Water Restrictions vs. Gardens (Fort Mill, Tega Cay: new house, landscaping, gated)

[SouthernBelleInUtah]

I am considering moving to the Ft. Mills area and am concerned about how the drought is affecting putting in gardens for a new house. Anyone have experience with the new houses being built? Thanks for any input.

[groove1]

You can water gardens and outdoor plants with handheld buckets; etc, just now hoses. I have a feeling the drought restrictions will be eased slightly soon. We actually have a surplus of rain for March so far.

[marndt]

By the way it is Fort Mill! I keep seeing people refer to our town as Fort Mills?
Anyway, they have us on lock down if you use an irrigation system. Groove1 is correct, you may hand water...
Hope this helps!

[abcornwell]

Originally Posted by SouthernBelleInUtah

I am considering moving to the Ft. Mills area and am concerned about how the drought is affecting putting in gardens for a new house. Anyone have experience with the new houses being built? Thanks for any input.

Given that drought may become an ongoing reality, and that water is expensive not just monetarily but also ecologically, have you investigated xeric plants and xeric landscaping? Although xeric plants do need some watering in as they get started, once established they should do OK in drought situations.

I am currently planning a variation on a prairie meadow for a half acre that will involve no traditional lawn, that will use native grasses, clover, and native wildflower seed. I am planning a berm for privacy, which will be overplanted with xeric species that like clay soil and impoverished soil (like some of the tall grasses). A sprawling butterfly garden area has been marked out and I can fill that with xeric plants and ground covers as well.

The ideas and how-tos came from the web, just doing some research on key words and finding sites like lesslawn.com, wiki-how.com (how to grow a clover lawn), doityourself.com (Ornamental grass: Low Maintenance Alternatives to a Traditional Lawn) ... and so on.

Just an idea!

[MilesBFree]

Tega Cay has the following restriction in place, according to their web site:

"[SIZE=4]As of [/SIZE][SIZE=4]5 AM, Oct. 25th[/SIZE][SIZE=4], all
irrigation of lawns and flower beds
is strictly prohibited.
Hand-watering of flower beds, trees
and shrubs is permitted with one of
the following: a watering can, a
hand-held hose with shut-off
nozzle, or drip hoses."

[/SIZE]Not sure if this means we can use a drip system hooked to an irrigation system controller, or if it means I need to re-plumb the drip system to be manual.

I think in reality using the controller to time the drip system is going to be a lot more conservative of water, as it will run it for the appropriate exact durations. If I have to go out and manually shut it off after each zone runs, then I am likely to forget to turn it off exactly on time and it will waste water.

Do they really mean that we are allowed to use drip irrigation as usual (i.e.- I scaled back the durations when the restrictions started, and then shut it off completely)?

Anyone know for sure?

[groove1]

By the way, most plants that florish in the Carolinas need very little water to thrive.

[SouthernBelleInUtah]

[quote=abcornwell;3166126]Given that drought may become an ongoing reality, and that water is expensive not just monetarily but also ecologically, have you investigated xeric plants and xeric landscaping? Although xeric plants do need some watering in as they get started, once established they should do OK in drought situations.

Yeah, I have lived in Utah for 7 yrs so am quite familiar with xeriscaping. Most of my gardens have native plants but I do love roses (and they don't need much water, they do better here than anyplace else I've lived). And as said, anything needs some water to become established. It's the getting them established that I worry about. Thanks for the info from everyone!

[kellyandmike]

I can agree about the drought tolerant plant issue! I have pansies that have reseeded themselves over the past two winters! My Sweet William which is generally an annual up north has lived through the winter and looks better now than last summer!