Central Valley Nurseries Seeing Growing Demand For Drought-Tolerant Plants
FAIR OAKS (CBS13) — Triple-digit temperatures have many triple-checking their plants and thinking twice about what to plant in the future.
Nurseries are now changing products to meet the growing demand for drought-tolerant varieties.
Quinton Young gave us a tour of his nursery in Fair Oaks.
"These are great flowering shrubs, good for attracting pollinators. These do great with low to average water," Young said.
He says the drought in California demands different types of landscaping.
"A lot of homeowners are more aware of water-efficient landscape," Young said.
Sales in this area are up, Young says, and so are the number of products being offered.
"You're looking at a lot of natives from Australia, South Africa, South America," Young said.
Greg Gayton at Green Acres Nursery says Mediterranean plants also do well in Central Valley heat.
"This is daphne, Probably one of the most drought-tolerant plants we have in the nursery," Gayton said.
Gayton says establishing the root structure is key
"The plants you planted five years ago that are water-wise or drought-tolerant actually are thriving now in this heat and this low water year," Gayton said.
And that's why a drip irrigation system is suggested to get them established.
"[The] drip goes basically down to the root system of the plants," Gayton said. "You're not watering everything else."
Experts say to research which varieties do well in this area, and to pay attention to how much water they need because water restrictions can have a ripple effect on landscaping.
To find out what kind of water regulations you have in your municipality, go to https://bewatersmart.info/.
