Native Plants
Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?
A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.
Did you know you can access the Native Plant Information Network with your web-enabled smartphone?
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
rate this answer
Sunday - December 16, 2012
From: Toronto, ON
Region: Canada
Topic: Watering
Title: Water use rate calculations from Toronto ON
Answered by: Barbara Medford
QUESTION:
Can the high medium and low water use categories be quantified into a rate, say volume of water required by square foot of planted area? How are the water use categories established?ANSWER:
This is a little out of our area of expertise. The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, home of Mr. Smarty Plants, is dedicated to the growth, propagation and protection of plants native to North America which, of course, includes Canada. In Texas, where we live, the consumption of water is a constant subject of discussion, because of our continuing drought. Watering is often restricted to certain hours and/or certain days, so we are always recommending plants requiring low water use for gardeners in our area.
We were unable to locate any sites online that had specific information on what your soils and rainfall were like in order to help you decide. We did find one site that might be of service from Washington State University Garden Math.
Since we are gardeners and not hydrologists, we tend to go with experience. We would suggest you contact the Toronto Water Meter Program to see if they have material on this problem.
More Watering Questions
Recycling bath water from Austin
July 03, 2012 - Is using bath water going to hurt my plants or grass? If I use water from the bath on vegetables and fruits will the soap be absorbed by the fruit and/or vegetables thereby transferring to us when we ...
view the full question and answer
Shriveling and dying of non-native impatiens
July 14, 2008 - Several years now many of my impatiens after a month or so seem to shrivel up and eventually die. They are planted in a row and not all are affected. I am not noticing any slug evidence which I would...
view the full question and answer
Failure to thrive of closet plant
August 13, 2008 - I have a closet plant that is old and was doing fine and then started having droopy leaves. It needed to be in a larger pot so I transplanted into a larger pot with new potting soil. It continues to...
view the full question and answer
Will Bermuda grass survive a drought-induced dormancy?
August 12, 2015 - If I stop watering a Bermuda grass lawn and let it go dormant, will it green up again when it rains again?
view the full question and answer
Problems with water oaks from Laurel MS
October 05, 2013 - The leaves on my mature water oak trees have been falling since the leaves matured. My area has had an abundance of rain this year, 11 inches above normal. All the trees in my area are doing the same....
view the full question and answer
| Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today. |