Blazing Star – a xeric, night-blooming show-off
Native plants are tough and will thrive with little care – right? We’ve all heard that. Low maintenance! Use native plants! That’s what we often hear but getting native plants to thrive in your wildlife garden may take some care.
dried grasses adding texture to a wildlife garden
In the heat of midsummer many native plant gardeners are looking for plants that will continue to bloom for months providing nectar for pollinators and creating a beautiful garden to be enjoyed. While this can be accomplished through planting a garden with diverse species that provide a constant progression of blooming flowers, most of us do not have the resources to invest in a wide variety of plants especially in the early stages of creating our wildlife gardens.
Liatris shines in the heat!
Water is the alternative to species diversity. How much water depends on your climate, water availability, budget, and your landscaping goals. If you want your native wildlife garden to be lush and beautiful it needs some water. If you happen to live in a place where Mother Nature provides over 20 inches of annual precipitation you may not need supplemental water and you may be able to capture rain water or use grey water in your landscape.
xeric landscaping
In the West we experience very hot temperatures, very low humidity and often no rain for long periods of time. With extremely low annual precipitation every bit of moisture counts. Capturing rain water is a fantasy for us – there isn’t any. Using grey water is effective in small landscapes but not in larger settings.
summer color
Our plants are acclimated to semi-arid conditions and survive by growing quickly during spring moisture, producing seeds as early as possible and then disappearing – not exactly creating a lush summer long garden. So how can we maintain a lush garden if that is what we want? Each gardener must decide whether to let plants senesce (go dormant) as they encounter adverse conditions like drought or excessive heat or to provide supplemental water that allows for continuous flowering and greenery or letting plants.
Scarlet Gilia – color for hot spots!
Water is an essential ingredient in the establishment phase of any garden, native or not. Roots must be able to penetrate into the soil and have enough moisture to expand. While xeric species require little water once their roots have penetrated the earth, they need moisture to establish.
White Evening Primrose – loving dried ‘gumbo’ soils
Once plants are a year old they are usually good to go and need little supplemental water to survive. That said, thriving is not always the same as surviving.
Native plants are tough and resilient when planted in appropriate habitats but that doesn’t mean they will always look green and lush. Water makes the difference. Whether or not to water depends on your landscaping goals. If you are comfortable with letting plants turn brown and die back then watering is not necessary. On the other hand if you want a vibrant garden through the season some water will be essential to keep them blooming longer.
As wildlife gardeners we are not only providing habitat for seed-gathering birds that enjoy the brown seeds remaining on senesced plants but we also want to nurture caterpillars, insects and small mammals that are looking for green foliage. While there are plant species that persist well into summer droughts most large-leaved deciduous plants that insects love need water to persist.
Late summer plants in a street boulevard
Robert Nold in his book High and Dry: Gardening with Cold-Hardy, Dryland Plants encourages gardeners to try out a wide variety of plant species and to utilize those species that survive without supplemental water. Any that die are not replanted. His gardens are great examples of successful low maintenance gardens (not all native) and he is perfectly comfortable leaving plants to grow as they would in the wild – not providing supplemental water at all.
Sulfur Buckwheat – love the heat!
The choice is for each of us to make. I have some gardens that are rarely, if ever, watered. Right now (in August) they are rather spent and most plants are seeding. I have gardens I choose to water occasionally that provide examples of what mature plants look like. I don’t live in a community that restricts water usage and we are not enduring a drought. Many don’t have this luxury, but it is still possible to install native plants, especially in the early spring or late fall and get them established while temperatures are cooler and natural moisture is available.
Water conservation is imperative for all of us! Minimizing the use of water in gardens is essential but so is providing habitat for pollinators and animals. It’s a balance – one each of us must determine for ourselves and our planet.
The right plant for the right place is imperative! Placing a plant in it’s proper habitat ensure it needs minimal assistance from us to thrive.
Watering is the choice between survival and thriving for many native plant species.
© 2014, Kathy Settevendemie. All rights reserved. This article is the property of Native Plants and Wildlife Gardens. We have received many requests to reprint our work. Our policy is that you are free to use a short excerpt which must give proper credit to the author, and must include a link back to the original post on our site. Please use the contact form above if you have any questions.
