Living in Southern California has its challenges, especially when it comes to maintaining a green and thriving garden.  Drought conditions and watering restrictions make keeping up the lush, tropical landscape we had envisioned difficult and sometimes nearly impossible.  Enter, then, drought tolerant material.  These plants are built for handling dry conditions and yet can provide interest and awe to an outdoor space.

The choices for drought tolerant plants are plenty.  But selecting the ones that will fit your aesthetic can take a bit of time and research.  Here are some things to look for when choosing drought tolerant plants that will enhance your landscape:

• Color. Whether it’s foliage color or persistent blooms, many drought tolerant plants can add more than just a splash of color to your garden beds.  Combine colors, too, for good contrast.  Find those that are complementary or sit opposite each other on the color wheel for big impact.  Low ornamental grasses, shrubs like blanket roses, or flowering plants such as Pride of Madeira are great additions for your colorful garden.
• Shade. The drought tolerant landscape does not have to look like a desert.  There are plenty of trees that are happy in the Southern California landscape that can tolerate the conditions while providing cooling shade over homeowners and other plants alike.  Crape myrtle, for one, will also add great color when it’s in bloom while paperbark adds interest with decorative bark.
• Filler. Adding density to a garden with plants that don’t necessarily stand out is a fine way to showcase the plants that do.  Drought tolerant succulents such as agave can still provide texture and contrast to other plants in the bed while standing up to the drier conditions of Southern California.  Leafy numbers such as sedges or yucca also lend texture but, most of all, can fill in a bed, making the entire composition look lush and vigorous.

LANDSCAPE COMPANY NEAR ME

There are 2 reasons most clients contact us: to bring drive-up appeal to their home or to replace their current gardener. We take these two reasons to heart. We understand how important your landscape is to you. We are experts on drive-up appeal, water conservation landscaping, seasonal and climate planting, irrigation, and much more.

If you’re still unsure how to approach the design—whether it’s selecting plants that can tolerate dry conditions or those that will make your space beautiful—you can always enlist the help of a landscape design professional to help.  SB Evolution Landscape has designed numerous drought tolerant landscapes with plants that suit every design style.  We can do the installation as well, ensuring that the plants are ready to take on the hot Southern California conditions once in place.