As the City of Calgary slowly eases outdoor water restrictions, experienced gardeners like Melanie Iles are staying unfazed by the changes thanks to their self-sufficient, drought-tolerant gardens.
“I grew up in Calgary so I know what the weather is like here and I've always grown organic vegetables,” said Iles, who lives in the southwestern neighbourhood of Southwood.
“I started learning permaculture principles and working with what I have. … I know it actually rains a lot here, it's just that it rains in short bursts and we just waste it.”
The solution? Design a system that retains as much water as possible without having to water the plants.
Aside from a few plants that Iles and her husband planted last year, the couple haven't felt the need to water them yet.
How does it work?
Ailes installed a 1,000 litre rainwater tank to collect rainwater from the roof and she built a walkway called a “swale” to make the whole process easier.
“We have a big ditch in the yard that overflows with rainwater. It's about 18 inches deep and 18 inches wide and has gutter tiles,” she said.
“Rainwater runs off roofs, into gutters and slowly soaks into the ground. Whereas in Calgary, we get a lot of rain in a short amount of time, so if the ground and grass are caked, the rain just washes away.”
The goal is simple: allow rainwater to trickle into the ground rather than allowing it to run off down drains.
Aside from a few plants that Iles and her husband planted last year, the couple haven't yet felt the need to water them and are relying on a self-sufficient system to care for their plants.(Dan McGarvey/CBC)
Considering alternatives
Garden Retreat horticulturist Laura Malowany believes more gardeners are looking for drought-tolerant alternatives to maintain their lawns.
“There are more and more grass species that are more drought tolerant. … People are slowly expanding the brown cover and moving in that direction rather than eliminating the grass completely, and I think that's the right way to go about it,” she said.
To help maintain your garden, Malowany suggests using methods such as replacing grasses with ground covers or more drought-tolerant options.
“If the ground is covered, there's less evaporation, so you can actually have a full border bed of perennials, and you know, you won't have to water as much because the sun's rays aren't reaching the soil and the moisture in the soil isn't actually evaporating.”
Start small
But exploring the world of drought-tolerant plants can be intimidating, and Iles understands that.
“I know it's been difficult. I'm in a gardening group and at the height of the restrictions people were panicking about their gardens, but because of the way we prepared I wasn't worried,” she said.
A gardener for more than 20 years, Iles has some tips for those who want to try drought-tolerant gardening but don't know where to start.
She suggests starting with the basics and looking at native plants that are known to thrive in Calgary.
“I usually recommend that people start by planting a few plants that they really like in a place where they'll do well, and then slowly build from there,” she said.
With some tweaking and experimentation, you'll be able to explore different options.
The trick is to keep experimenting and learning to find what works.
Iles thinks the trick to creating a beautiful, drought-resistant garden is to start with the basics and stick to native plants that are known to grow well in Calgary.(Dan McGarvey/CBC)
So far, Iles has grown more than 150 varieties of perennial and medicinal plants, which she thinks is a great way to get kids interested in eating vegetables like green beans.
One might wonder if Ailes' unconventional approach to gardening has paid off, but it has: he's received a lot of positive feedback.
“I get a lot of compliments from people passing by,” she says. “I've stood in my neighbors' front yards to see what it's like, and everyone says it's beautiful and they love looking at it all season long.”
“So that's what we were going for. It's wild, but we love it.”
