Sustainable Garden Guide

The best way to design a garden which is low on water consumption is to use the landscaping practice of Xeriscaping. Aside from the issue of pronunciation the biggest question surrounding Xeriscaping is, of course, what is Xeriscaping?

Xeriscaping is a form of sustainable and low maintenance gardening or landscaping designed to limit the need for irrigation. It can save you both money and time and should be looked on as an option for anyone thinking about re-landscaping their garden.

How You Benefit from Xeriscaping

Xeriscaping your garden allows you to save water on watering your garden (which, in summer, can be up to 50% of your water usage); it is also low maintenance (besides a small amount of pruning and weeding).

Principals of Xercaping

While some of these concepts may sound harsh they are good ways of making sure your garden is drought-proof as well as easy to run.

Saving water is the main principal of Xeriscaping. Maximizing natural rainfall’s effectiveness is central to the process. Understanding the natural irrigation and contours of your garden allows you to work with the land you already have more efficiently.

Firstly you need to reduce the size of turf, or replace your turf with a less thirsty grass. While most of us know that a lawn is the most important part of a garden reducing its size will greatly aid the saving of water.

Increasing the quality of your soil gives quicker drainage from the surface and better water retention underneath. The way to improve your soil is to increase the amount of organic material in it, adding compost is one good way to do this. If you have cacti and succulents then using compost is not the best idea as they prefer to have “lean” soil.  Using a home testing kit to find out what you need to add to your soil may be a good idea if you are unsure.

Mulch can aid soil in water retention. Mulch is usually leaves, coarse compost or bark which will sit on top of your soil. By reducing the areas of bare soil you will be able to retain moisture, slow erosion and block out weeds. Having mulch a couple of inches thick is the best way to assure this.

Xeriscaping and Plants

Using and choosing the correct plants for your garden is a concern whatever style you are going for. Using drought-resistant plants such as ornamental grasses and low shrubs with thick leaves is a great way to keep water consumption down.

Trees can be good for blocking wind and slowing evaporation while offering some extra shade and moisture. Make sure you don’t choose a tree which requires a vast amount of water – or all your work will be in vain!

Make sure you plant plants which do not have conflicting water needs together – in south and west exposed areas put drier and less thirsty plants, in North and east facing slopes and walls where there is ample shade and moisture you should put your more thirsty plants.

With this all in mind you should be able to start planning your own water-saving Xeriscaped garden.