Looking good! I see your cannas :-) The Walkers I received at the swap is doing well here too and in full sun no less. What is the purple blooming plant beyond the Walkers?

Your $35.00 water bill is remarkable! I need to get more familiar with my water bill, maybe even start reading the meter.

What line are you reading to represent your water bill? My last bill for $167 (I overstated when I said it was $180) says "Domestic water service charge: $78.31" and "Water supply fee: $63.72". Then there are several other fees and charges. By way of comparison from last year this is about the same as 2010 September was. Only August was higher. As things are now it will be hard to use less without letting some things die, or at least cutting a lot more things way back. But people in other parts of the state and country are having to make those tough decisions.

Those cannas in the side bed are from Patty more than two years ago, that's your Forsythia sage back there with the big leaves, and princealbert's Blue Potato Bush is the big green plant near the front that's not blooming right now. Around here it's more about progress than blooms. This side of the house has been the least appealing and most neglected so I'm glad to finally tackle it.

The cannas in the hanging basket pic are mostly from Barbra. There are some canna Pretoria in there I ordered from Brent and Becky's.

The total bill for May, including sewer and misc. fees, was $34.54. June's bill was $38.08 total and $17.97 of it was water use. We did deep water the oak trees and shrubs this month so the next bill could be more if the June meter reading was before that.

The difference is probably the Buffalo Grass lawn which we rarely water and lots of natives and adapted drought tolerant plants. The yard is not a desert scape at all, we get plenty of compliments on the landscaping out front and right now the Salvia Greggii and Lantana are putting on a big show.

The tall purple bloomer against the house is Ruellia.

Amazing -- in a very good way! My water bill has never been as low as $35 even in the winter! I want my meter changed ... LOL! Are you on the San Antonio Water System?

Yes, you are making progress with your beds! Wish I could say our water bills were that low!

That was not a gas meter they switched out......it was a secret line to the water tower. :)

I think the lowest mine has ever been was around $45.

Yes, we are on SAWS water which is a good thing because BexarMet is a mess. There are two houses on my street that are City of San Antonio while the rest are in another town.

I think the lowest possible bill is around $33.00 and we've been there many times.

When we lived in Southern California we really learned to conserve water. It's been a habit for many years now.

Okay Shirley. We need a tutorial on what you do.

Many years ago while were doing mostly a DIY remodeling job on a house in San Antonio we lived at our cabin at Medina Lake for a year. We had electricity and a septic system, but no running water. I hand pumped our drinking water from a public well about three miles away. Water used to wash veggies, for instance, was used again for something else. We had a small cistern to trap rain water which was used to flush the toilet (when it ran dry we brought water up from the lake) and everybody 'went' before it was flushed. In the summer we took a bar of soap down to the lake and bathed the kids and ourselves -- after dark. In winter a small quanity of warm water was used to bathe. Sometimes while in S. A. working on the house on weekends we'd visit relatives and take a real bath :-) We washed our clothes at a laundry mat.

It was all fun when we were young and we knew it was for a short time, but I'm afraid I've let go of most of those water saving habits. We may all HAVE to begin practicing a few, or many, water saving habits again so as not to deplete our precious resource -- water. Our gardening habits and preferences for certain plants will of necessity have to change.

So what do YOU do to save water? This question is not only to Shirley, but to all. Hopefully, it will inspire me!

PS ... I'll have to say that was one of the happiest years of my life. Children were 5 and 6. No telephone or television, just the woods to explore and play in, and the lake to swim and water ski.

Well, I just looked over the last three years of SAWS bills and the lowest was $32 and the highest $235.

My grass is really looking cooked. Bob is not ready to do away with our small patch so guess I'll hand water this evening. Too much evaporates when using the sprinkler. The air is so hot and dry that even with the large droplets my old iron sprinkler emits a huge amount goes up into a disappearing mist and this is after dark!

That's quite a range there!

The question about water saving ways is interesting because we don't think we take special measures so it's probably more of a mindset. We catch some water from running the shower to use for mopping floors and houseplants. I used to use kitchen sink water for garden plants but it attracted raccoons. We have 5 gallon containers we put out when it rains. We looked into a rain water storage system, but at approx. $3.00 a month savings it would take a long time to pay off the up front costs.

Other than the lawn, a lot of it must be small stuff like not letting the water run when brushing teeth or showering. I use a small container to clean veggies instead of running water over them.

