Landscape business booming during drought

Local landscaping businesses are booming because more people are stepping up to meet the states new water regulations. Salinas resident, Marcie McClure spent her Sunday at McShane’s Nursery searching for drought tolerant plants for her garden.

“I would say its pretty hard, even to find reasonably priced succulents that are a good size are pretty hard,” McClure said.

The drought tolerant plants, hard to find as many shoppers are searching for the same thing, succulents or plants to withstand the states drought. Landscape designer and manager, Anthony Gonzales said many people are buying low water use plants like lavender.

“We’ve been selling a lot of natives, different types of native grasses for sure all the different drought plants being that they’re lavenders, sages and rosemary. So big major increase on that,” Gonzales said.

Business at the nursery is up 15 percent compared to last year. Right now, the nursery has sold three to four times as much artificial turf.

“Artificial turf is flying out of here, a lot of people are taking their lawns out, we’re going through them like hot cakes,” Gonzales said.

That’s probably because the state’s Water Commission decided to eliminate grass from new office buildings and reduce turf at new homes from a third of landscaped area down to a quarter.

McShane’s Nursery said a popular substitute to grass is bark, and they go through about 80 yards of it every week. McClure is in the process of ripping her own lawn out.

“It’s fine, what do people need this for? If you have a small child you might want a little grassy space, if you have a dog you might want a little grassy space but other than that there is no real purpose to have these pastures like we have horses or cattle grazing on them we don’t have that anymore,” McClure said.

As the state continues into it’s fourth year of drought McClure said everyone needs to get on board to conserve.

“The climate is changing and we have to adapt to that climate change and some of this isn’t going to go away,” McClure said.