5. Efficient Irrigation – The type of watering equipment best suited to your yard depends on the landscape, design, layout, and budget. The irrigation system should be an integral part of your landscape design. More water will be required for the first couple of years of your landscaping, but after plants have established themselves, a xeriscape landscape may require no irrigation at all, unless you are in a severe drought period. A water efficient automatic irrigation system will save you both time and money. You should have one with a timer that allows you to schedule watering every 5-7 days. An inexpensive rain shut-off device will prevent unnecessary watering when it’s raining. A soil moisture sensor can override programmed irrigation when there is already enough water in the ground. Evaporation can be minimized by drip irrigation, soaker hoses, or bubblers.
6. Use of Mulches – The use of a deep layer of mulch in your planting beds will help to retain moisture, slow weed growth, and help prevent erosion. Follow the directions on the particular type of mulch you use to determine the ideal depth. Reapply as it decomposes.
7. Appropriate Maintenance – Xeriscape landscaping generally requires less maintenance than conventional landscaping, however, all yards will require some maintenance. Mow the grass when it is about 1/3 higher than the desired height. You can leave the clippings where they fall, recycling the nutrients into the soil or collect and compost them. Fertilize wisely. Many native plants don’t need fertilizer as they are already adapted to the natural soil conditions. Non-native plants will need fertilization as called for by each particular plant. For the best advice, ask your landscaper or the garden store where you buy your plants. Use the least-toxic method of insect and disease control that you can find. For many insects, you can simply put some liquid soap into water and spray the plants. Again, consult your local gardening center. Tucson landscapers and garden stores are, for the most part, well versed in most matters relevant to Xeriscape creation and maintenance.
If you follow these principals you can have a beautiful, useful yard and also conserve our most precious resource – water, allowing people to live in harmony with the beautiful Sonora desert for many generations to come.
Xeriscape Trees and Plants
These plants are resistant to drought, extreme heat, and freezing, and therefore will do well in Tucson climate and soil, and the surrounding Sonora Desert regions.
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