Learn From Southern California’s Low Water Gardens
Most of us learn about evapotranspiration in school. Rain or snow falls. As it forms rivers or soaks into the earth, a certain amount of it evaporates into the atmosphere. That’s the “evapo” part. Then the roots of plants also absorb water from the earth and feed it to their leaves. During photosynthesis it is released back into the atmosphere. That’s the “transpiration” part.
How fast evapotranspiration occurs and how much water is involved depends on a place and its plants. Tropical flora, flushed with steady water, grows in a fast, lush and often continuous fashion. Landscape designers would say it has an high ET rate.
Plants in dry Mediterranean climates such as ours use water sparingly. Faced with bone dry summers, Mediterranean plants typically become dormant in late spring through fall to conserve water.
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