-- Work with an experienced designer to create a master landscape plan that you can implement in its entirety, or in phases.
-- Hire a certified professional irrigator to conduct an irrigation audit to identify deficiencies. Visit www.irrigation.org, click on the 'search' tab and select 'certified professionals' from the menu to locate an experienced auditor in your area.
-- Repair/modify irrigation system to ensure adequate spray coverage. Install rain sensor. Modify sprinkler heads and valves before installing plants.
-- Incorporate water catchment (aka rain harvesting) system.
-- Remove exotic-invasive plant species and replace with native plants.
-- Eliminate turfgrass (lawn), or at least reduce to comprise no more than 1/3 of your property.
-- Increase planting beds to allow plants to mature into their natural shapes and sizes.
-- In planting areas, opt for perennials vs. annuals; only use annuals in pottery or other planters.
-- Incorporate large shade trees on west side of house to protect from sun and reduce energy consumption and costs.
-- Plant NATIVE SPECIES to your ecoregion; they WILL THRIVE WHETHER DROUGHT OR DELUGE, and will restore habitat for native species of birds and butterflies.
-- Maintain your property organically.
-- Maintain a mulch 'blanket' 2-3" thick year-round to protect your plants. Replenish mulch 3 times per year: Valentine's Day (when many perennials and grasses are cut back), Fathers' Day and Thanksgiving.
-- Compost lawn debris and kitchen scraps. Compost is the best natural fertilizer for planting areas as well as turfgrass. Apply one part compost with one part mulch after cutting back some perennials and grasses around Valentine's Day.