I used to have a "water saving" washer, but replaced it with a standard one that I could control the settings. It didn't get the clothes clean and I'd have to run most loads, especially socks, twice. Not only was it annoying, it wasn't saving water. So I wouldn't say we go to extremes to save water.

It all adds up apparently.

Thanks Shirley! Just being reminded of how of a much difference those little changes of habit make helps a lot. I'm inspired and encouraged :-)

Shirley your new bed looks very nice. I wish I would plan ahead the way you do. I believe I used to have that verbena. If each pedal is lavender, with a tiny white strip down the middle, it's the same, and it's name is 'Lavender Star.'

I'm afraid if this thread becomes widely read, you should expect a visit from the city water dept., with a brand new, freshly rebuilt, highly calibrated water meter. Ha!
Jim

Thanks Jim, I looked up Lavender Star and this verbena is more speckled all over. The petals are all different too and some are more white while others more lavender.

About the only impulse shopping I ever do is Lowe's clearance rack and I get a lot of plants with no labels because those are the cheapest. Now that beds are getting filled in, I am beginning to order or purchase plants for specific locations. The plan is mainly in my imagination though and this bed pretty much fell into place as the rocks from the trench were dug up and the existing dirt/mud path from the gate to the deck was covered with gravel from the front yard.

They've probably checked to see if the meter is okay since the house and lot are typical size for the neighborhood, but we use 1/10th the water as stated on our bill. There is a downside too because last year SAWS was giving $100 gift cards to a local nursery and up to $300 rebate on water bills, but it had to be based on reducing previous water usage. I tried to sign up, but most of the questions didn't apply.

Update with the long view before and after

Here's the view when the shed was going in last year

Here's the same view today with the new bed and screen room extension on the deck under construction.

The windows were found on craigslist and a lot of materials were leftovers from other projects. Three sides will be screened, but the north side is solid so the room can be used to store plants in the winter.

That's the Buffalo Grass "lawn" on the left and the only turf grass we have.

How did I miss this? Lovely bed I really like the beaded basket and the gazing ball bed along that gorgeous rock wall.
I'm going to go to buffalo/sedge/grama lawn but my bill will never be that low. My SO.Cal. bill was a lot lower than my TX. I have too many large flower beds,even with xeric plants, to go below 100mo. which I was paying, not watering sod, in Benbrook, TX. Right now our bill is around 120.00 while establishing a ton of plants, shrubs and trees in this hideous weather. Mine was a newly stripped down lot without trees on my actual land but I have some trees in the easement along my back fence.

Shirley, it's so much fun to see how things progress. I love it all. Are you going to use the stock tank for a water feature?

No so incidentally, Bob and I are being much more careful about how we use water IN the house. Bob doesn't think it's a 'drop in the bucket' ;-) to what I use outside, but it's got to count for something and he's cooperating. He said perhaps we should hand wash the dishes, but I 'dished' that idea right away. I told him that for one thing dishes don't get as clean with handwashing and 2nd handwashing uses MORE water. Dishwashers use only 3 to 4 gallons per cycle. And there is no need to rinse dishes before putting them in the dishwasher. In the early models that might have been necessary, but not with the new models. Just scraping is enough. And having a full load before washing saves water too.

PJ, I think you are doing fantastically well in your water usage with all the new plants that you have.

Thanks, these threads have been a great opportunity for me to really step back and see progress. We're also doing a lot of work inside the house and finishing the new garage/workshop at the same time.

The stock tank was left here by a renter and I'd really like to use it for a water garden or planter as they did at the Wildflower Center, but we're still debating which way to go with it.

I run the dishwasher almost every day and even rinse most of the dishes first because mine doesn't do the best job even though it is very new and a good quality one. Give the new approach some time and it should help although I think not watering a lawn is really the big difference. It is important to conserve right now with the drought anyway.

Your cabin story reminded me of my first encounter with being water wise when visiting my grandparents in New Mexico. They hauled their water in large barrels from a well several miles away. They had a cistern rigged to provide "running" water to the house but were very careful to make every drop count.

Almost forgot this part. Another reason I posted the long view is to show why something tall and evergreen is needed in the planting bed along the house. A Sky Pencil or standard Yaupon are my choices so far.

Either choice would be good. The Sky Pencils are very slow growing, and a large (tall)one is quite expensive. Do you like the weeping yaupons? They have a weird growth pattern, but really stand out in the landscape.
Jim

I like these threads too. Its nice to see photos of pretty flowers, but what really works for me is seeing long shots and progress reports and updates. I like to see photos of the whole bed and how people plant things--where they plant things, what looks good together and how they put little artsy fartsy together.

