WaterSaver Gardening

Find over 500 WaterSaver plant selections on GardenStyleSA.com.

Turfgrass

Turfgrass requires more maintenance and more water than other landscapes. Limit turfgrass to areas with a purpose and choose a drought tolerant grass. Warm season turfgrasses for the San Antonio area include:

• Bermuda grass – Full sun. It can be invasive in adjacent beds and hard to remove.
• Buffalo grass – Full sun. This grass has a natural look and does not take high foot traffic. Mow only once or twice a year.
• Zoysia grass – This lawn option can take some shade and traffic.

Recommended turfgrass management practices:

• Do not use turf as a default ground cover. Install it for a reason, such as a play area or for pets.
• Have at least six inches of soil depth.
• Let it go dormant (brown) in the summer.
• Add ¼ to ½ inch of compost in early spring.

Irrigation

A well-planned landscape will need little supplemental irrigation once established. Homes with in-ground irrigation systems use 50%-70% more water than homes without them, averaging 2,000 gallons of water each time it is run. This can easily add up to be more than your monthly indoor water use and affect your water bill.

Best option? Design a WaterSaver landscape that can thrive without an irrigation system.

Tips for irrigation system owners:

• For established landscapes, evaluate areas where plants no longer need regular watering and consider retiring the irrigation system in those areas.
• Learn how to use your controller and only run manually as needed.
• Monitor the system for leaks, breaks, and other costly mishaps regularly.

Ground Covers

Mulch is anything you put in a garden to cover soil. It helps keep moisture in the soil, manages small weeds, and can keep the soil cooler in summer.

Two types of mulch:

• Inorganic: This includes decomposed granite, pebbles, or larger rocks. It needs more maintenance to keep neat. Place away from the street to prevent clogging storm drains.
• Organic: Shredded bark, wood chips, and leaves have the added benefit of decomposing slowly, adding structure and nutrients to the soil. You will need to replace organic mulch annually.

Tip: Leaves are a great free organic mulch, arrive in your yard once a year with no hauling, and build good soil structure as they decompose. Just let them fall and rake them into your beds.

Learn more about mulch and compost at GardenStyleSA.com

Maintenance

The goal of a WaterSaver landscape is to reduce water, eliminate the need for fertilizer and pesticides, and increase biodiversity. These are generally low maintenance yards for most people.

• Hand water to establish plants and then water deeply and infrequently in the absence of rain.
• Prune trees and large shrubs only as needed for shaping or safety.
• Support wildlife by waiting until February to cut back perennials that die back to the roots every winter and return in spring. Seeds and woody stems left throughout the winter provide food and cover for wildlife.
• Stay on top of weeds in new beds for the first one or two years. Once plants are full grown, they will shade out most weeds.
• Mulch beds with organic bark mulch or leaves to minimize weeds.

Tip: Weeding after a rain is easier.

Appropriate watering and pruning will lead to healthier, more sustainable landscapes.

WaterSaver landscapes need no fertilizers or pesticides to thrive. To explore recommended maintenance practices, visit GardenStyleSA.com.

Welcoming Wildlife

Including native plants in landscapes provides three basic habitat elements which will attract and sustain birds, butterflies, hummingbirds, and other wildlife.

1. Shelter for protection and nesting – a mix of native or adapted low, medium, and tall evergreen and deciduous shrubs and trees.
2. Food for sustenance – a diversity of native and adapted flower colors will attract different pollinators.
3. Add a birdbath to cover the last element, water – a simple dish with shallow standing water or a fountain-type will attract a diversity of species.

KYSE WaterSaver Garden and WaterSaver Community Showcase Plants to Know and Grow

Looking for plants that grow best in San Antonio soils and are the most efficient water users? What is good for mulch? What kind of materials do you use for pathways that will still allow water to reach plants? Come and see! The San Antonio Botanical Garden’s KYSE WaterSaver Garden is a co-operative project with the San Antonio Water System and a demonstration for home gardeners.

Located on approximately one-third acre at the top of the hill by the Lucile Halsell Conservatory, the KYSE WaterSaver Garden demonstrates practical home gardening techniques that are the most water friendly. Showcasing drip irrigation and turf bubbler watering techniques, samples of mulches, and permeable paving surfaces and plantings that perform well with San Antonio’s climate and water requirements; the garden offers conservation solutions.

WaterSaver Community features five cottages that demonstrate different types of drought-tolerant landscaping, including one showing what not to plant. Find a variety of landscapes that minimize lawn and include more groundcover, perennial flowerbeds and herbs, native and adapted plants, and patio space.

Sponsored by the San Antonio Water System (SAWS), WaterSaver Community is an exhibit designed to inspire residents to create beautiful landscapes that conserve water. Located near the Auld House and the Old Fashioned Garden, WaterSaver Community is a wonderful, appealing, and educational neighborhood at the Botanical Garden. It is a charming cluster of miniature cottages with colorful diminutive gardens whose blooms belie their thrifty ways with water. Each tiny cottage is a different architectural style, complemented by its own front yard or attractive well-adapted drought-tolerant plants.