Xeriscaping| Xeriscaping| All you need to know about xeriscaping| conserve water with xeriscaping

Designing a sustainable and water efficient xeriscaping landscape starts with a thoroughly designed plan for water preservation. Having a plan will ensure that you are provided with direction and enable you to better manage, incorporate and plan water preserving methods.



A good way to start is to take a good look at what is currently there. Use this initial analysis to create a plan- include items such as the house, patio, trees, paths, fences, existing lawn, slopes, etc.
Once you have completed your initial plan, you will need to consider how you plan to use your new xeriscaped landscape. Basically, this means deciding where goes what.

Next, you will need to think about what types of plants you want to include in your xeriscape landscape.

Hint: here you might also want to think about what type of landscape you would like to have. It is possible to even have a traditional British type landscape based on principles of xeriscaping.

While there are many important issues to consider when designing a xeriscape landscape, the most important issue here is WATER CONSERVATION.

Xeriscapes can be segmented into zones with different water needs or requirements. An oasis has the higher water requirement and may require more maintenance. Next is the transition zone which is characterised by moderate water use. This zone usually includes plants that require less water and less frequent irrigation and maintenance than the oasis zone. The last zone is a low-water zone where plants are generally drought-tolerant and there is not much need for irrigation.

Having a healthy and nourishing soil is a good way to ensure that the plants you decide to grow will be healthy. Soil will preserve more humidity if adequately prepared.
In zones that require moderate and high watering, add organic matter, compost or leaves to help the soil retain moisture. In zones that require little or very little water, digging the soil exposes it to moisture and air, which is said to help the roots of the plants develop better.
If you can, try to test the soil for organic matter and nutrient substance before adding anything to it. This way, you can ascertain what nutrients if any are deficient, and will indicate how much you will need to add to ensure soil health.

Below is a list of resources and articles that you may want to read to find out more about how to keep your soil healthy

Erosion Control: Compost Coverage
Benefits of the Soil Foodweb

If you are living in an area that suffers from drought, turf areas can be an issue. Lawn requires a lot of watering, which some of us cannot afford. In some part of Australia, many households no longer have lawn areas as they have all dried out and with strict water restrictions we cannot have lawn areas. Having said that, there are ways to overcome this issue. The reality is that many of us struggle to envisage a landscaped garden without any turf areas; that is unless you have a zen garden or a rock garden. So what can you do?
Since xeriscaping centres on ways to make our landscapes drought resistant and water friendly, choosing a practical turf is of upmost importance. There are many drought-tolerant native grasses that you can choose from. Native or drought-tolerant grasses are well adapted to the conditions of the particular region you reside in. many native grasses are attractive and are tolerant to drought. It is important to choose a turf that is drought-resistant not only to make your life easier and minimise the amount of watering and maintenance, but they are also crucial to our ecological system.
Below is a list of native grasses that you can select to use for your xeriscape landscape:

Australian native grass:

+ Kangaroo grass Themeda triandra
+ Redgrass Bothriochloa macra
+ Tall Windmill grass Chloris ventricosa
+ Wallaby grass Austrodanthonia species (4 species)
+ Weeping grass Microlaena stipoides (5 types)
+ Wheat grass Elymus scaber
+ Spear grass Austrostipa spp.
+ Mitchell grass Astrebla spp.
+ Queensland bluegrass Dichanthium sericeum

American Native Grasses:
+ Big Bluestem
+ Blue Grama
+ Buffalograss
+ Cereal Rye Grain
+ Eastern Gamagrass
+ Eastern Gamagrass(3 Eco-Types)
+ Green Sprangletop
+ Indiangrass
+ Inland Sea Oats
+ Little Bluestem
+ Prairie Wildrye
+ Prairie Wildrye Roots
+ Purple Three-Awn
+ Sand Dropseed
+ Sand Lovegrass
+ Sideoats Grama
+ Silver Bluestem
+ Switchgrass
+ Switchgrass, Upland
+ Texas Cupgrass
+ Virginia Wildrye

Selecting the rights plants for your xeriscape landscape is a very important step. You can select native and/or non-native plants to beautify your xeriscape landscape. Whether you decide to use native or non-native plants is really up to you, as long as the plants you choose to use have low water requirements. This aspect makes the plants able to endure extended periods of drought. So the secret is to use plants that are compatible with the local environment.
Also, remember that in a xeriscape landscape, you have three water zones, so you will want to groups plants together that have similar water needs; doing this will ease unnecessary watering.

