This past weekend, I went to a free garden class hosted by our great city, Plano.
They didn’t pay me to say that – I truly mean it. We live in a great Dallas suburb.
And on that note, I used to feel apologetic about being a suburb-dweller, a Plano-ite. However, the longer I’ve worked in downtown Dallas, the happier I am about living in Plano. I see people I know at the grocery store, I have a tremendous variety of ethnic restaurants nearby. Our city spends money on road improvements and hike/bike trails. I could go on. It’s a great place to live.
Anyway, Plano is very focused on the extended drought and it’s effect on our region’s water resources. We’re in “Stage 3” water restrictions, which means that we can only water our landscapes one day a week, every other week, in limited time blocks. There are exceptions to the restrictions related to soaker hoses, hand watering and drip irrigation.
Still, it’s not good and no one wants it to get worse.
No one, it seems more than the city. So Plano has started a series of classes about waterwise gardening. Topics range from plant selection to irrigation options to DIY demonstrations.
Last weekend, I sat in on an irrigation class and learned all about the differences between soaker hoses and drip irrigation.
It truly was an informative class. Kelly and I are very close to paying off the Hayley House, and once we do we intend to do an extensive landscape overhaul. Our beloved trees in the front yard are near the end of their lives and, I suppose out of spite, are killing our grass (shade and water hogging) as well as threatening our foundation.
Before the great landscape overhaul commences, I wanted to be an informed decision maker.
Now I know – drip irrigation is the way we’ll be going.
I also spent some time out in the city’s demonstration garden, getting ideas for plants that we might like to install. Our goal is to be as native as possible, so we can cope with years of drought as well as years of rain.
However, I know myself – and I know my guy. When it comes time to redo our garden, we’ll be hiring out the work.