We are experiencing the worst drought in our history and the City of LA is imposing these landscape water restrictions for our area as of June 1.
Watering is permitted :
-2 times a week
-No more than 8 minutes per station or 15 minutes if you have water-conserving nozzles
-Between the hours of 4pm to 9am.
On your assigned day:
Odd number addresses -Monday and Friday
Even number address – Thursday and Sunday
In addition to the restrictions, there are other ways to conserve water.
Conserve with your sprinklers!
-Set the sprinklers to run at night or in the very early morning, to avoid evaporation and to permit the plants to absorb the moisture.
-Either homeowner and gardener should make a point of test running sprinklers once a month, for a few minutes per station, to check for broken or poorly aimed sprinkler heads, or obvious leaks. Do not let your sprinkler water run into the gutters or water the sidewalks.
Conserve with lawn size and plant selection!
-Reduce the amount of lawn on your property, especially in front yards.
-Widen planting beds and plant drought tolerant shrubs instead of swaths of unused lawn.
-Consider drought tolerant plants. Drought tolerant does not necessarily mean cactuses and gravel. There are many beautiful Mediterranean and Australian plants that work in our gardens far better than such old favorites as azaleas, hydrangeas and magnolias (all water hogs).
Trees are the priority!
-Take care of your trees, as they are very expensive to replace and they have many benefits, such as temperature reduction, pollution absorption, and beauty.
-Tree watering is not part of the water restrictions. Keeping our urban trees healthy is a critical to reduce the impact of the drought.
-Use a soaker hose to water them with a very slow drip of water, in the early morning or evening, for several hours at a time, once a month or so if possible.
-Do not trim trees in the hot weather as that will stress them. Wait until they are dormant, in the winter, to prune most plants.
Wait to put in new plants!
-Be aware that any new plantings require water to get established, even drought tolerant plants so don’t plant in the summer months.
Resources for more information and city rebates:
The Sunset Western Garden book is a great resource to understand water needs of various plants. There are many copies available for loan at the library.