Have you heard the expression "Fall is for planting?" In particular it refers to planting locally native plants, although many landscape plants do well when planted in early fall. The days are still long enough that they can begin to get established, and the coming rains "water them in" so they're well positioned for a good growth spurt in spring. But why emphasize natives? We've covered a number of aspects of drought-tolerant and native gardening over the years, for example:
Create A California Native, Firewise Landscape
Xeriscaping: A Win-Win For Gardeners and the Environment
Save Water: Choose Native, Drought-Tolerant Plants
If you're converting a portion of lawn to native perennials, always a great water-saving move, make sure to take advantage of the lawn conversion rebates from your water utility. Here is Contra Costa Water District's program, and here is EBMUD's.
Another less-known aspect of choosing natives for your landscape is the tremendous benefit to the local ecology. Natives can form the basis of the food web right in your yard and neighborhood. One of the greatest advocates for this is Doug Tallamy, author of "Nature's Best Hope" and many other books. He makes the case that we can restore much of the lost biodiversity in our country not just by preserving wild places, but by returning a portion of our private urban and suburban (mostly backyard) landscapes to plants that best support native insects and the food web that depend on them. This page contains many resources related to Doug's work, including this video of a half-hour talk called "WHAT'S THE RUSH to plant natives?"
A great resource for choosing natives that support local insects is CalScape.org. There you will find searchable plant databases, with each plant listing its growing and cultivation needs, nurseries where you can purchase it, and the moth and cateripllar species it supports. There are also lots of design ideas and a gallery of garden photos.
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