In the
summer months, our landscapes drink up a lot of our good, clean water.
People
bristle when this fact gets mentioned. “Please don’t make me turn my beautiful
lawn into gravel,” they are thinking. Many people even tell me, “I don’t like
cactus and I’m not going to do zeroscape.”
I’m a
horticulturist, so that means I like plants, not gravel. And the term is
actually xeriscape, not zeroscape, but the point has been well taken. We
misunderstand what drought-tolerant and water-conserving landscapes are, and we
don’t want them besides.
We are
getting away from the confusing and scary term xeriscape and moving into terms
such as “smartscape,” “water smart” and Earth-Kind. These are all approaches to
gardening and landscaping, practices that focus on healthy and beautiful lawns
and flower beds.
Did you
know that the recommendation for a water conserving landscape is actually
one-third lawn area, one-third hardscape and one-third perennials and shrub
beds? Hardscape refers to non-living areas such as sidewalks, decks, patios
and, yes, fields of gravel if that’s your thing.
Other
best management practices include adding a 3- to 6-inch layer of mulch to all
your shrubs, trees and flowering plants. Mulch helps insulate the soil, reduces
erosion, reduces competition from weeds and slows water loss from soils. If you
use an organic material such as wood chips, they break down over time,
improving your soil. It’s like a slow-release fertilizer.
Plant
selection is also important. Picking plants that enjoy our hot summers and can
survive on minimal supplemental irrigation is important. Indulging in a few
high-maintenance favorites is allowed, but don’t water your entire landscape
just to give those few plants enough water. Group or zone plants according to
water requirement and set your irrigation timer accordingly.
You might
be surprised at the quantity of beautiful, lush and “non-cactus looking” plants
that are drought tolerant. To see some of our recommendations, check out the
links on www.dcmga.com. Other great resources for plant selection can be found
at http://www.txsmartscape.com and http://earthkind.tamu.edu.
To hear
more about some of my favorite plants for our area, join me at 6:30 p.m. May 7
at the city of Lewisville Water-Saving Landscape class. I’ll be speaking on
plant choices and Earth-Kind landscaping principles. The class will be at the
city’s Kealy Operations Center, 1100 N. Kealy St., Suite D. To register for
this free class, contact rdavis@cityoflewisville.com or call 972-219-3504. This
is open to non-residents as well.
If you
need even more convincing, come see plants in action at the Denton County
Master Gardener Spring Tour on May 11. You will see beautiful home gardens and
get great ideas on what you can incorporate in your own landscape.
This event is the Master Gardener annual fundraiser. Advance tickets
are $10 and $12 on tour day. For more information call 940-349-2892, e-mail
master.gardener@dentoncounty.com or buy tickets online at www.dcmga.com. Call
ahead if you have mobility concerns because not all gardens may be accessible.
JANET LAMINACK is the
horticulture county extension agent with Texas AM AgriLife Extension. She
can be reached at 940-349-2883. Her e-mail is jelaminack@ag.tamu.edu .
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