Pretty Garden Tips

Xeriscaping And Desert Gardening

Xeriscaping is the act of creating a garden that conserves water. In other words, it’s great for dry desert areas, but it’s also quite useful for anyone who wants a pretty or unusual garden that will not create high water bills, and will not require a lot of time and attention from you.

Now when you think of gardens that use little to no water, the first thing that comes to mind might be ugly, alien looking prickly cactus plants. And while yes, these do fit well into a xeriscape garden plan, that’s not the only choice you have.

There are actually quite a lot of plants and flowers that use very little water, and not only are these plants and flowers beautiful, they’re often quite unique and exotic looking.

There’s also a way to xeriscape your landscape using more “normal” plants for your area, while still reducing the overall water needs of your garden. There’s a special type of garden and potting soil that comes with polymer crystals mixed in. These crystals absorb extra water, hold it and release it over a period of time. This allows you to water your garden less often, without risking the death of your prized plants and flowers.

You can buy the soil with cystals mixed in, or you can buy the crystals themselves and mix them into your existing plant beds. I’m a bit lazy so I prefer to buy the ready mixed soil.

I use this soil with low water, desert style plants too. I’m not big on cactus myself, though there are some which produce gorgeous flowers and change colors throughout the year. Instead of cactus, I simply buy plants and seeds which grow well in the hotter, dryer parts of the united states.

California Poppies for instance, grow wild in various dry areas of the western United States. These are quite beautiful and can come in a few different colors. Mine have apricot colored flowers, and they bloom quite profusely but require almost no maintenance at all.

Desert Mallow is another one of my favorites. Similiar to the poppies, these also have flower blooms of an apricot and peach color. These grow a few feet tall, and they spread like crazy with little to no watering or care. In fact, I usually have to trim them back once or twice a year because they’re such prolific growers.

The Texas Mountain Laurel is an evergreen shrub which can grow quite large. It has a bit of a wisteria look to it and the seeds are poisonous, but it tolerates heat as well as poor, rocky, dry soil.

One of the biggest differences you’ll see with xeriscaping plants is in the leaves and stems. The poppies and mallow for instance, tend to be a paler green color and they’re a bit hairy looking.

There are several types of ground covers which work well in a xeriscaped garden, but another excellent use for these is on hills which might not hold water well. If you have a slope or hill on your property where water runs down it too fast for any plants to get much of it, try doing a bit of xeriscaping on that hill and you might be surprised at how pretty it turns out.

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