I came across a very interesting article that focuses on selecting the proper plants for landscaping, and gives advice in regards to colour selection, growth habits, and other useful tips.

Hint: Do not stress too much about whether you will be able to select the right plants. Most nurseries do carry stock of plants that are native and/or drought-tolerant.

Click on the link to see a list of Australian Native Shrubs

When deciding on an irrigation system, always aim to give your plants an adequate amount of water. As mentioned in an earlier xeriscaping principle, separate your xeriscape into three different zones; this way the different areas can be watered separately. If you have any lawn areas, you can water them on a more regular basis without flooding your more drought tolerant plants. You can the option or including sprinkler and drip irrigation to make sure that you xeriscaped landscape conserves water.

For a tutorial on everything relating to irrigation systems, click here

More useful information relating to efficient irrigation:
Efficient irrigation
More tips on efficient irrigation

The bad news is that even a xeriscape needs regular maintenance, although if you follow the first six principles of xeriscaping there should be significantly less maintenance required. Initially, your new xeriscape landscape may need quite a bit of weeding, but as the plants establish they should suppress the weeds. This in turn will decrease the maintenance time.
It is also recommended that you regularly irrigate the area (don't forget to PROPERLY irrigate your xeriscape landscape), prune your plants and fertilize. It is often suggested that the maintenance required for a new xeriscaped landscape is very similar to traditional gardens but it reduces over time.
So, preserving your xeriscape landscape cannot be forgotten! If you are time poor, you can choose to create a xeriscape landscape that will require minimal maintenance. This is something you need to think about during the planning stage. Remember, the design you choose will determine the maintenance required.
The benefit of having a xeriscape is that it provides you with a beautiful and thriving landscape without too much water. While there is a bit of maintenance involved, it is important to note that maintenance requirements of a xeriscape landscape are usually less than for a traditional landscape, due to the reduction of turf areas and inappropriate and water-thirsty plants that may be more prone to disease and require more pest control and fertilizer.

Xeriscapes are created to function in harmony with their local climate and availability of natural resources. If you live in a climate zone, where resources such as water are very limited, xeriscaping is something you definitely want to look at.

Take a look at your own garden. Is your garden a traditional landscape that is enriched with plants and turf that require very frequent watering to perform? In our arid climate, selecting appropriate plants that can survive with less water is increasingly becoming THE choice when designing our gardens. While many keen gardeners use indigenous or drought-tolerant plants because they have to, there are those who do so because they know that choosing plants sensibly can help them reduce water use and maintenance costs.

When hearing the term xeriscaping, people usually believe that it is nothing more but dry land characterised by rocks and ugly cacti. The reality is that xeriscape landscapes can be very abundant and comprise different plants. Also, xeriscaping does not mean that you are not allowed to have any grass or lawn areas. Generally, the aim of xeriscaping is to create a landscape that uses minimum resources such as water.

We all know that water is very limited! So, why do we keep on planting exotic plants?? Yes, I agree, they are absolutely beautiful! BUT, they can be very invasive and very harmful to our already fragile ecology. We should not be choosing plants that are damaging to our environment.
I have found a very good website that explains why we should not buy and plant exotic plants . Please check it out!

Say NO to exotic plants

There are many beautiful Xeriscape plants from which to choose from. Below is a list of some of the characteristics of drought tolerant plants

- needle like stems with very small leaves
- hairy, grey foliage
- leaves with hairy under sides
- horizontal and compacted foliage

To enhance plant health and sustain water, organic matter should be added to the soil of shrub and flower bed areas. This will ensure the soil's capacity to absorb and collect water. When selecting the plants, you should make sure that they are able to adapt to the region and soil. As such, it is always a good idea to use native plants, which inherently adapt to the region. Doing this will ensure that less water is being used; less pest problems and the need for fertilisers will be decreased.