While having a full fledged garden is rewarding and enjoyable, lots of
people simply dont have the time that is required to maintain it. Whether
you have too much going on at work or too many kids to take care of, you
should never try to operate a garden if you dont think you can handle it.
For those people who are just too busy for a normal garden, I would
suggest a somewhat recent method of gardening known as Xeriscaping. This
minimal yet stylish theory first emerged in Colorado when water levels
were at an all time low. It is a great method of having a great looking
yard or garden, without having to maintain it or water it very often at
all.
Here in Colorado, many places are offering free Xeriscaping lessons in
order to encourage the conservation of water. If your area is undergoing a
drought, you should check with the water suppliers and see if they are
offering lessons. If you attend those, you will be able to get advice
specific to your region (IE types of plants to grow, how much to water
them, etc).
To some, the name Xeriscaping conjures the image of a yard that consists
of a giant rock bed. However, this is known as zero scaping, and it is a
considerably different concept. It focuses on reducing your yard to
nothing that requires any maintenance whatsoever. Unfortunately this is
usually just rocks. But this shouldnt be your goal. While keeping
maintenance at a minimum, it is still possibly to retain a nice looking
yard that wont attract the negative attention of everyone who passes by.
This might sound like it would be hard to implement without making your
yard into a hideous mess, but this is not so at all. The theory basically
involves choosing plants which are low maintenance to begin with, then
putting them each in environments that are ideal. It is usually applied by
figuring out what side of the house to place it on to get the best amount
of shade, and figuring out how to group it with plants with similar water
needs.
To get started in your Xeriscaping renovation, you first need to pick out
all the plants you will be using. They should for the most part require a
low amount of water. This doesnt mean you can only grow cactuses in your
yard. Just cut back on the really thirsty plants that you have to water
every day to keep alive. Youll want to stick with local plants for the
most part, and dont go with anything too exotic as these generally
require larger amounts of water.
The second most important principle of xeriscaping is placing the plants
in ideal areas. If you place them all together with plants that require
essentially the same amount of water, then you will end up saving lots of
water. Also place the plants in areas where they will be protected from
wind or excessive sun, depending on the needs of the plants. Xeriscaping
is almost the same thing as microclimating, just with more of a focus on
adaptation to harsh conditions rather than avoiding them. So if it sounds
good to you and youre looking to save time and water by renovating your
garden, you should look for xeriscaping lessons.
