Water-Wise Ways

Brooke Eisenberg-Pike | Ad Hoc Water Conservation Citizens’ Advisory Committee, Chair

Drought tolerant bouquet of Yarrow, Shasta Daisy, Stokes Aster, Mexican Sage, Mexican Evening Primrose.  Photo Linda Chisari.

The City’s Ad Hoc Water Conservation Citizen’s Advisory Committee presented its first educational symposium on Saturday, July 25th. The “Water-Wise Gardening Symposium” was held at St. Peter’s church. The extremely well-attended symposium was organized by committee member and landscape designer, Linda Chisari, who invited Stuart Spaulding, the customer and technical service manager of DIG, and Lawrence O’Leary, a faculty member of Cuyamaca College and employee of Toro, to appear. Along with them Linda gave a talk on plants that are drought-tolerant and are known to do well in our area. She pointed out that drought-tolerant does not mean boring and flowerless. To illustrate this point she brought a bright colorful bouquet from her own drought-tolerant garden. Stuart Spalding spoke about the various water-wise options that are available for watering our gardens. He also brought several samples of these items for the audience to inspect. Lawrence O’Leary spoke about the different types of soil that we, in Del Mar, encounter in our gardens. These range from clay to sand. He discussed the need for soil amendments and the various watering options that are available. The talk was followed by a question and answer session.

Handouts were available that listed informative web sites, such as www.bewaterwise.com, and publications about drought- tolerant landscapes. A “Del Mar Walking Tour of Drought-Tolerant Gardens.” was also available. Both these handouts are available at City Hall.

The Del Mar TV Foundation taped the event which will be shown on our local TV channel and will also be available on DVD for a nominal fee.