Posted by Sunset, May 1, 2009 in Ornamentals
, Sustainable gardening
, Techniques
By Sharon Cohoon, Sunset senior garden writer
Las Vegas is not a climate you can bring hostas into, says Donna Eadie, one of the homeowner's whose garden was on the Garden Conservancy's Open Days Tour in Las Vegas in April. A climate that only delivers an average of 4 inches of rain a year, has what most of the country would not recognize as soil ("It's all rock and sand," says Donna), and that can deliver snow one day and soar to the 90s four days later requires changing your preconceptions about gardening, she says.
"Picking the right plants is the key to success here," says Eadie, speaking from several decades of experience. Cactus and yucca are good choices, of course, but so are native salvias, penstemon, chocolate flower, and Perky Sue. Tough xeric non-natives such as lantana and bottle-brush also stand up to the area's challenging conditions.
Las Vegas is not a climate you can bring hostas into, says Donna Eadie, one of the homeowner's whose garden was on the Garden Conservancy's Open Days Tour in Las Vegas in April. A climate that only delivers an average of 4 inches of rain a year, has what most of the country would not recognize as soil ("It's all rock and sand," says Donna), and that can deliver snow one day and soar to the 90s four days later requires changing your preconceptions about gardening, she says.
"Picking the right plants is the key to success here," says Eadie, speaking from several decades of experience. Cactus and yucca are good choices, of course, but so are native salvias, penstemon, chocolate flower, and Perky Sue. Tough xeric non-natives such as lantana and bottle-brush also stand up to the area's challenging conditions.
Even roses can manage the climate, she says, if you choose the right ones, such as red Flower Carpet shrub roses, which thrive in her garden.
photo by Sharon Licari
Eadie's plants are all on drip irrigation with one- to two-gallon heads per plant. At the height of summer, when temperatures routinely reach 115 or more, her thirstiest plants get watered three times a week for an hour, for a total of 3 gallons.
Eadie's plants are all on drip irrigation with one- to two-gallon heads per plant. At the height of summer, when temperatures routinely reach 115 or more, her thirstiest plants get watered three times a week for an hour, for a total of 3 gallons.
More xeric plants like cactus get the equivalent of a cup of water a week. Her summer irrigation costs are approximately $15 a month, says Eadie; the rest of the year, even less.
If you embrace the climate you live in and choose plants that love its conditions, gardening is easy even here, says Eadie. And her garden proves it. It was, incidentally and not suprisingly, a winner in the Southern Nevada Water Authority's Landscaping Award program in 2008. Click here to see another photo of Eadie's garden on their website.
If you embrace the climate you live in and choose plants that love its conditions, gardening is easy even here, says Eadie. And her garden proves it. It was, incidentally and not suprisingly, a winner in the Southern Nevada Water Authority's Landscaping Award program in 2008. Click here to see another photo of Eadie's garden on their website.
