My Garden
My own garden demonstrates different planting styles for different micro-climates and watering possibilities.
The front yard is hot and dry in summer, with a lot of reflected heat from stucco walls and concrete paving, and it is planted up with bright, heat-tolerant plants that can tolerate my sporadic watering habits.
My back yard is my self-indulgent, higher-maintenance garden of romantic roses and companion perennial plants, and it gets moderate watering.
The lower level backs on to a greenbelt ravine and gets more shade, and I only do spot-watering down here if a plant is in trouble. Lots more native plants and shrubs, also chosen partly for their soil-binding properties as this contains a very steep slope.
Photographs by Peter Herpst, The Outlaw Gardener Blog