Creating a Water-Thrifty Cottage Garden in Reno

It’s a cottage garden in the old style, where the perennials and vegetables are grown together. The garden is ½ acre and its taken us about 15 years. We did 90% of it ourselves. It’s all waterwise.

The most important thing is that water conservation starts with the soil. Everybody thinks they have the worst soil in the world, but if you add the proper nutrients, it doesn’t take that much water to have a great garden.

You should add a lot of mulch to your soil, and I find forest mulch the most beneficial, along with steer manure (or lama if available), and alfalfa pellets.

Everything is on drip irrigation. In our area we don’t get that much rain; we depend on the snowpack to provide our water, so irrigation is a necessity. For the perennial beds, I’ve developed a special drip method using laser-line to moisten the entire soil area—which mimics rain. If all the soil is moist you can plant anywhere you want, and it encourages any seeds to grow and spread. The plants become huge and healthy.

From the very beginning it was inspired by Monet’s garden. I’ve always been intrigued by his art and his colors and lavish use of plants. The cottage-style garden I’ve created is unique for this area. Everybody wants that look, but it’s not typical for northern Nevada.

It used to barberry, junipers, a couple other shrubs, and not too many perennials. We have pines as well. When our area began to grow, people coming in didn’t like that landscape look. Now the standard is Karl Forester grass, groundcover roses and lavender or Russian sage.

There are so many other varieties of plants you can use, but a lot of landscape people are more knowledgeable about the hardscape, they aren’t plant people and that is what they’re comfortable with.

I love ornamental grasses, all perennials and I love unique plants. Right now I’m enchanted with all of the cold climate Ice Plants (Delosperma).

My all time favorite perennials are delphinium. They don’t seem to survive more than 1-2 years, even though they’re rated for our zone. They peter out, so you have to replant them.

The last winter was so dry, without much snow to cover the ground and water the plants when it melts. This is becoming a typical winter. The biggest killer of trees and plants in our area is not the cold winter temperatures, its lack of moisture. People don’t realize they sometimes have to water in winter.

Always start with the soil; fall is a good time to get the soil prepped for spring. Get your design ideas in place, think about what you want the use of the garden to be. Make a list of favorite, must-have plants and trees.

It’s an organic garden, so we have tons of birds and butterflies. The animals will come if your garden offers food for them. We watch every day for the quail to come and we have a pair of ducks that return every year. We have a lot of fruit trees, so unfortunately the falling fruit also attracts visiting skunks. But it’s all part of garden life, and that’s okay.

Water is important. We have two ponds, one for frogs and one for fish. The birds come every day to bathe and its fun to watch.

I’m a big believer that a well-prepared garden creates a beneficial energy for us as humans. It’s a place that gives me time to think, let my mind wander and be creative.