Xeriscaping

I have been busy lately, taking cuttings to make seedlings for a big xeriscaping project I'm doing for a friend. So, this article may sound very dull to some of you. If that's the case, I apologize in advance and recommend you page down a bit for something more controversial.

For those of you who don't live here in Florida, or in other areas with similar climates or water shortages, you may be unfamiliar with xeriscaping. Xeriscaping is actually a copyrighted term by the Colorado WaterWise Council. However, like "Kleenex", it has come to be commonly used to describe a product/concept that is universal.

The Colorado WaterWise Council describes it this way: "Xeriscape promotes creative approaches to water conserving landscapes by helping people improve their landscapes and to reduce the need for water, maintenance and other resources. ...Xeriscape can reduce landscape water use by 60% or more."

Truthfully, if a yard is properly xeriscaped, you really don't need to water it at all in Florida. You simply need to maintain it (in my humble opinion) even though some people choose to let it grow wild.

In Florida, we need to plant more decorative gardens that artfully display succulent (i.e. water storing) plants of all varieties and types as well as other drought-tolerant vegetation. As the tourists come here and decide to move down permanently, we are running out of both land and water. That means that it's unwise to plant grass lawns anymore: Even when recycled water is available, is it really best to waste it on grass lawns (which are notoriously water-greedy)?

To arrange a xeriscaped yard in an attractive manner, it's wise to google "xeriscape", where you'll find many attractive examples. It's important to take a plant's maturation into consideration. If it is expected to grow tall, you should position the plant toward the back of an arrangment, with shorter plants at the forefront. Ground cover-type plants can be interspersed throughout the arrangement.

I also recommend placing your plantings within a free-form shape, bordered with something (such as a plastic or wood-slat border) that will let people know that what you're doing is intentional. Otherwise, you run the risk of having a yard that looks "weedy". And mulching, even if with an inexpensive mulch such as pine needles, is mandatory for reducing the weeds and giving it a uniform and finished look.