Hi Folks! we are taking a break so tony can go back to school. We are still available for consults.

In a recent LA Times article from Jeanette Marantos, she quoted experts about general good rules for drought resistant plants for the Inland Empire.

Here are the experts’ tips:

— Look at nursery tags and choose plants that are listed as drought-tolerant or water-wise.
— Get your plants into the ground in late fall to early spring, so the roots have a chance to settle in before the temperatures get too hot.
— Train the roots to grow deep instead of spreading out along the surface. That means watering them deeply once a week, so the soil gets wet many inches into the ground, instead of several short and shallow watering sessions that force roots to grow laterally closer to the surface looking for moisture. Once the plants are mature, they will need little or no watering beyond winter rains. In fact, too much summer watering can kill many native plants, so expect to reduce their water usage down to a monthly drink if there’s no rain.
— Mulch around any new plantings to discourage weeds, keep the soil cooler and help retain moisture
— For container planting, understand that even drought-tolerant plants need more water in pots than they would in the ground because the soil in containers dries out faster than soil in the ground, and the root depth is limited by the size of your pot.

https://www.latimes.com/lifestyle/story/2022-02-19/drought-tolerant-plants-dry-weather