You can have a colorful, striking garden that's drought resistant too!

Water-Smart Gardening gives you all the tools needed to create a water-smart landscape and garden. Drought is spreading throughout the country. Even areas that previously had plentiful supplies are feeling the strain, and the price of water is climbing. If you have to water your garden during non-drought years, many of the water-saving techniques from this book could still pay for themselves in no time.

Choose water-smart plants that survive and even thrive in low-water situations. Tap into the power of evolution and use plants native to your area. Time your irrigation and install water-collection devices such as cisterns and rain barrels. Creating a water-efficient garden can even be as simple as designing your landscape to harvest as much rainfall as possible, using berms, terraces, and raised beds.

Gorgeous photos throughout Water-Smart Gardening will inspire you with beautiful garden ideas and help you see your way to a garden that sips water instead of gulping it. Helpful how-to information gets to the nuts and bolts of everything from installing a cistern to using seep irrigation.

Author Diana (Dee) Maranhao brings over 30 years of experience to help you create the garden of your dreams and save water at the same time.

Diana (Dee) Maranhao has been an active member of the horticulture and landscape industry for more than 35 years. She holds a degree in Ornamental Horticulture, and is a credentialed teacher in California, specializing in Ornamental Horticulture. Diana has spent much of her career in higher education, serving as a Horticulture Program Manager, Nursery Production Specialist, and educator specializing in Xeriscape-Low Water Use Landscaping, Nursery Production, and Plant Propagation.

Diana has also been a horticulture editor and project editor for numerous educational texts, magazines, garden guides, and horticulture books. She has been a regularly featured garden columnist for more than ten years, authoring hundreds of gardening and horticulture articles for the public and the horticulture industry. Diana is also the author of Rocky Mountain Fruit and Vegetable Gardening (Cool Springs Press, 2014). She received the "2014 Professional of the Year" Award from Southwest Trees & Turf Magazine at Desert Green XVIII Conference in Las Vegas.