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Fall
is for
Xeriscaping
Xeriscape Perennials |
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By most reports, the warmer
than normal autumns that Wyobraska has experienced
the past few years are likely to become the new
“normal” for the region. If this is the case,
Wyobraska autumns will become more colorful than in
the past, because the later freezing temperatures
will allow more of the trees and shrubs grown in our
landscapes the gradual physiological progression
into dormancy that is required for the best fall
foliage color. Early hard freezes are the enemy of
good fall foliage color, so that later the first
freeze arrives, the better the fall foliage color.
Here we are into October and only a few spots around
the region have experienced any frost.
The warmer and later autumns also make what was the best season for
landscaping in Wyobraska even better for
xeriscaping. The continuing drought has many
Wyobraska homeowners considering xeriscaping. For
those few readers that may not remember, xeriscaping
is the word developed almost 30 years ago to
describe water conserving landscaping. The word is
often mispronounced and likewise, misunderstood.
Many homeowners actually think the word is spelled
and pronounced “zero-scaping” |
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In the early years, xeriscaping did involve the use
of unplanted areas of rock “mulches” and only a few
(and often not very attractive) plants.
Zero-Scape
But as a growing number of
homeowners and landscape professionals have
experimented with plants, design techniques, and
more efficient watering methods, xeriscaping has
blossomed into a landscape style that can offer
visual interest and color that is the equal of the
most water intensive landscape.
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Previous Articles
Fractions March 15
Yardner March 8
Urban
Legends of Trees March 22
Que
Serra, Serra March 29
Grocery Store or Garbage Dumpster Plants April 5
Planning Your Landscape Project April 12
Planting
Cool Trees April 19
Keeping
Trees Alive April 26
Thrillers, Chillers, Spillers May 03
Will
You Still Love Them May 10
Ornamental Grasses May 17
In
Memory of Cedar Trees May 24
Gardening is not Childs Play
Versatile
Viburnums June 6
Yardner Plants
June 13
2007
Garden Walk and
Blue Spruce Decline
The Birds
& Bees of Butterfly Gardening June 28
Summer
Landscaping July 5
Cutting Your Lawn Down to Size July 12
Some Like it
Hot!! July 19
When a Tree
Falls on 5th Ave
July 26
Green
Landscaping August 2
American Idol-Landscape Aug 9
Fall is
for Planting Aug 16
Is your Landscape Neat or Messy? Aug 23
The
Seeds of a good Landscape Aug 29
Big Red Fall
Color Sep 6
Fall Landscaping Tips Sept 13
Fall Lawn Care Sept 20
The Colors of
Autumn Sept 27
2006 Articles |
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and think that the word means
some kind of minimal landscaping that uses less
water because a “zeroscape” contains a lot of rock
and almost no plants. But “xeri” is a Greek word
meaning “dry”. So the word xeriscape actually means
a landscape that grows well in dry conditions.
For many reasons, drought
tolerant plants are easier to get established when
planted in the fall than at any other time of year.
It’s mostly because they are not actively growing at
this time of year, and thus don’t require the
frequent watering required when planted in the
spring and summer. Those frequent post-planting
waterings often tend to drown xeriscape plants whose
roots are more accustomed to drier soils. By next
spring, most fall-planted xeriscape plants will be
well-enough established to thrive on only their
regular xeriscape irrigation.
Unfortunately, drought tolerant
lawn grasses must be started from late spring
through late summer only. So it’s best to delay
that part of your xeriscape project until next
spring. By the way, if you’ve heard that it is
difficult, or takes a long time to establish a
buffalograss or blue grama lawn—forget that. I know
of several buffalograss lawns that were seeded this
summer and which are already completely
established. There are just a few simple rules to
follow to make a drought tolerant lawn as easy to
establish as the traditional bluegrass lawn. You
can be sure that there will be a column or two on
the subject next spring.
Drought tolerant perennials and roses
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Xeriscape
As homeowners, municipalities,
landscape designers, and landscape contractors have
worked with the concept over the past 30+ years,
xeriscaping has also become a guide to sound
landscape development—regardless of your water
supply.
Perhaps the best understood
principle of xeriscaping is to use plants that can
grow well with less water—so-called drought tolerant
plants. What was originally a fairly short list of
xeriscape plants that was dominated by yuccas,
cactus, pinion pine, and sage, is now a long list of
trees, shrubs, perennials, and grasses.
Well-designed xeriscapes are now virtually
indistinguishable from traditional landscapes in
terms of plant size, lushness, and flower quality.
Another major principle of
xeriscaping that is becoming more popular throughout
Wyobraska is the minimal use of turfgrass.
Xeriscaping does not advocate the complete
elimination of irrigated turfgrass, but it does
suggest that irrigated turfgrass only be used where
it is needed for recreational or other legitimate
landscape use. And it advocates the use of
drought-tolerant grasses whenever appropriate.
Interest is alternative lawn grasses such as
buffalograss and blue grama is growing rapidly
around Wyobraska.
Xeriscaping has benefited
greatly from recent advances in landscape irrigation
technology. In fact, water conservation has been
the major driving force behind improvements in
irrigation technology over the past 25 years. It is
now possible to easily tailor the watering of a
landscape so that a small area of turfgrass is
receiving 1 ½ inches of water per week while an
adjacent perennial and shrub bed is only receiving
half that amount or less—and both areas of the
landscape are thriving.
And finally, it is important to
remember that an important principle of xeriscaping
is to utilize sound landscape construction
techniques like soil amending and mulching to
improve the water holding capacity and fertility of
landscape soils. This is an often overlooked aspect
of water-wise landscaping.
So if a xeriscape project is on
your to-do list and you were thinking you needed to
wait until spring—think again, and take advantage of
our new later, longer, and warmer fall season to get
your xeriscape off, or should I say, in the ground.
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