Watering

Too much water is the most common cause of decline in landscape trees and shrubs, either through directly killing plants or making them more prone to disease. Too much watering can result in fertilizer runoff into storm drains and pollutes waterways.

Checking your irrigation system periodically to reduce leaks and help conserve water usage. Photo: L Stiles Almost a third of Marin Countys water is used for irrigation. The majority of Marin residents use around 8,000 gallons or less of water per month.

Finding the right irrigation system for your garden is essential to saving our natural resources. Photo: Ivan Horvat, Pixabay Water is a precious resource; conserving it is a key to Earth-friendly gardening.

Water is a precious resource: use it wisely. Photo: Amritanshu Sirdar, Unsplash A well-designed landscape can not only add beauty to your home, but also can reduce your heating and cooling costs.

The most effective irrigation systems are designed, installed, and maintained to distribute water as uniformly as possible and only when and where water is needed. That means applying water where roots can use it.

The most water conserving edibles are winter/spring crops that take advantage of rain and crops with the shortest days to maturity. Photo: PlantMaster Water is a precious resource whether it's being used in the edible garden or elsewhere.

Orange County averages about 13 inches of rain per year (Metropolitan Water District of Orange County), which puts us a few inches away from being a desert, which averages ten inches of rain per year. Recent drought years have focused attention on the amount of water we use in our landscape.

Water-resilient Landscapes, Part 1 HandoutWater-resilient Landscapes, Part 2 Handout Replacing Your Lawn Handout (2017) Removing & Replacing Your Lawn Presentation (2017) Water Efficient Gardening Presentation (2015) Water Efficient Gardening Handout (2015) Water-resilient Landscapes, part 1 (2020)...

While rains in February and March have contributed to rising reservoirs and mountain snowpack, the fact remains that California is in a drought.

Links to information on gardening and irrigation, water-wise plants and landscaping, and water-wise living.