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rainbowgardener
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So sad

I was out walking the dog last night. There's a neighborhood near mine that (unlike mine) is very expensive/ ritzy. The houses are all huge, beautiful old mansions on very big lots and everything is beautiful and super well kept. Some of the huge front yards are just grass monocultures, but many have a lot of grass, but also a lot of very nice landscaping (obviously the work of landscape designers and gardeners), with tree islands, flower beds, big foundation plantings, etc.

But walking along looking at all the lovely plantings, I could hardly spot any natives. A little bit of gayfeather, a little bit of coneflower and a few native trees, here and there. But mostly all of it was foreign/exotic and a total waste as far as habitat value. And all that mowed grass!

I wish I could put a copy of Noah's Garden in every mailbox! I have a vision of how much more alive a neighborhood like that could be, planted all in natives, with habitat value for wildlife from bees, butterflies and other insects to birds and beasties and food value for people....

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Location: Amherst, MA USDA Zone 5a

Communities in California are slowly waking up to what communities in high desert areas in New Mexico have been doing, which is gardening with (drought tolerant) native plants. Like all things it can take decades to work it's way across the states.

In Santa Fe, New Mexico, circa 1997, I was literally laughed at when I asked my boss where the paper recycling was located. Her exact words were, "Roger... You're not in California anymore. We don't recycle in New Mexico." I returned eleven years later and recycling bins were everywhere. :P

You're simply ahead of the curve. They'll catch up. They always do.

CharlieBear
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Unfortunately in some places things that were native are now dying or getting diseases they have no ability to cope with. Here they are trying to get people to plant natives, as low maintenance, which of course they were or should be. The problem is that the list hasn't been updated so people are planting natives that then get red cedar rust and die for example. Many of these poor natives are being driven out by the exotics just like some animals. That is what I find truly sad. In the last 10 years I have seen more and more plants that are native that don't do well here anymore, either due to raised nighttime temps, changing weather patterns, but mostly those horible exotics.

Susan W
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It is an interesting situation, and certainly not one to be too quick to judge. In arid areas (CA, AZ, NM etc) is critical now. Duh! Neighborhoods with larger lots, large mature trees are a benefit. The trees help filter the air, keep temps down, and some a host to many beneficials. I didn't realize until recently that oaks are host to many of our 6 legged friends. It goes without saying the trees and shrubs are habitat for some birds and more.

As for garden plantings that are native or not? That's a big one not easily answered. Many of the flowers and extras we have in our decorative deck pots are not native. Or are so hybridized for color and shape, not much left in food for pollinators. Another area to think about, is our herbs and veggies. Most of our culinary herbs introduced, as well as our veggies. Honey bees are not native.

I've been thinking about a separate thread for discussion on this. Not trying to be smarty pants, and I love learning a tidbit every day. As some of you are aware, I have a strong interest in the 18th c, colonial era, which has extended to the gardens. Now that I am doing more seed starts for the market focusing on native, pollinator magnets, and 18thc plants, and often not one and the same.

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Free Zucchini
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Location: Western Washington (Zone 8a)

It would be nice if future building in the Southwest would allow the capture of 'gray water' from the house to be used in the garden.

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rainbowgardener
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Yes, indeed. We all need to get more water conscious. Best would be as you suggest, to install grey water systems from the beginning, but some can be retrofitted.

And in my mind the most egregious water waste is that we use pure drinking water to flush our toilets. If we all had composting toilets, that would save millions of gallons of water a year. Old toilets used 5 gallons of water per flush, which comes out to be about 9,000 gallons per person per year. Federal plumbing standards now limit new toilets to no more than 1.6 gallons per flush, which is still almost 3,000 gallons per person per year. My city has a population of about 300,000 in the city limits. So assuming that everyone has new-ish toilets (optimistic assumption), we flush 900 million gallons of drinkable water down the toilet yearly.

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rainbowgardener wrote:Yes, indeed. We all need to get more water conscious. Best would be as you suggest, to install grey water systems from the beginning, but some can be retrofitted.

And in my mind the most egregious water waste is that we use pure drinking water to flush our toilets. If we all had composting toilets, that would save millions of gallons of water a year. Old toilets used 5 gallons of water per flush, which comes out to be about 9,000 gallons per person per year.
I'd love to retrofit my shower and kitchen sink. Even in a rainy state , I hate wasting anything. At five gallons a flush, I'm probably sneaking by at 3,600 gallons a year. Shower may be another 3,600. My r/o system is probably 'wasting' about 150 gallons a year,

CharlieBear
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start with switching to low flow shower heads and 1.6 gallon toilets. Note, if your clothes washer is plumbed right you can retrieve the rinse water for your flowers, I do. You can also collect water in 55 gallon drums for summer use we have them all over the yard. Save the water you rinse you vegetables with and give it to the flowers. Every little bit helps.

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Allyn
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Location: Mississippi Gulf Coast - zone 8b

rainbowgardener wrote:...And in my mind the most egregious water waste is that we use pure drinking water to flush our toilets. If we all had composting toilets, that would save millions of gallons of water a year. ....
We switched to composting humanure five months ago. I gotta say, it's rather liberating to not use water in the toilet. The flip side of that is every time someone stops by the house, I'm mortified at the thought that he or she may ask to use the bathroom and then I'll have to explain how to use it. It's not the explanation that mortifies me; it's anticipating the look on the person's face when they realize what's going on in there. Some folks are weird when it comes to poo. A side benefit is that it's that much easier to prepare for a storm. I don't need to store drinking water and water for flushing. I just store drinking water and make sure the poo buckets are empty and clean ahead of the storm.

I do like the idea of capturing laundry water for watering the garden. I was already thinking about how to capture other gray water. The washer -- which is the easiest to collect -- hadn't occurred to me yet. I'm going to jump right on that.

And thanks to this and other discussions on this forum, I've been doing quite a bit of research on native flowers and trees. Yes, you have a convert. :) But I'm keeping my Venus Flytraps (all grown from seeds, I promise.).

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Free Zucchini
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CharlieBear wrote:start with switching to low flow shower heads and 1.6 gallon toilets. Note, if your clothes washer is plumbed right you can retrieve the rinse water for your flowers, I do. You can also collect water in 55 gallon drums for summer use we have them all over the yard. Save the water you rinse you vegetables with and give it to the flowers. Every little bit helps.

I've got the low flow shower head, and the toilet only gets flushed twice a day. LOTS of rain barrels. Might be able to get the washer water, but it's in the basement, below garden height. Luckily it's a front loader, so it doesn't use a lot of water.

Even during 'dry' times, there is plenty of water in the PNW; I'd love to have a green lawn via gray water. It may not even be legal round here to do it.

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Marlingardener wrote:There is hope! So many of you have posted about using less water, and re-using the water you have. How encouraging!
Natives are thriving here in Texas. Right now, in mid-July, we have four acres of native grasses and wildflowers. Some folks think we should shred (mow) our pasture. Our bees disagree..................

........................, Mother Nature is still taking care of her own, and we are all surviving, together.
Outstanding! :mrgreen:

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rainbowgardener
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Terrific, Marlingardener, an inspiration!! :D



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