Don’t Water
Gardeners: Don’t like the new rates? You don’t have to pay them.
(Dec. 17, 2009) My fellow Eurekans are all worked up over the new water rates that we’re going to pay now that the pulp mill isn’t kicking in its share anymore. E-mails are circulating among small business owners urging us to march on City Hall and make our displeasure known. Educational sessions are being held to explain these new rates to disgruntled citizens. And just recently a woman was quoted in the newspaper as complaining that it will now cost her $174 to water her garden.
I can’t do anything about the displeased small business owners or the disgruntled citizens, but I can offer a suggestion for the gardeners who fear that they won’t be able to water their gardens. My suggestion is:
Stop watering.
Seriously. Don’t water your garden. Ever.
Crazy, you say? Not at all. Plant life did just fine on this planet for millions of years before there were garden hoses. And as a garden designer from Tucson once said to me, “How do you know it’s drought-tolerant if you keep watering it?”
So out of a sincere desire to help my fellow Eurekans stop complaining about their water bills, I offer these suggestions for creating a no-water garden. And for those of you who are about to crumple this column up, hurl it across the room and call the Journal to cancel your subscription, fear not: I’ve also got some ideas for a lower-water garden. So settle down. Read on.
The Easy, Cheap, Sure-Fire Approach to a No-Water Garden: Stop watering. Right now. This is a perfect time to begin, because it rains in the winter anyway and any young-ish plants will have a little time to get settled in.
Next summer, resist the temptation! Do not water. At all. Period. I’m willing to bet that most of your plants will be just fine. Some of them will bloom for a shorter period of time, but just cut them back when they finish blooming and see if they don’t bloom again later in the year. These even applies to trees and shrubs: My apple tree did just fine on almost no water at all, and my tibouchina (princess flower) got not a drop last year. Try it and see.
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ONE Comments
Comment / By Paying attention / Dec. 18, 2009, 8:02 a.m.
“And just recently a woman was quoted in the newspaper as complaining that it will now cost her $174 to water her garden.”
On Tuesday this woman stood before the City Council and said that she had made a mistake about what the cost of her new water bill would be. I believe it was 50% lower than she had calculated.