gad33

Having spent the last 15 years or so in places with winter where you don't have to do anything in the garden as it in hidden under snow, I know find myself in north county San Diego surrounded by strange flora and fauna.

So my quick question for the omniscient and anyone else who needs to post, do I water the grass all year round?

The house has an automatic sprinkler system which I have kept on the previous owner's settings but didn't know if the grass has a dormant stage here.

Ray

ask your mexican gardener

SanDiegogirl

Once the rainy season starts here in SoCal I drop the number of times that my lawn gets watered - and if we have had a good rainstorm then I turn it off altogether for about two weeks. There is no need to water your lawn copiously in the winter if we get rain - it just wastes water and you continue to have high water bills.

Yes, most lawns are dormant in the winter. I have a tall fescue lawn (it might pay you to find out what type of lawn you have) and it certainly does not grow much between December and February.

Just for info, in the summer I water the lawn three times a week, in the winter once only.

Sally Redux

My garden has pretty much died due to the exceptionally hot weather this year (despite having the sprinklers on every day).

We're all doomed.

Ray

sanchez does a good job here ..after a good beating

Sally Redux

lol how are you doing Ray?

gad33

Well I would if he spoke English

gad33

Thanks for the info. I have turned the sprinklers off when we had all the rain last weekend but I just needed to know if I could ever stop watering and with the Santa Ana blowing in I know that everything's going to be dry. At least the humidity is dropping closer to a level that I am used to.

A consultation with a gardener is on my list of things to do. I had a nice garden before and grew fruit and veg, so we move here and the only thing I can name is the Bird of Paradise.

MMcD

To answer your grass question....and just about any other you might have in the future....here's the "Bible"

http://www.amazon.com/The-New-Wester...rden+book+2012
Happy gardening!

SanDiegogirl

Having come from the UK where the water is provided "au natural" I spent many months working out how to get my irrigation to work optimally. Unfortunately for some time it was either too much water or not enough. I also did not take into consideration that many plants - especially natives - are fully able to take light to moderate drought periods, and so over- watered constantly.

Also found that plants take longer to take hold and flourish. A few plants seemed to do nothing for a couple of years and then suddenly started growing rapidly.

gad33

Thank you. My friends in Calgary gave me an Amazon voucher to buy a gardening book and I have been looking in the library to get an idea of good books but California is a big state and the weather on the south coast is very different to inland.

The garden is nice enough - it's just not mine.

MMcD

Even more reason to get this book. It breaks down the entire West coast of the US into finite areas - 11 different climate zones. It recommends specific plants (trees, shrubs etc.) for each. It's very specific and detailed. The photographs are beautiful and it's fun to read. Someone gave it to me as a gift when I first moved here from England and thru the years I've bought updated editions. I can't imagine gardening without it - it's that good!

md95065

California is basically the reverse of the UK.

Things here grow in winter when it is wet and not particularly cold and die in summer when it is hot and dry ...

gad33

Sounds just the thing then. I couldn't see the point of a Southern California book written by someone who had only lived in LA. As the garden was nice enough I decided to leave it and concentrate on the house but I miss growing my own things. (OTOH I think hubby is glad that he doesn't have to "admire" the latest 1 mm of growth.)


I haven't lived in the UK for a while and when I did I lived in a flat with no garden. My gardening experience is all from North America.

GeoffM

Except weeds. I'm excellent at growing those. One day, nice rock effect. Next day, overgrown jungle effect. Even Joshua trees pale into insignificance here compared to weeds.