Although it will cost money initially, a drip irrigation system will allow you to spend much more time enjoying plants, not watering them. A shade tree planted today will reduce your home electric bill in the years to come. Check the calendar in California Life for notices of Sacramento Municipal Utility District workshops explaining its free shade tree program. If you tend to spend heavily on cut flowers, plant a cutting garden. Five or six flower varieties can be grown in a plot as small as 5 feet by 10 feet.
Groundcovers also use less water and fertilizer.
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