A beginner’s guide into planning and building a garden in harmony with a dry climate
The concept ofxeriscapingis nothing Modern . People in drier parts of the cosmos have always taken imaginative step to stretch their resources , through water storage , crop selection , geomorphologic design , and other means to create landscape . The incentive in New time are hardly unlike , but the scale of our consumption has for certain changed . We expect unlimited resource at low prices , with little investment inadaptingto our regional clime . But here ’s the round-eyed reality : our “ limitless ” resources are not in fact limitless , our low prices are rising , and our climate is not going to adapt to us . TheSouthwestencompasses various areas like Oceanside , Barstow , Santa Fe , and Austin , but one yarn links them all : dry times will come , particularly as our climate changes .
Learn more:8 Inspired Drought - Tolerant Plant Combinations for a Water - Wise landscape painting
When the term “ xeriscape ” was coined in Denver , Colorado , in the mid-1970s , it was grievous drought that got mass ’s attention . Denver , like many semi - arid western city , was model on more lush eastern esthetics . Turning down the dab was unthinkable , even though emerald lawns and athirst trees bore no resemblance to Denver ’s innate mountain and eminent prairie landscapes . For some , the pendulum swung too far , and a honorable construct devolved into the defamatory term “ zero - scaping , ” with wastelands of hot gravel and tattered yuccas sweeping through industrial commons and strip malls , and more than a few front yards .
We ’ve come a long way since then , and there ’s no self-justification for adopting that style now . More sustainable — and attractive — versions of xeriscape have give-up the ghost global . With so many alternative plants and smart innovations available , we can create our own beautiful , sustainable bits of paradise and still feel like responsible global citizen !
So why would someone want to xeriscape in their home garden , and what does that even mean these days ? Is n’t that just for people that live in the desert ? Wherever you live , if you endeavour for a sustainable equilibrium between your local rude landscapes and the landscape painting that welcome you home each day , there are immediate and far - hit benefit . Water preservation is just one advantage .
Here are some summit that can guide you into xeriscaping , no matter where you hold out .
It is still easy to recollect that our water woes will be solved by someone else . cogitate about this : every meter you use water , whether you live in the high mountains , humiliated desert , or a well - irrigate vale , that water was on its way downstream to another hayfield of wildflowers , another succulent canon , another lake , and most likely another householder . The water resources we all swear on belong to all life on earth , and then to the quietus of us . Everyone helping helps everyone !
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Dan Johnson lives and gardens in Denver , Colorado , and in Tucson , Arizona . He is an associate director of horticulture for the Denver Botanic Gardens .
Photos , except where noted : Dan Johnson
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The uninhabited areas outside of Red Rock in Arizona are a great place to pick up dry-planting plan ideas and to see how natural plant networks exist in the wild.Photo: Danielle Sherry
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The uninhabited areas outside of Red Rock in Arizona are a great place to pick up dry-planting plan ideas and to see how natural plant networks exist in the wild.Photo: Danielle Sherry
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The Desert Botanical Garden in Arizona is a great place to pick up inspiring ideas for beautifully designed xeriscapes. This blue-themed dry garden is just one of the display gardens there.Photo: Danielle Sherry
A curb cut in the neighborhood allows stormwater runoff to be redirected into garden areas.Photo: Dan Johnson
Southwest native plants create a beautiful backdrop in this xeric planting, with a few leafy ornamental perennials filling in to provide added texture.
A garden was created here in the outflows of a few drainage pipes. Thirstier plants can be grown in spots like these that tend to be a little wetter than those of the surrounding area.
Grouping plants with similar needs can result in a xeriscape that is more diverse and varied.
