Water-wise gardening soil preparation

There is some basic preparation to the soil when you are ready to replace your lawn with ground cover plants.  Its all very simple to do, yet very important for maximum water savings and maximum nutrition for your plants.  If you start with the basics, you’ll be thrilled with the results.

1.  Remove the lawn and add 2-3 inches of good top soil.  Amend it by rototilling in lots of organic matter, a little composted manure, a few shovelfuls of 1/4″ alfalfa pellets and sprinkle with superphosphate.

2.  You can either keep the sprinkler system you had with your lawn–reducing the total amount of time each station waters to about 5 minutes, or you can use a laser-line drip system.

3.  Add some evergreen ground covers, some small shrubs of your choice such as ground cover roses, some ornamental grasses and a few other perennials and you’ve got a terrific, show-stopping new landscape.