Metrosideros or Pohutukawa, as an evergreen tree or large shrub, is both a useful screening plant, and a beautifully decorative landscape bush. Its tolerance of drought, pests and disease, make it a must for many gardens in dry, Mediterranean climates.
Metrosideros is the botanical name for a genus of landscape trees and large shrubs known commonly by its Maori name as Pohutukawa, or New Zealand Christmas Tree. As a large evergreen plant, it is ideal for screening purposes, but is also highly ornamental with its fine form, attractive, leathery foliage, and showy annual flowers.
Despite the large number of species and their wide geographical range, most Sages require similar growing conditions. Most are suitable for dry climate gardens.
Sage or Salvia is a large genus containing over 900 species and numerous varieties. Species of Sage grow wild in a wide range of locations, from South Africa, the Mediterranean, West and Central Asia, and many parts of North America and Mexico. Most species however, a few exceptions notwithstanding, require similar growing conditions, and these by happy coincidence, are suitable for gardens in dry climates.
Artificial grass is not a viable, long-term alternative to a living lawn, but there are a number of objective arguments that are legitimately used in its favor. This article puts the differences between the two into perspective.
In dry climates, water shortages are making the large suburban lawn a luxury less and less people can afford. A garden where 90% or so of its area is taken up by grass is becoming increasingly unsustainable in terms of water consumption and the resulting costs.
Gardeners in dry, Mediterranean climates should always be on the look out for water-conserving ground cover plants that are attractive and easy to grow. One such plant is the Morning Glory, Convolvulus sabatius.
Morning Glory is commonly associated with rampant climbing plants belonging to the genus Ipomoea. There is however a species known botanically as Convolvulus sabatius, (C. mauritanicus) which while having climbing properties, can be grown as a low-growing ground cover plant. Considering that its water requirements are very modest, and that is so easy to grow, it is an excellent plant for gardens in Mediterranean and other dry climates.
The need to save water in dry climate gardens, involves reducing the size of the lawn. This is best achieved by changing the way we approach garden design.
Water shortages in dry climates are forcing home gardeners and professional landscapers to reduce the area of the garden taken up by the lawn. The trouble is that nothing that can replace a lawn in the field in which a lawn works. Young children cannot play as safely on hard paving, you can’t really play soccer on wooden decking, and it’s hardly practical to lie down on a bed of ground cover plants, as one would on grass.
The lawn’s appearance can be made or spoilt by the quality of the edge. Keeping a neat lawn edge is especially difficult in Mediterranean and other hot, dry, climates.
A scruffy, untidy lawn edge is one of the things that really frustrate the average home gardener. Most of us dream of having the neat, clean edge we see in fine public gardens and perhaps in some of our neighbor’s gardens as well. In cool, moist, summer climates, where grasses from seed are generally grown, there’s no great problem in cutting a straight edge with a half-moon spade a couple of times a year or so, and then maintaining that edge with garden shears or perhaps with a mechanical strimmer.
There are a number of reasons why a lawn succeeds or not. In dry climates, the most crucial factor is irrigation.
There are many factors contributing to the success or otherwise of a lawn. A main cause leading to failure is a compacted soil, which lacks oxygen in the root zone, and does not allow for the adequate infiltration of water. Other vital factors include a correct mowing regime, a suitable feeding programme, and periodic de-thatching. Adequate moisture though is the single most important question as to whether a grass will succeed or not.
Many home gardeners in dry climates are reluctant to grow roses largely because of their high consumption of water. Here are some tips for having your roses and some water to spare as well.
Roses have traditionally been considered the “Queen of the Garden?. Despite the vast range of flowering plants available to the gardener, the rose at its best, is still unmatched for flower beauty and sometimes for delicious fragrance as well. Yet roses have been falling out of favor over the past decade or so, especially in dry climates, largely because of their relatively high consumption of water.
Understanding the design function of landscaping shrubs can help you make wiser choices when planning your garden, or adding some plants to an existing border.
When choosing which shrubs to include in your garden, your starting point may be based on your favorite likes and dislikes. As counter intuitive as it may sound, this approach is mistaken. Instead, you can think like a professional garden designer, by allotting a specific design role to each element in the garden, including the landscape shrubs and bushes.
The gardener in a dry climate where water is at a premium, may look jealously at garden books from wetter climates, and dream of growing acres of lawn. In fact, reducing the amount of lawn invariably leads to better design solutions.
Leafing through a garden design book the other day, I was struck by a curious fact. The book is one of many by John Brookes, the renowned British designer. In virtually every case study presented, the size of the lawn is greatly reduced in comparison to the standard suburban garden most of us would recognize. As there is no indication in the book that Mr. Brookes is relating to water conserving gardening, it is safe to assume that design is his paramount issue of concern.
