High on Dry

REDDING, Calif. -- Don Brand’s 1-acre yard on the eastern edge of Redding has no snails. Too dry for them.

Brand doesn’t start watering the yard until June. Then he waters only every seven to 10 days — even the lawn. Last year, when temperatures blistered near 115 for several days, Brand kept the water off for two weeks — just for fun. The yard did fine.No, Brand does not have some rare, super-rich soil. And, no, his landscaping is not lava rock accented by an occasional cactus.

The yard, just off of Airport Road, is a thick patchwork of plants in various sizes, textures and colors. Every bit of ground seems to be covered with some sort of branching, blooming, sprawling bit of botany.

For those of us who constantly soak our gardens all summer, it is difficult to believe that someone can get away such an approach.

Brand says it comes down to this: Most of us are watering way too much.

He believes frequent watering leads to wimpy, dependent plants. If plants realize someone’s not going to crank on the sprinklers every morning, they’ll sink their roots deeper in search of moisture. They’ll learn to take care of themselves.
"We have to treat the plants tenderly at the beginning, but be firm with them, just like we do with our children," Brand said. "You have to start out with a young plant and treat it with a little toughness."

Brand, a horticulturist at Turtle Bay Exploration Park in Redding, has given talks on using less water in the garden. Water will become not as readily available and more expensive in time, he predicts. Besides, a garden that uses less water can weather hot spells and rarely suffers from fungus problems. And it’s a lot easier to leave if you go on vacation for a week.
But you can’t just turn off the sprinklers. Try that with plants used to frequent saturation and you’ll quickly have a yard of tan and brown. Getting plants to thrive on the dry side takes time.

Brand’s garden has been growing for more than 20 years. He and his wife, Linda, moved to their home in 1973, planted a few trees and put in a small yard. In the early ’80s, Brand decided he wanted to landscape the entire acre — every inch of bare dirt.

Worried about the cost of pumping well water to irrigate such a large yard, Brand began the project by researching plants with low water demands. He discovered there are many. Redding’s climate of cool, wet winters and dry, hot summers is suited to many interesting and attractive plants from the Mediterranean, Australia and Africa. Even plants that naturally like moist conditions, such as cannas, will grow under a dry regime, they just won’t get as large and showy, Brand discovered.
His yard has the same omnipresent red clay soil that most north state gardeners face. He considers it a plus. Clay holds moisture well, he explained.

"I feel sorry for the people with the sandy, loam soils," he said.

You can’t just plop a seedling directly into clay, however. Brand mixes in sand to improve drainage and organic matter, such as compost, to add nutrients.

For the first two or three years, Brand watches plants closely. At first he waters every three days. As they grow, he backs off on the frequency. Plants that have been raised on constant watering can be retrained to go longer between watering by using the same weaning method, Brand said.

The decision on when to water should be based on the plants’ needs, not a schedule, he said.

"You can’t put a timer on and just walk away," he said.

Brand relies on indicator plants, such as vinca, four o’clocks and hardy aster, to let him know when to turn on the water. Those plants stress before others, but bounce right back.

It’s important to water long enough and slowly enough to allow water to sink in. How long depends on the type of irrigation system, plants, location and soil.

Let an empty tuna can be your guide, Brand suggested. Water long enough to fill the can with 2 inches of water, he suggested. Brand uses old-fashioned oscillating sprinklers and it takes about six hours for them to put down 2 inches of water in his yard.

A thick layer of organic mulch helps retain moisture and keeps the soil surface cooler, he said.

Go easy on the fertilizer. Brand fertilizes only when plants are actively growing. Fertilizing plants during times they don’t normally grow puts extra stress on the plant.

"A lot of our spring-flowering shrubs go into a state of just kind of hunkering down and waiting for summer to be through," he said. That’s not the time to fertilize them.

His lawn is drought-tolerant zoysia grass, which turns brown in winter but takes summer heat in stride and grows slowly. He can go from early August to mid-October without mowing.

Brand’s latest project is putting a group of plants to a "Survivor" test. He’s selected plants that are most able to handle parched conditions and put them in a small section of his yard. Over the next few years, he plans to back off on watering the group until he’s only watering once a month in the summer.

"I bet I can do it," he said.