Everyone is a farmer when it comes to their own backyard try these tips for doing it home grown. You know a lot of shortages are happening in all across the country. In Georgia recently they bound out to allotting in some communities because their local lakes had run dry. The same thing could happen here in California and the question is you and your garden ready for that?

Well water thirsty trees for one those thirsty shrubs, ground peppers, and everybody’s favorite logs. Another answer is to convert all the part of your yard to plants that don’t need much water basically just what falls from the sky. And that’s why I brought you here to the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center in Fair Oaks, California. They have a great collection of California native plants and drought tolerant plants. Let’s take a look.

Okay, let’s say you’re going to tear out your lawn. You want to put in some drought tolerant plants what are some good choices? You need low growing plants and this is one of my favorite low growing plants. This is called teucrium or germander. It’s from the Mediterranean region and forms a mount not very high so it could fill in and look likes a lawn. But maybe you want something that’s maybe a bit grassier, well how about this. This is called Australian Blue Grass.

Australian Blue Grass gets about two feet tall and maintains its color and form probably 10 to 11 months of the year. But you know my favorite lawn substitute if you're looking for drought tolerant plant is this right here. This is called Santa Barbara Daisy also known as an Erigeron and it stays in bloom 11 months of the year and it spreads. But maybe you don’t have a green thumb maybe you're looking for some easy plants. I’ve got some easy plants for you. Come on.

An easy to grow California native is these California poppies they blossom in the springtime, they do die back but you know what? They pop again the following year, they're easy. The lavatera or tree mallow it grows about eight feet tall, stays in bloom about eight months of the year and it’s really a nice centerpiece for any yard. Maybe you're looking for something that requires absolutely no water once it’s established well you can’t beat this ceanothus. Ceanothus is range in size from ground covers to 10 or 12-foot tall shrubs and the beautiful blue-purple blossoms fill the plant in the springtime.

Give these plants plenty of room to grow. They're going to get big. Now they may look a little lonesome down here but this plant in particular is going to spread out five or six feet. So you don’t want to stare at a plant all by its lonesome like that well open up a seed pocket of annuals like California natives and just start spreading them around.

Don’t throw yourself, there will be a drought in California and now is the time to start yanking out here first thing, lawns, trees and shrubs and replacing them with California natives and drought tolerant plants. My only problem is I don’t know which ones to choose.