Planning a garden with plants that, once established, are drought tolerant can save you time and money on water. There are many beautiful plants, that when combined, can give you a great effect, with less water. They do require regular watering till they get established but can thrive with much less water later.

FAVORITES

Potentilla – this is a shrub that flowers all summer long, from June until frost. They come in beautiful colours; bright yellow, white, pink and a mango-yellow colour. They are deer resistant, are very hardy and attract butterflies. They like to be pruned yearly, after their leaves have dropped in the late fall or in early spring before they start to leaf.

Barberry – they have beautiful burgundy foliage and berries for winter effect; are deer and rabbit proof because of their prickly stems and look great, especially combined with a gold leaf shrub or perennial. They come in several different varieties and look good from spring until their leaves drop in late fall.

Junipers – both spreading and upright. They look great all year round! They range in green to blue to yellow; add a lot of texture, height and interest to your garden and are more tolerant of dry, sunny locations than are cedars. Some varieties are spreading, and others are upright. Some have silvery blue foliage; others are gold and others are blue green.

Spirea –they are beautiful, yet tough plants that tolerate a variety of soil conditions. They are also deer resistant. Some have lime green foliage that flowers in early summer, while other varieties have dark green foliage with red tips that turn purple in fall

Mugho Pine – They come in a dwarf variety that grows to four feet high, is a dense, low growing mounded evergreen. The regular Mugho Pine grows to 8 feet high and wide and looks great as a background plant or in mass plantings.