Common name:Liquidambar, American Sweet Gum
Botanical name:Liquidambar styraciflua

A tall, deciduous tree of upright, pyramidal habit, the liquidamber has dark green, maple-like leaves that turn beautiful shades of red and yellow in the fall season. It can be used as a single specimen, hedge, or grouped plant.

Common name:Lavender Starflower
Botanical name:Grewia occidentalis

This broad shrub will reach about 12' tall and has small, dark green leaves with lavender flowers that bloom in spring, summer, and fall.

Common name:Deodar Cedar, Calif. Christmas Tree
Botanical name:Cedrus deodara

This fast-growing, coniferous evergreen is capable of reaching a size of 80' high by 40' wide. Its needle show a light, slilvery green color.

Common name:Lily of the Nile
Botanical name:Agapanthus africanus

This evergreen groundcover/shrub will grow about 3' tall and has large green leaves with blue flowers ( there is a white variety) that bloom in spring and summer. It will grow in all soils but prefers loam soil.

Common name:Pork And Beans
Botanical name:Sedum rubrotinctum

This groundcover will grow less than 1' tall and has small leaves that vary in color and are brownish/bronze in the fall. Red and yellow flowers will bloom in spring and summer.

Dealing With Drought

More than half of the water used at your home is for outside purposes. Studies show that on average, half of the water used outdoors is wasted. The leading cause of waste is incorrectly set and poorly managed irrigation controllers. The second biggest cause of wastage is broken irrigation equipment that goes undetected. There are a few basic things you can do to make a big difference in your water use.

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