Water your commercial property’s turf and plants too often, and you’re wasteful. Don’t water them enough, and you’ll be left with a brown eyesore of a landscape.
Luckily, there’s a happy compromise between running a water park and watching tumbleweeds blow by: Xeriscaping.
No, it’s not some strange, trendy landscape exercise. It’s a method that will make your landscape more efficient and sustainable.
The basic definition of xeriscaping is landscaping that reduces the need for supplemental water from irrigation. Sounds good in theory, but what does that mean in practical terms for your commercial property?
Xeriscaping practices are nothing new, but they are becoming more widespread with all of the local water restrictions and increasing drought seasons throughout parts of Texas.
This type of landscaping is about introducing and using indigenous plant materials that will keep the water use low on properties.
In addition to lowering water usage, xeriscaping is also about having a landscape with minimal maintenance.
So, instead of having large areas of turf around your buildings or stores, you can incorporate plants that require little water and maintenance. Xeriscaping costs less to maintain than a standard landscaping of the same square footage that consists of turf, shrubs, and groundcovers, as well.
It’s something we’ve seen clients in Central and South Texas want for the past 15 to 20 years. The sustainable trend is especially popular in Austin, San Antonio, and the valley — and less so in Houston and Dallas.
Just don’t get xeriscaping confused with zeroscaping, which is a landscape with no plants and just rocks.
Check out just a few of the benefits of xeriscaping:
These benefits will increase over time as your xeriscape plants and design become more established.
Some of the most popular ways to have a xeriscape landscape include reducing your amount of turf space, installing drought-tolerant plants, and adding more shade elements to reduce the amount of water needed.
You can also make your commercial landscape more sustainable with mulches, an updated irrigation system and using organic materials when possible.
The xeriscape idea is all about helping your landscape thrive without much outside help, like supplemental water or maintenance.
Xeriscaping can work on pretty much any area of your landscape, but there are certain spots that will be more efficient than others.
Some prime real estate for xeriscaping includes low-traffic areas, plant beds, around water features, surrounding patios or large turf areas.
Avoid xeriscaping near walkways or streets since these areas need more maintenance to avoid overgrown plants that could block traffic.
Just because you’re cutting down on your water usage and maintenance doesn’t mean you can’t still have plants with real wow factors.
Choose native or adaptable plants that fit your landscape’s conditions and style. Here are 10 popular plants used in xeriscaping:
Pair native and adaptive plants with other low-maintenance varieties so you can water and maintain them at the same intervals.
Now that you know what it is and how to incorporate this sustainable practice into your landscape, look for a commercial company that uses xeriscape landscaping practices daily.
At Yellowstone Landscape, we follow xeriscaping practices as a default, unless a client dictates otherwise. It comes as second nature to us since it’s part of our daily routines. Plus, we know what plants work best to make Texas landscapes sustainable because we’ve used a wide variety.
That dedication to sustainability extends from the materials we use to our irrigation management techniques.
Ready to save water and money on your property with xeriscaping? Contact us.
Images: Bat-faced cuphea, Sedum, Texas sage, Trailing lantana