15 Best Plants for Drought-Tolerant Gardens
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With xeriscaping, you can’t just go to the garden center and pick out random plants to put in the ground. Carefully selecting your plants is crucial to the overall success of your outdoor space, and you’ll need to choose plants that fit your overall design and water availability. Xeriscaping doesn’t mean you have to give up on big showy flowers or lush green foliage, but by choosing the correct plants, you’ll have ongoing growth without needing to replant. Many perennial varieties require little water and grow slowly, so they have a long lifespan.
A Beginner's Guide to Drought-Tolerant Landscaping in California - Write For California
A Beginner's Guide to Drought-Tolerant Landscaping in California.
Posted: Wed, 01 Feb 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]
Red Emu Bush
No matter your region, your style, or your expertise, drought-tolerant landscaping isn’t out of reach. You can start small by reducing the amount of grass in your yard, adding drought-tolerant plants into your existing landscape, and thinking about retaining site water. You can also go big and get expert help with our talented designers for a full xeriscape landscape renovation. Either way, you’ll have a hardy, water-wise landscape for years to come. Our client asked for a bold landscape design around their front drive that would feel lush and incorporate their grove of existing oak trees while also conserving water in the Texas heat.
Soil.
I prefer either one or a pair of architectural plants per pot—agave is excellent for this. Or, an "over-stuffed" container with smaller succulent rosettes or cuttings. I also like a contrasting pair —for instance, a chubby aeonium with a wispy grass. A lot of xeriscaping also uses gravel as the primary type of mulch. However, if hardwood mulch makes more sense in your area due to cost, availability, or overall performance, then you can use that in your xeriscaping as well.
Soil & Compost
Sticking to your layout also allows you to properly schedule necessary tasks such as water, pruning, aeration, and fertilizing. In some situations having turf or grass is an option with xeriscaping, but most often you’ll find that people resort to artificial turf to cut down on their water needs. While artificial turf is a beautiful and functional option, some individuals find it hard to adjust or decide to do without it entirely.
Multi-skilled, Jennifer has worked in PR and marketing, and the occasional dabble in the social media, commercial and e-commerce space. Prepare Your SoilStart by researching what kind of soil you have on your property. Knowing your soil's clay, loam, and sand content will help you determine how to amend your soil to achieve the right water retention and drainage balance. If you want to find out the composition of your soil, you can submit a sample to Texas A&M’s Soil, Water, and Forage Testing Lab for soil analysis. The Boones put in their new lawn six months ago, and are already seeing growth. 'Fountains recirculate water and lose only minimal amounts of water to evaporation, and they’re great for attracting wildlife,' he says.
Gorgeous Drought-Tolerant Garden Plans and Ideas
Some plants are more vulnerable than others, and you want to select hardy specimens that won’t require additional care or treatments to grow their best. When designing your xeriscaped garden, it’s essential that you create a design that takes advantage of the available water and where it flows naturally through the space. If you have trouble figuring this out, it’s worth consulting a professional that can help you blend the available water resources and how you wish to use your space. The rain that your garden gets naturally might be enough, or you might need to supplement on a weekly or monthly basis.
A Xeric Meadow Garden
Timber lends itself to different styles of architecture and design. A deck can be designed in a smart, contemporary look, as easily as in a more traditional style. Limit Turf AreasTurf grasses use more water than anything else in the garden and require more maintenance.
Draw up a list of water-thrifty plants
Areas with partial or full shade will be cooler, staying wetter for longer.
Soil health is a key component of plant wellbeing, as well as acting as a filter for rainfall. If your soil is compacted it's not going to be receptive to either water or air, and this could restrict plant root growth. Rocks are not the only mulch option for your xeric plants, but they often get used in dry and arid locations where wood mulch wouldn’t perform as well. Rocks don’t need replenishing each year but still hold moisture in the soil, which makes them an ideal option for some types of xeriscaping in every hardiness zone.
Its long blossom time and attractiveness to butterflies and bees add to its appeal. Yarrow is versatile, working well in borders, wildflower meadows, and as cut flowers for arrangements. True to its name, the blanket flower lives up to its reputation and blooms in a dazzling display of color. Thriving in hot, sunny locations with well-drained soil, lavender is perfect for lining pathways, accenting borders, or filling containers with beauty and fragrance.
A comely choice for sunny, low water gardens in warm coastal or humid Mediterranean-like climates. Handsome in dry desert gardens as well, provided some shade and supplemental water. It’s crucial to take into account your local climate and weather too.
Additionally, it will feature 'smart' irrigation such as water-saving devices, rainwater harvesting and gray water systems. Xeriscaping techniques, such as proper soil preparation and mulching, help retain moisture in the soil too, reducing the need for frequent watering and promoting water efficiency. By considering these factors and implementing appropriate strategies, you can create a visually stunning and environmentally-friendly yard that thrives even during drought conditions. The design should also incorporate areas where water collects or where water is more sparse so you can select plants that do well in those types of conditions.
Check with local university extension offices, master gardeners, and native plant organizations to find out more about the native plants in your area. For example, if you're in a specific part of Northern California, such as San Joaquin, look for native plants such as lupine, artemisia, yarrow, and poppy—but every county's native plants differ. Debra LaGattuta is a Master Gardener with 30+ years of experience in perennial and flowering plants, container gardening, and raised bed vegetable gardening.
Many parts of the US also have inexpensive materials such as rocks and gravel available throughout the year, but other traditional landscaping materials like sod or hardwood mulch are pricey. In these areas, choosing a design that makes the most out of economical landscaping supplies can reduce the overall cost of the garden setup. Xeriscaping combines the Greek prefix “xero,” which means dry or arid, with the latter half of the word “landscape.” This term often gets confused as zeroscaping since the words sound similar. Zeroscaping refers to a type of gardening or landscaping that uses few or no plants.
Some plants need more water, so you’ll place them in parts of the garden that are lower where water is more likely to collect. Some people aren’t fond of plants and gardening, and that’s where xeriscaping comes in handy! By xeriscaping, it’s possible to schedule your gardening time during the year to minimize your efforts but keep your garden looking picture perfect. So, do you think that Xeriscaping could be the next gardening trend that you’d like to follow? In this guide, you’ll learn everything you need to know about this landscape type, and what to expect when planting drought-resistant plants. This mint relative comprises a large group of plants with aromatic foliage and flowers in a range of forms and colors.
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