Many “California Friendly” plants such as rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis ‘Prostratus’), red yucca (Hesperaloe parviflora) and blue agave (Agave americana) are salt-tolerant and grow as well with potable and recycled water. (Courtesy photo taken at the Orange County Coastkeeper’s Natural Play Garden, Orange)

Committed to protecting the ocean, this homeowner channels water from the roof to nourish garden and aquifer.

Sound The gallery will resume in seconds

“California Friendly: A Maintenance Guide for Landscapers, Gardeners and Land Managers” is available free in hardcover and downloadable versions. (Photo by Suzanne Sproul)

Irrigation can be tricky. A programmed watering valve knows how to best serve the plants, groundcovers, grasses and trees in this section of Grand Park in downtown Los Angeles. (Courtesy photo)

Most grasses look better with a periodic shearing. Although not a true grass, Berkeley sedge (Carex tumulicola) is treated like one, and these plantings get cut every other year in early winter.



Cactuses and succulents are great for low-water gardens, but don’t plant them and forget them. “California Friendly” is a guide to maintenance.

Author Douglas Kent has written several books about the environment. His latest is aimed at helping manage “California Friendly” landscapes properly. (Courtesy photo)

As Southern California gardeners select drought-friendly plants and keep water conservation in mind, it would be wise to not forget about maintenance.

For those with questions about organization and upkeep or who simply like doing things by the book, there are plenty of options, including the recently released “California Friendly: A Maintenance Guide for Landscapers, Gardeners and Land Managers,” by Douglas Kent.

For Kent, the book is not about sales. In fact, through a first-ever collaboration among the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the Metropolitan Water District and Southern California Gas Co., the books are free. Hardcovers are offered when you sign up for a Be Water Wise class. Or you can download the book at bewaterwise.com/GMG.shtml. The idea is to provide information that helps gardeners create a space that is beautiful and sustainable for the long term.

Many homeowners listened to the clarion calls to conserve water, ripping out more than 170 million square feet of thirsty green lawns during the past eight years, Kent said. They replaced the grass with “California-friendly” landscaping. Yet, for many, maintaining those landscapes hasn’t been easy, resulting in sad-looking and ecologically challenged yards.

Couple that with pronouncements about the lengthy drought being over and the lifting of some water restrictions, and concerns rise that people will revert back to more familiar water-wasting options.

That shouldn’t happen, Kent said. Water reliability is dependent on everyone using wisely.

“(The book) covers the key aspects of managing a modern landscape: irrigation and working with recycled water; water, fertilization and regeneration requirements for hundreds of plants (most native); natural strategies for weed and pest problems; and managing storm water-capture opportunities, including rain barrels,” he said in an email.

The book is comprehensive — with chapter after chapter of do’s, don’ts and advice — and there are also answers to some important questions. How often should you water? How can you handle natural pest control? How can you manage various surfaces and runoff? Which grasses, perennials, shrubs, succulents and cactuses work and, better yet, how do you take care of them properly?

Consider the book a guide and resource.

“Creating and maintaining landscapes takes all kinds of people: Owners, managers, contractors, vendors and specialists are vital to a landscape’s success. But it is the men and women in our gardens that ultimately get the job done — the people who get their hands dirty hauling manure, scraping their skin reaching for a weed and enduring harsh weather to preserve beautiful spaces,” he wrote in the book’s dedication.

Kent wants gardeners and consumers to think beyond plant lists and irrigation practices and accept the belief that treating the Southern California landscape correctly directly affects its health and vibrancy along with the people who live here.

He is trying to do his part, working with Ecological Land Management in Orange and writing five other books, including “Firescaping” and “Ocean Friendly Gardens.” In addition, he is the spokesman for the SoCalGas seminar “Energy Smart Landscaping” and teaches land management at Cal Poly Pomona.

The environment is a topic close to his heart. Landscape irrigation should be considered a luxury, and one managed carefully, he said.

“Why I do what I do is truly a mystery, but I can tell you what I tell my parents when they ask when I’ll get a real job — California is changing rapidly and all of us are standing at a unique point in time. We can change its future. Right now we have the resources, time and will to create a healthy California. That hasn’t always been the case,” he said. “I am not only committed to a sustainable California, but a livable, enjoyable and fun state, too. Landscapes will play a central role in that future.”

The public agencies haven’t developed the programs specific to the book, but they’re being worked on, Kent said. The MWD provides books at its turf removal classes.

And he will be conducting his seminars July 12, Sept. 27 and Nov. 29 at the Southern California Gas Co. Energy Resource Center in Downey, 9240 Firestone Blvd. If hardcovers still are available, they will be distributed there. To register, call 800-427-6584.

“ ‘California Friendly’ is as important to the funding agencies as it is for the public,” he said. “Each agency maintains California-friendly landscapes at their facilities. The book was originally designed to help these three have greater levels of success, but as anyone who has driven through Southern California has seen, many property owners are laboring.

“Landscapes that are aesthetically, economically or ecologically ineffective undermine the entire conservation movement,” he added. “Just a couple months into the project we wisely decided to write a book for everyone.”

Together, Southern Californians can create a beautiful, thriving and sustainable future.

“That’s what it’s all about — having a healthier, more friendly California,” he said.

Landscaping seminar

What: Storm water management

When: July 12

Where: Southern California Gas Co. Energy Resource Center, 9240 Firestone Blvd., Downey

Cost: Free

Information: 800-427-6584, socalgas.com, search “sign up for technical seminars”

Resources

Los Angeles Department of Water and Power: ladwp.cafriendly

landscaping.com

Metropolitan Water District of Southern California: bewaterwise.com

Southern California Gas Co.: socalgas.com, search “residential rebates”