Book Review: The Water-Smart Garden
The Water-Smart Garden: Techniques & Strategies For Conserving, Capturing & Efficiently Using Water in Today’s Climate… and Tomorrow’s by Noelle Johnson (aka AZPlantLady)
Review by Susan Mulvihill
As someone who grew up in California and lives in Arizona, Noelle Johnson knows about conserving water. Most of us understand that we should all reduce our water use. And I’m sure everyone would like to cut down on their water bills. But how do we even know where to start?
The Water-Smart Garden will help you out
Noelle takes the guesswork out of this task, drawing from her vast experience as a horticulturist, landscape consultant and garden writer.
Household water use for the lawn and plants around your home is higher than you think – ranging from 30 up to 70 percent. That is a lot of water! We can implement water efficiency in how we design our gardens, choose the right plants, capture and direct rainwater, and water our plants the ‘right’ way.
Noelle Johnson in The Water-Smart Garden
While reading that introduction, I got excited about learning new strategies to reduce my garden’s water needs. And you’re probably looking for some guidance, too, right?
Here’s a sampling of Noelle’s concepts that stood out for me:
- Be aware of your own conditions. When people hear that I (Susan) live in Washington State, they immediately think it’s very rainy here. But I’m in Eastern Washington, where our average rainfall total is about 16 inches. That’s definitely not rainy!
- Choose your plants with that in mind. Read plant tags before making your purchases and look for drought-tolerant choices, especially natives. Provide them with the right amount of water while they’re getting established. I love her helpful charts of trees, shrubs, groundcovers, perennials, vines, ornamental grasses and succulents.
- Put thought into WHERE you’re going to plant everything because it makes a huge difference in how well your selections will thrive. Don’t go with mix-and-match groupings because they will have different needs.
- Know your soil. Does it contain nutrients? Does it hold water? And will your plant choices (or your wish list of plants) be compatible with that soil?
- Look into ways to capture rainwater because that will dramatically reduce your municipal water bill. Noelle has so many wonderful options and ideas to share with you.
- Be smart about how frequently you water the various parts of your landscape. Learn the most common watering mistakes homeowners and gardeners make, and discover strategies that adapt to your conditions as they change throughout the year. It’s not one of those “set it and forget it” situations!
- There are great suggestions about how to maintain your plants so they will thrive for you year-round.
- As you might expect, Noelle addresses the sticky subject of growing a lawn. Like it or not, lawns are water hogs. Fortunately, she provides wonderful lawn alternatives and strategies.
- We gardeners love container plantings, right? I was pleased to see Noelle’s suggestions for using the right types of containers and how to maintain them within your waterwise landscape.
- As you all know, I love growing vegetables but yes, they do need a fair amount of water. In this chapter, you’ll find great suggestions for conserving water while reaping great harvests.
- The final chapter in the book is packed with all sorts of landscape projects.
How to get a copy
As you can see, The Water-Smart Garden is a must-have book. You’ll be inspired, educated and ready to make wise choices in your garden! The book will officially be released on Jan. 7, 2025. But you can pre-order it on Amazon. As an Amazon Associate, I earn a commission from sales but it will not impact the price you pay.