardiest species designed to withstand long periods of time without water. They also make great alternatives to your water-hog lawn.
We have over 100 individual wildflower species as well that would tolerate these less than ideal growing conditions. Wildflowers are some of the most resilient species found in the plant kingdom which makes them a great option. Don’t give up – You can enjoy amazing color this season and we’re here to help!
So I’d like to leave you with a recent success story from Corey W. in Los Angeles, CA that is sure to inspire anyone dealing with these drought conditions!
"I planted southwest wildflower mix in my front yard in Los Angeles in November. It is now March and I'm thrilled at the beauty ease of care! And with our drought conditions, this is the perfect option for lawn replacement. LA DWP provides rebates of almost $4 per square foot to replace lawns with water wise landscaping."