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| Backyard of Mother Nature's Montrose Garden: fish pond with koi |
The Southwestern U.S.
climate is getting drier, forcing us to rethink our gardens. I’ve been
gardening with drought tolerant, Southern California native plants for many
years. Along the way I’ve learned to
appreciate their beauty, usefulness and habitat value, in addition to their
water efficiency. I’ve shared many of my adventures on our sister blog, ‘Mother
Nature’s Backyard’ (http://mother-natures-backyard.blogspot.com/).
Last fall I moved to
Montrose, Colorado, on the Western Slope of the Southern Rockies. At an elevation of about 6,000 ft. – and with
an annual rainfall of about 10 inches and 20 inches of snow – it qualifies as a
dry climate. And while western Colorado
shares some plants in common with S. California, the native flora contains many
unique to the Four Corners region. Those
are the plants that will feature prominently, as we transition our garden from
‘lots of lawn’ to a more interesting and balanced palette.
Water-wise gardening is just
starting to become popular on the Western Slope. Nurseries are beginning to
stock water-wise alternatives and several offer Southwestern native
plants. In fact, it’s a great time to
begin converting a more traditional, water-thirsty garden to one better suited
for the local climate.
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| Traditional lawn: Mother Nature's Montrose Garden |
Mother Nature’s Montrose
Garden blog will focus on transitioning a traditional Colorado garden to one filled
with the plants of Western Colorado.
We’ll start by discovering our assets: the soil, light, precipitation
and other characteristics that form the framework of the garden. We’ll consider the existing plants,
irrigation system and other factors that may influence our choices. We’ll explore our hopes, needs and desires
for the garden.
And then we’ll get to work
transforming our garden into Mother Nature’s Montrose Garden. We think it will
be quite an adventure; full of learning, experiments and successes and
failures. We hope you’ll want to join us
through the years.
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| Planting a Chokecherry: Mother Nature's Montrose Garden |
We welcome your comments (below). You can also send your questions to: monaturesmontrosegarden@gmail.com
