Plant this Wildlife Attracting Garden at home. The design below was developed for your home garden by Arboretum experts. The plan below is based on a 10-foot by 10-foot garden bed. Click here for a printable pdf version.

 

Plants are curious creatures. Unlike us, they cannot get up and get a drink of water when they are parched. By nature, they are rooted to the spot and rely on Mother Nature or a nearby gardener to supply water. Here are five tips for establishing new plants to make your garden truly drought tolerant:

NEED A LAWN REPLACEMENT?

This deep-rooted, low-water use, low-maintenance groundcover is an excellent lawn replacement or groundcover in sun or partial shade. It grows tightly to the ground, suppressing weeds once established, and is bred to be sterile so it will not reseed in places where you don’t want it.

Ellen Zagory, Director of Public Horticulture for the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden gives tips on a successful summer garden.

Horticulturist Stacey Parker shares her method for breaking up her lawn using cardboard to accommodate the drought conditions.