Thought of the Day

Drought Tolerant Favorites

Silver Color

• Artemesia ‘Powis Castle’
• Convolvulous – Bush Morning Glory
• Cerastium – Snow in Summer
• Sontolina – chamaecyparis
• Lavender – all types
• Stachys – Lamb’s Ear
• Grevillea ‘Penola’

Non-deciduous shrubs

• Cistus – Rock Rose
• Helianthemum – Sunrose
• Hemerocallis – Day Lily (there are evergreen varieties)
• Zauschernia – California Fuschia
• Correa – Australian Fuschia
• Coleonema – all types
• Pittosporum – all types
• Dietes – Fortnight lily
• Rosemary

Grasses

• Pennisetum ‘Rubrum’
• Pennisetum ‘Hamlin or Little Bunny’
• Miscanthus
• Helictotrchon – Blue Oat grass
• Blue Fescue
• Carex – sedge
• Muhenbergia rigens – deer grass

Perennial Color

• Coreopsis – all types
• Shasta Daisy
• Echinacea – Purple Cone Flower
• Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’
• Achillea – Yarrow
• Gaillardia
• Gaura
• Nepeta – Catmint
• Perovska – Russian Sage
• Salvia – ‘Hot lips’ ‘Maynight’, etc.
• Knipfofia – red Hot Poker
• Anigothanzthus – Kangaroo Paws
• Plumbago
• Ground Cover Roses

Aloe

• Erigeron – Santa Barbara Daisy
• Lantana
• Brachycome – Swan River Daisy
• Felicia
• Aster

Ground Cover

• Delosperma – ice plant
• Thymus
• Gazania
• Erigeron
• Rosemary
• Verbena

Ground Cover Rose

• Myporum
• Juniperus ‘Wiltonii’

Weed Fabric

While speaking to a gardening class recently I was asked whether I recommend using a weed barrier or weed fabric. I have been asked this question before so I thought that I should share my thoughts with…

 

The long and short of it is, there is a time and a place for weed fabric. For instance, in my front yard I have a large expanse of pea gravel. There are a few plants planted amongst the gravel, but for the most part it is a wide, open space. I would highly recommend weed fabric (or “weed barrier” as it is sometimes called) in such an area – otherwise weeds could easily push up through rocks, getting all the sun and errant water they needed, and I would be weeding constantly. Along the borders of the pea-graveled bed, I planted very densely, leaving little space for invasive weeds to mar the landscape. Therefore I didn’t see the need for weed fabric. The plants I placed block out the light and keep the weeds from growing. Another built in defense is my drip-system, which supplies water to an individual plant, rather than the whole area.

 

Weed fabric does not guarantee a weedless garden. There really is no absolute solution, accept foregoing plants and pouring concrete over everything, but that is not generally a look I promote. Weeds will find their way into any planting: Birds drop seeds, the wind will blow seeds on top of the fabric, and after a good rain, you will unwanted sprouts. Weed fabric is simply a good preventative, not a cure. Adding weed fabric to an entire landscape can increase your costs considerably so be judicious about where you put it – an area with plants placed far apart, a sparse planting, or decorative rock gardens are good candidates.