xeriscaping
55Resources and guide for creating drought-tolerant xeriscapes
Xeriscaping refers to a landscape design that is drought-tolerant and sustainable. One of the main principles of xeriscaping is to select plants based on their drought tolerance and ability to survive and grow in dry and harsh climate.
Many of us mere mortals are not aware of the term Xeriscaping one of the reasons, at least here in Australia, is that we never believed that the drought and turbulent climate change would cause xeriscaping to become a necessary consideration when designing our landscapes.
So what is a Xeriscape?
The term "xeriscape" was developed in Denver, Colorado due to increasing water limitations. 'Xeros" is a Greek word that means "dry", thus the word Xeriscape implies a landscape that uses little supplemental water. It does not mean that a Xeriscape is a dry and austere landscape. A Xeriscape is usually designed aiming for a minimum maintenance landscape. Many of us do value the idea of having an attractive garden, but have limited time for a frequent care and maintenance. A Xeriscape incorporates plants that are well adapted to the region, while mostly indigenous plants are being used. In short, a Xeriscape is not a style of a garden; this concept can be applied to any style of gardens. It is simply a way of conserving water in our gardens.
It is really important to stress that a xeriscape is not a style of garden. This is a concept that can be used for any style or type or gardens.
If you wish to find out more click on the link: Xeriscaping
To see images of how an unused tennis court was transformed into an award winning Xericaped Australian garden that is part of an Open Garden Scheme that helps educate people how to create sustainable landscapes, click on the link: Xeriscape: Australian garden
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Any Xeriscaping comments
Hi livelonger, here in Melbourne we no longer have the problem of lawns draining out our water resources, for we have no more lawns left. Most of front and backyards are left with dead grass, so we moved onto fake grass =)
But the problem here is that many people are still holding onto the idea of lush British gardens with tropical plants even though it is not possible to maintain them. The other part of the problem is the fact that when people hear the term "xeriscaping" they do not know what it is, and if they hear "dry landscape" they get turned off. No one really bothers to find out about the beauty of our natural landscape.
working
livelonger says:
17 months ago
Interesting! Something I hope catches on in places like Coachella Valley where green grass lawns are rapidly lowering the water table.