|
| Intro
| Planning/Design
| Practical Turf Areas |
Plant Selection | Soil Improvement |
Mulches | Irrigation |
Maintenance | Plant
List |
PLANNING & DESIGN
[Click
here for printable version]
Planning
The first step in
developing your garden is to have a plan. This
can be achieved by first deciding on your needs.
What do you want from your garden in terms of
outdoor activities, gardening interests, and
functional concerns such as pathways, storage
and service areas. Next comes a site inventory.
Make an assessment of these items: Topography,
orientation to the sun, existing vegetation,
views both good and bad, remarkable features of
the neighborhood, prevailing winds and
microclimates provided by buildings etc. The
third step is to come up with a strategy. Decide
on the type of style that suits your house and
neighborhood. Provide areas for activities,
services and storage. Take advantage of views
including those from the house. Provide for
screening and privacy. Provide outdoor seating
areas with sun and shade. Provide the pathways.
Work out a strategy for grading and drainage.
Plan to channel runoff from your house,
outbuildings and paved surfaces to supplement
the water elsewhere, for example, to an existing shade
tree. Whether or not the planning process is
done on paper, it is a good idea to record your
finished plan, for reference, since it is often
necessary to schedule the work over an extended
period of time. Also having a plan on paper
makes it much easier to tackle the next step:
Design.
Design
The objective
here is to work out a strategy that will be
defined by hydro-zones. This concept is based on
the idea of a water budget. Over all you are
going to reduce water consumption, as compared
to the traditional garden, but the savings will
not be uniformly applied. Think of an oasis.
Establish a core
area in the garden where water use is highest.
This could be a lawn, or an outdoor space
surrounded by lush plantings. This area uses
plants that are medium in water demand. Usually
this area is located close to the house for
convenience, for visibility from the house and
for the cooling affect it will have on the house
in summer. Extending out from this mini-oasis
there is a transitional zone that relies on
plants with low water demand. And extending
further is the driest zone. In this zone you
will use native and similar plants adapted to
our arid climate.
| Intro
| Planning/Design
| Practical Turf Areas |
Plant Selection | Soil Improvement |
Mulches | Irrigation |
Maintenance | Plant
List |
|
