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What is Xeriscape?

Are you searching google for “What Is Xeriscape” while looking for an explanation? If so, Desert Foothills Gardens Nursery, Inc. is here to tell you what exactly a Xeriscape is, and what it is not.  It is not a specific group or look of plants. It is a combination of 7 commonsense principles of gardening that saves resources, water, and time while creating a visually stunning, beautiful landscape.

Xeriscape landscapes are incredibly beautiful and a practical choice for outdoor spaces in the Phoenix Valley. Requiring little to no maintenance or watering, Xeriscape landscapes save significant amounts of two of the most valuable commodities around; time and money. Keep your outdoor spaces looking beautiful, vibrant, and lively with designs, plants, seeds, supplies and maintenance for your Xeriscape outdoor space from Desert Foothills Gardens Nursery, Inc.

The 7 principles of Xeriscape are:

  1. Plan & Design: Do this for beauty and water conservation from the very beginning. Your design will make it easier to adapt and change as needed. The design makes it easy to complete the project in various phases. From the beginning, middle, and end.
  2. Make Practical Turf Areas: They need to be manageable grades, sizes and shapes. Be careful of using paved patios and walkways, as they could lead to drainage problems.
  3. Pick Low-Water Plants: If you can, try using plants that are native south central Arizona. This is not exclusive, as some plants have become adapted to the climate. Be sure to group them according to their watering needs.  This practice is called hydrozoning. Then you can experiment to find how often and how much water you need to use.
  4. Utilize Soil Amendments: Do this while you plant. Compost is best; it will help aerate the soil.
  5. Use Mulch: Similar to wood chips or cobble rock to keep the soil cool and reduce evaporation. Hate weeding your garden? Use mulch.
  6. Efficiently Irrigate: Use a properly designed irrigation system and apply the right amount of water at the right time. You can even utilize a timer, that way your plants get watered at the same time each day or week. If you prefer, you can also water your plants by hand.
  7. Maintain Your Landscape Properly: Learn how to weed, mow, prune and fertilize your Xeriscape properly.

You can get more information about the fundamentals of Xeriscape by contacting your local Xeriscape program, reading books about Xeriscape, or logging into the sites under References & Resources.

What Xeriscape Is Not

Now that we know what Xerixcaping is, we can nail down what it is not.  A lot of people think that Xeriscape is nothing but yards with a pile of gravel, rocks, no lawn, and nothing but native plants with no grass.  This couldn’t be further from the truth as well designed, installed, and maintained Xeriscape landscaping is visually stunning, full of vibrant colors and lush green plants including grass.  Read more of what Xeriscape is NOT below:

  • Xeriscape is NOT dry only.

Even though dry-only landscaping can be colorful, and lush, limited areas of high watered areas are consistent with wise water use. A heavily irrigated field turf would make sense, because it recovers fast from heavy use.

  • Xeriscape is NOT just gravel and rocks.

It isn’t zeroscape. Although dry rock gardens are great, there are plenty of choices other than rocks for dry areas of Xeriscapes. Dry means no added water. Xeriscape means that there is some water in well-controlled amounts of water and locations in the landscape.

  • Xeriscape is NOT a lawnless landscape.

Some lawn, even species that are highly watered, can be wise water usage. Less-lawn landscape instead of lawnless is a more appropriate statement.

  • Xeriscape is NOT just native only.

There are plenty of local plants that are adapted to the local climate which are great additions to landscapes that use water wisely. For instance, Iris, Roses, Tulips are well adapted to non-irrigated landscapes.

  • Xeriscape is NOT boring.

A well planned Xeriscape is a great example of diversity and beauty that may make your neighbors jealous.

Phoenix Valley Xeriscape Design & Installation

Desert Foothills Gardens, Inc. has a team of award winning landscape design specialists who are experts in Xeriscape landscaping.  We will help you design a visually impressive, low maintenance, low water use Xeriscape that will bring unmistakable beauty to your residential or commercial property. If you have any questions or are looking to get started please stop by or give us a call today.

Call Us Today At – (480) 488-9455

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Arizona Xeriscape Gardening

Xeriscape Landscape in Arizona

Arizona is home to one of the most unique and extreme climates in the world. Living here offers one of a kind benefits and challenges alike, all of which effect several areas of daily life. Being that our focus is gardening and outdoor spaces, we are going to focus on how the unique climate can work to your advantage when it comes to cultivating your outdoor spaces. The climate in Arizona is very dry which can make traditional gardening both laborious and expensive due to the cost of the constant watering. While it is completely possible to cultivate a lush, thriving, and beautiful garden using conventional methods, it takes a trained green thumb to truly succeed and master the Arizona climate.

There is an alternative style of gardening that not only thrives easily in the arid Arizona climate, but also requires little to no maintenance in order to keep your desert plants alive and healthy. This alternative is call Xeriscape. The reason for Xeriscape being such a viable option for outdoor spaces in Arizona is the fact that all of the plants used in this style of gardening are native to the region.

The advantage of using native plants is the fact that they are designed to live and flourish in desert southwest. This means that the plants all have an incredible capacity for retaining water due to the natural scarcity of rain throughout the year with the exception of the monsoon season. Once planted, you will literally only need to water you plants when you feel like it. These plants can store water for more than a year if necessary and will be perfectly fine if they have to do so.

The aesthetic appeal of Xeriscape gardens lies in the simplicity and effective use of space. There are natural spaces between plants in Xeriscapes that leave room for artistic additions such as sculptures or glass works. Water features, like fountains are also great additions to Xeriscape outdoor spaces as they add a great degree of atmosphere by adding the audio element of the trickling and bubbling water.

You can place bird feeders and baths in order to attract some of our avian friends to you garden for a visit. Benches and entertainment areas are easy to incorporate into your Xeriscapes where that process could be more cumbersome with conventional gardening which usually fosters more crowded planting beds. Get creative and use this unique climate that we live in to manifest an amazing, one of a kind garden that will enhance your home and property tremendously.

There are many benefits to utilizing a Xeriscape style of gardening if you live in a desert climate like we do. The lack of cost and maintenance alone are amazingly appealing and beneficial, but the fact the Xeriscape is so visually eye catching and versatile make this style almost a no-brainer for would be Arizona gardeners. There are plenty of knowledgeable resources in the Valley when it comes to Xeriscape and finding the plants for your garden is as easy as performing an internet search. Desert Foothills Gardens Landscape Nursery, Inc. is a great source for all things gardening in the Southwest, give us a call today at 480-488-9455, and see what we can do for you.

 

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