Xeriscaping

File:Xeriscape03.png

Xeriscape symbol

Xeriscaping and xerogardening refers to landscaping and gardening in ways that reduce or eliminate the need for supplemental water from irrigation. It is promoted in regions that do not have easily accessible, plentiful, or reliable supplies of fresh water, and is gaining acceptance in other areas as climate patterns shift.

The word xeriscaping is a portmanteau of xeros (Greek for "dry") and landscaping, and Xeriscape is used for this style of garden.

Plants whose natural requirements are appropriate to the local climate are emphasized, and care is taken to avoid losing water to evaporation and run-off. While many Denver Water employees helped coin the term xeriscape, Xeriscape and the xeriscape logo are not registered trademarks of Denver Water, the water department of Denver, Colorado. They were created by the Front Range Xeriscape Task Force of Denver Department in 1978. The specific plants used in xeriscaping depend upon the climate. Some common plants used in Western xeriscaping are agave, cactus, lavender, juniper, sedum and thyme.

In some areas, terms such as water-conserving landscapes, drought-tolerant landscaping, zeroscaping, and smart scaping are used instead.

Advantages

Cacti are not the only low water consuming plants used in Xeriscaping.

• Lowers consumption of imported or ground water.
  • More water available for other domestic and community uses and the environment.
• Less time and work needed for maintenance effort, with gardening simpler and less stressful.
  • Little or no lawnmowing
• Xeriscape plants in appropriate planting design, and soil grading and mulching, takes full advantage of rainfall retention.
• When water restrictions are implemented, by municipality or water costs, xeriscape plants will tend to survive and thrive, while more ornamental plants may be unable to adapt.

See also

• Sustainable gardening
• Natural landscaping
• Sustainable landscape architecture
• Wildlife garden
• Native plant
• Rainwater harvesting
• Gardening
• Sustainable farming
• Dryland farming
• International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas

References

• University of Arizona Cooperative Extension Bulletin AZ1048
• Landscape Plants for the Desert Climate, 2004, AMWUA

External links

• Drought Smart Plants
• Xeriscape North Carolina -- NCSU
• Xeriscape Colorado
• Xeriscape Council of New Mexico
• City of Albuquerque
• Texas Agricultural Extension Service
• Southern Nevada Water Authority
• Colorado State University Cooperative Extension
• Center for the Study of the Built Environment's Water-Conserving Landscapes Project
• Back to Natives Restoration a 501(c)3 (Irvine, CA)
• Xeriscape Landscaping

Imported from Wikipedia This page is being imported from Wikipedia, to create a Wikidwelling stub or article. These steps need to be completed: Sections not relevant to Wikidwelling can be deleted, or trimmed to a brief comment. Note: Image redlinks should not be removed Redlinks to articles unlikely to be created on Wikidwelling can be unlinked. (leave links to locations and institutions.) Categories may need to be adapted or removed - e.g. "people born in the 1940s". Redlinked categories are not a problem. Templates not used on Wikidwelling should be deleted, like all the interwiki links ({{de:...}}, {{fr:...}}, When these first tasks are basically done, you can remove this template, writing {{Attrib Wikipedia | article name}} in place of this {{Attrib Wikipedia raw | article name}} at the bottom (simply remove "raw"). You can also: Move to a section "External links" all Wikimedia project-related templates (e.g. {{Commons}}, {{Commons category}}, {{Wiktionary}}, etc. ). Add more specific content (related to the Wikidwelling topic) to the article, insert videos from YouTube, etc. Pages with this template. The original article was at Xeriscaping. The list of authors can be seen in the history for that page. The text of Wikipedia is available under the CC-BY-SA 3.0 license.