After spending money and time over the last three summers feeding, power raking and watering my front lawn to only see it go brown by July, I've decided that maintaining a green lawn is really not a good idea in the central Okanagan. This is especially true when you factor in the start of water metering in our local area in 2007. So I've decided to rip out my front yard and do something different. I thought I would put in rock garden but I've come across a relatively new idea called xeriscape.XERISCAPE comes from a combination of two words: "xeri" is derived from the Greek word "xeros" meaning dry; and "scape, meaning view or scene, together they mean "a dry scene."
The term Xeriscape was coined in Denver, Colorado in 1978. Xeriscaping is landscaping with slow-growing, drought tolerant plants, allowing a conservation of water and nutrients. Xeric landscapes are conscious attempts to develop plantings which are compatible with the natural environment. Xeriscape landscapes need not be just cactus and rock gardens. They can be green, beautiful landscapes in which plants are maintained with water-efficient practices, and heavy mulching. Xeriscaping is not the same as Zeroscaping. Zeroscaping is using a lot of rocks and a few sparse plants to create low-water-use landscaping. Xeriscapes use a wide variety of native and other water-efficient plants to create an oasis of colour, interest, diversity, and texture.Much to the dismay of my wife I am planning on starting this as soon as the ground is good to work this spring and hope to keep you posted on a regular basis. I would appreciate any advice or information you may have on the subject.
I've found these sites that may interest you.
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