Question
Hi, Thank you for allowing me to ask a question that I hope you have an answer for.I want to grow a privacy hedge for the back border of our property.The taller it is the better for us.Here in Georgia we have had 6 of the last 8 years in drought and we have water restrictions.I use the condensation from the air conditioner[ up to 15 gals a day] for watering these plants at least during the summer.What if any are my options?  thanks,Dave

Answer
Hey, Dave.

There's not a lot of good options for tall hedges that are drought tolerant, but I have had good success in South and West Texas, as well as here in San Diego, with oleanders, pittosporum, ligustrum, lantana (takes a little work to get them to grow tall and bushy), and vines on lattice work. Of course, the best is a fence since you can build it tall and it's pretty drought tolerant.

One way to conserve water while being able to water your plants is to install an irrigation system that uses soaker or drip hoses or or bubble heads. To help your plants become drought tolerant, water for a longer period of time but less often. For example, many people around here water five minutes a day, which is wrong, wrong, wrong. Water once a week for 35 minutes and you'll accomplish much, much more. The deeper watering encourages the roots to grow deeper as the ground dries out.

Hope that helps you.