Low Flow Landscape

I read an interesting article last week about low-flow landscaping.  Since we are always looking to reduce water use here in Pine Cove, the title peeked my interest.  I thought perhaps this article might have some worth while tips we could use, even though it is really geared towards off the hill type of gardening and landscaping.  This article was written by Susan Harris and she started off by talking about builders who are facing mandates that require low-flow toilets, shower head and faucets, but then install lush, green lawns.  Kind of an oxymoron since landscapes can soak up between 30% and 60% of all residential water.  I notice myself that once my vegetable garden goes in, my water bill goes up.  So I would like to find a way to provide the fresh, organic produce to my family that my garden provides, while still conserving water. 

While much of the article had nothing to do with us, as it focused a lot on lawn removal, it did say that in California, 20% of the electricity consumed is used just to pump water.  That is a lot of electricity.  So reducing water usage will automatically reduce electricity usage.  Food for thought. 

All in all, the article gave no new tips about saving water in the landscape.  It did have information on lawn pesticides and fertilizers and how the runoff ends up in waterways and creates dead zones where fish and aquatic plants can no longer survive.  It also gave some good examples of landscapes with very little grass.  So while it wasn't really helpful to us, it is good info to pass along to our friends and family living off the hill.  Perhaps they will want to start removing their grass in favor of more water friendly landscaping choices.