The reality of this do it yourself gardening is painful and dirty WORK. :)

We're each working to create something unique and beautiful with what we have. Honestly, the process isn't pretty. :(

I get discouraged when I look around and all I see is my mess and what isn't done or finished yet. Its a great comfort to me when I see that every one else is in the same boat I am. :)

Looking back at my before pictures and seeing progress really makes me feel like something is getting done and it IS getting better. :)

If we all had unlimited funds and a crew to help us, I think we'd get bored really fast!

Thanks, Jim. I'll definitely look at the weeping Yaupon, it would be great to have something unique and sculptural against the stone there. It needs to be narrow since the path is a given and take sun or shade since the area is in shade for about three seasons of the year and then gets direct hits of summer sun morning and afternoon. The other Yaupons around here seem to do well with either sun or shade. Most of the natives that do well here are listed as slow or moderate growth. We don't mind investing in the right plant. With so much space to fill I do pick up a lot of clearance plants at Lowe's and saving there allows me to spend where it's needed.

Melavena, so true. We're retired and the yard and house is our job now. There are are lot of sayings along the lines of "Sometimes you have to mess up to clean up" and that definitely applies here.

Since we talked about water usage on this thread I thought I'd publish the good news that my last month water usage was down, which reflected about a $20 decrease in the total bill. Whew! I shall continue to be very, very careful :-)

Shirley, I have three standard youpon hollies planted near the house front and back. You've probably seen the pictures. Their irregular, grey-spotted, multi-trunks make a beautiful statement in my view. I'm not familiar with growing the weeping ones, but I don't see how they could be any prettier than the standards. Mine were not expensive because I bought them from a man originally from Mexico who dug them from the wild. I don't know if there are many landscapers who take the trouble to do that anymore.

Wow, you've made a big difference. I'm guessing the meter was read shortly after we started this thread so a month of reducing total water use would bring that bill down even more.

That $20 will buy a few plants or go toward a nice planter, lunch at La Hacienda...

We will try the standard yaupon first. They pop up all around the yard and we transplant them over to the fence with hit or miss success. The mature ones around here look good and have narrow trunks which works great.

With this heat I'm not sure I can lower the water usage and still keep the yard half way decent, but I'm gonna' try -- bucket in the shower to catch some water and all. The Weather Underground says it's 108.5 degrees outside right now. Other parts of the city show different temperatures. But I know it's hot because the ice I around my neck in the pillow slip melted quicker when I was outside just now !

Here is a link that might be useful: Different temps around San Antonio ....

It seems you have to click 'station select' on the right to see the range in temperatures around San Antonio.

Yes, it was definitely hot yesterday. That's an interesting site to see the differences around town. The weather stations in my area aren't that close, but I get the idea.

Our water bill went up about $10 this month because of the deep watering we have been doing. I had expected more, we are still watering the old oaks and shrubs here so the bill will probably keep going up. We have also watered a large oak just off our property because it would be a big loss to the look of our yard.

I just noticed yesterday the the oak trees in my neighbors large back yard are looking stressed since he hasn't watered there this year at all. The leaves are sparse and looking more beige than green. There is a distinct difference in them and the trees in the front yard where he waters. I'll mention it to him next time I see him out there. I noticed in another unwatered yard where a big oak limb broke off. The spreading branches get so dry they can't support the weight. I appreciate that people are trying to save water, but often they don't think about how it is affecting their trees.

It's really getting serious out there with the drought.

There are some scattered showers predicted, but we are not counting on them so still deep watering.

The neighbor has heard some creaking/cracking noises in his foundation even though he has been using the soaker hoses.

I picked up a bunch of Blackfoot Daisy plants in excellent condition at Lowe's for $1 each yesterday. Sales must be way down even for drought tolerant plants. Blackfoot Daisy is a great plant here, never dies back, last to quit blooming and first to start up again in spring.

Since we talked about water bills on here I thought I'd announce the good news that our total bill (including all the other fees) for July was $130 which is almost $20 less than last month. So being careful helps! And of course we got almost an inch of rain which put off about one or two days of watering.

Bob is so bad. When he opened the envelope he shook his head and said "You really messed up this month." My heart fell and then *I* looked at it!

BTW, I think he will recover ... LOL!