Drought Resistent Tree

Hi, Ive got some land in Cuyama valley CA, which is in the north east part of Santa Barbara county, which I would like to live on in a few years. the problem is that there is no well on the prop, and the valley is quite arid, 1-1.5 feet of rain per year, with a couple inches of snow as well. otherwise it is hot and dry. Though I would like to plant some trees now, so that in a few years when I have money to dig a well and move out there I will already have shade. as of now, there are is only tumbleweed and juniper bushes.

are there any trees that will grow in these conditions without considerable water supplement?

 

Sounds like junipers grow there. Maybe there are some pines that would live there as well. Any of those nearby? What else do you see growing nearby? Maybe with mulching and occasional buckets of water during visits you can get some other kinds going.

Cypresses are also typical of semiarid regions. But these look generally like junipers. They do tend to grow fast.

 

Given the name of your home, Cuyamaca Cypress Cupressus stephensonii would be a good one to try.

 

Hi, here in Southern Italy in a similar condition you would plant Carob (Ceratonia siliqua) or Olive (Olea aeuropea). They are both really drought resistent, but I am concerned about snow. How cold does it get there? Olive is slightly hardyer.

 

one native tree is a good solution, in this forum there is one thread with plant list for xeriscaping,however my preferite is nerium oleander.
uhuh Alevin with Ron B and Michael F in this page .. 3 teacher ;-)
ciao Ale

 

Dorian,
Have you considered some native oaks? I think an oak that can survive east Texas could survive anywhere!
http://oaksofthewildwest.com/OakVarieties.html

 

12" to 18" of rain may be too optimistic. 7" to15" inches is listed on this site some others show even less!

http://docs.google.com/gview?a=v&q=...&gl=us&sig=AFQjCNF-h56wMAndKchDifbgmAImQWgJQA

You may need to go to Las Pilitas nursery to find drought adapted plants that may be able to
grow there without supplemental irrigations. Hope that helps.

http://www.laspilitas.com/stores/santa-margarita

 

I think Yews "Taunton Yew" (Taxus 'Tauntonii') maybe is a good recommendation.

 

Eucalyptus.... so many to choose from.....

 

Put on your flameproof underwear :-) Californians (generally) hate Eucalyptus as
fire hazards or invasives.

 

Thanks Saltcedar,


Is Santa barbara county too warm for Madronas? or Myrtle?

 

Myrtle would do fine, it is native to hot dry areas in the Mediterranean. But realistically only a shrub, not a tree as was requested.

 

i agree with Michael myrtle is good for low hedge

 

I'm not sure how well they will grow where you are, but a favorite to most Arizonians is the Mesquite tree. These are very drought resistant trees, I havn't got a good rain here since July and the mesquites are still doing very well. If you don't mind their thorns they are awesome trees.

 

Hmmm, a 7 -8 metre Myrtle tree sounds reasonable to me....http://hubpages.com/hub/crepe-myrtle-tree

 

That's a crapemyrtle Lagerstroemia, not a myrtle Myrtus! Different thing altogether. Sloppy naming on that website.

 

>Sloppy naming on that website<

Botanical name is given right at top of discussion.