Xeriscaping your lawn
California’s native drought tolerant plants, can be used in xeriscaping your lawn. The following landscaping ideas will help you understand what xeriscaping is, how to take advantage of its design, and help you make good choices when selecting plants.
A landscape can be designed from the beginning to reduce the amount of resources needed to maintain it and the amount of waste it produces. Each region of California has different resource conditions, such as available water, soil type, temperature ranges, and lighting. By designing a landscape in an appropriate manner, selecting compatible plants, and installing efficient irrigation systems, a balance can be achieved that fits both the aesthetic needs of the landowner or client, and the resource availability of the region.
Many times a landscape is “inherited”–it is already established and you are simply charged with maintaining it. A transition to a more resource-efficient landscape may be a possibility. However, long-term resource efficiency improves when you plan and prepare ahead of time.
Landscape Design and Plant Selection
The first question to ask in considering a landscape is “Why?” Why have a landscape? Why install plants and a lawn instead of decking or pavement? What is it to be used for? Will it be an active recreational space or a quiet, contemplative area for meditative toiling? Whatever the intended use, proper design and plant selection can reduce the amount of waste a landscape generates through maintenance. In the end, that means time and money savings.
Today’s waste-efficient landscapes use “unthirsty” plants–California natives and drought tolerant exotics. Proper soil preparation, garden layout, and planting time assures that plants can mature into beautiful specimens with minimal trimming. In a word, the modern approach to California landscaping is xeriscaping.
What is xeriscaping?
Literally, the word xeriscaping comes from a combination of two other words: “xeri” derived from the Greek word “xeros” for dry; and “scape”, meaning a kind of view or scene. While xeriscape translates to mean “dry scene,” in practice xeriscaping means simply landscaping with slow-growing, drought tolerant plants to conserve water and reduce yard trimmings.
The practice of xeriscaping will vary from region to region in California. Plants which are appropriate in one climate may not work well in another. The moist northwest may even be considered inhospitable to sturdy plants of the desert south. Landscapes need to be planned to be compatible with locally available resources, including water, soil types, and sunlight.
California’s limited supply of water, subject to ever increasing demands, is just one resource saved by xeriscaping. This results in immediate cost savings through lower water bills. Xeriscaping can reduce the amount of plant trimmings which must be disposed of or otherwise managed, thereby helping your community, and ultimately you, to save resources. A reduction in plant trimmings can reduce the amount of labor needed to maintain a given landscape. Or, put another way, reduced plant maintenance allows more time to be spent on other aspects of landscape maintenance, or on another landscape account.
Remember, xeriscaping:
- Conserves water.
- Provides lots of attractive planting options.
- Presents minimal pest and disease problems.
- Thrives with little fertilization.
- Requires low pruning and maintenance.
- Saves valuable landfill space!
All of this adds up to time and money savings for you.
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