Viewing post #1209770 by RickCorey

Thanks, Rosie!

RoseBlush1 said:

Yup ... This year, I finally had to take a hard look at my garden and tell myself it's time to change the focus of my garden. No, I am not going to quit gardening, I just need to reduce the number of roses I am growing so that I only grow the ones I truly love and grow plants that like my soil and climate without my having to do a LOT of mulching and extra watering during the high summer temps when there is no rain.

I can't take the heat any more and I am tired of going out and gathering mulch material and hauling it home and then hauling it up the stairs to the garden. I need a xeriscape garden for a wet Mediterranean climate. Roses are not xeriscape plants, so it's time to do things differently and have more fun. ...

We might have discussed this before, but I forget the reason irrigation isn't practical for you - distance from the hose spigot? And it does kind of contradict the philosophy of "no pampering".

With some help, you could run 1/2" irrigation mainline up the slope to your rose beds, (maybe under or alongside the stairs) and some dripline (maybe under mulch) for each bed. Then add a "twist-timer" at the spigot, and you can water without climbing the stairs. 1/2" mainline can be had for $17 per 100 feet, or $66 for 500 feet.

But I don't know any alternative to hauling heavy mulch, other than winning a lottery.