Inspirations/Sustainability
Sustainability · 7 min read
A garden that survives the summer you actually get
Most landscape failures are irrigation failures wearing a plant costume.
A garden designed in October looks generous and manageable. The same garden in May, at 43 degrees, is a watering obligation nobody signed up for. The species list, not the layout, decides whether you still enjoy it in year three.
Native and adapted planting is not an aesthetic preference, it is a maintenance decision. Plants that evolved for your rainfall pattern need a fraction of the water and almost none of the fussing, and they look right against Indian light, which is harder and brighter than the light most garden photography is shot in.
Group plants by water need, not by appearance. Putting a thirsty specimen in a drought-tolerant bed means the whole bed gets watered to the thirstiest member, which wastes water and drowns everything else slowly.
Plan drainage before planting. A bed that holds water for two days after heavy rain will kill more plants than any dry spell, and in the monsoon it will do it every week.
Group plants by water need, not by appearance.
