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Xeriscaping

GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
in Plants
Experienced and Novice Gardeners have you heard of Xeriscaping? Yesterday there was a survey on this forum. I would like to know the thoughts from as many people as possible on this subject. Has it ever been discussed on Gardener's World? Will keep this short and await your thoughts. 
I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
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  • debs64debs64 Posts: 5,184
    Never heard of it
  • Butterfly66Butterfly66 Posts: 970
    I had to look it up, it seems like a fancy word for the approach some of us will have always adopted in our own gardens. We certainly had threads before discussing different watering regimes with a wide range of views discussed. 

    Having looked it up, it’s something I strongly believe in. I don’t water my borders and am quite mean with water for my pots and greenhouse (and only use rainwater or washing up water) so choose plants accordingly. I don’t mulch extensively but that’s also about conserving resources ( I try to minimise what I buy in) but I do plant to have extensive leaf cover and minimum bare soil which helps minimise evaporation
     If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.”—Marcus Tullius Cicero
    East facing, top of a hill clay-loam, cultivated for centuries (7 years by me). Birmingham
  • BenCottoBenCotto Posts: 4,718
    I knew, I think, the prefix xero so assumed this word meant water conservation practices in deserts and semi-arid lands. I did not realise the word was applicable to our maritime climate.

    I am puzzled why the word is xeriscape not xeroscape, and would like to be told that it has a meaning that is richer than simply saying water conservation. If it doesn’t it is just a useless jargon word.

    I would pronounce it zerri scape.
    Rutland, England
  • NollieNollie Posts: 7,529
    Yes, I have heard of it and understand it’s wider meaning beyond deserts and cactus. You could say that Beth Chatto’s gravel garden is a classic example of it in the UK:

    https://www.bethchatto.co.uk/garden-nursery/gallery/gravel-garden.htm

    I would pronounce it zerri scape too @BenCotto. 

    National Geographic defines it thus: “Xeriscaping is the practice of designing landscapes to reduce or eliminate the need for irrigation. This means xeriscaped landscapes need little or no water beyond what the natural climate provides”.

    More here:     https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/xeriscaping/
    Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
  • Lizzie27Lizzie27 Posts: 12,494
    You live and learn.
    North East Somerset - Clay soil over limestone
  • MarlorenaMarlorena Posts: 8,705
    Yes, but I'm familiar with American gardens in the drier parts... xeriscaping is a rather fancy term for what we would simply call a 'Gravel Garden'..  Nollie gives a good example with Beth Chatto's but in my area the garden at East Ruston Old Vicarage in Norfolk, has a xeriscaped area they call the 'Desert Wash' garden..

    American style xeriscaping tends to be more spartan, less cluttered... very neat with large gaps between plants..   we tend to cram things in..  sharp drainage, plants that look after themselves, and absolutely no artificial watering.  I think xeriscape as a term is more suited to the American way, not ours so much.
    East Anglia, England
  • BenCottoBenCotto Posts: 4,718
    If xeriscaping is synonymous with gravel gardening, would folk have given the same replies in the questionnaire had the more comprehensible term been used? I’m afraid I can’t remember the questions we’ll enough to answer my own musing.

    Modern times: using a fad word to replace but not enhance what is already in existence. Xeriscaping for gravel gardening, uptick for increase, reach out for phone, gifting for giving, year on year for year after year, and so on.

    There you go, a reply to Gardenersuze, Curmudgeons’ Corner and a Word that Pushes Your Buttons all in one.
    Rutland, England
  • NollieNollie Posts: 7,529
    Indeed, not exactly suited to cold, wet, boggy areas or heavy clay soil without serious amendment and major drainage works. A well-mulched clay soil holds water very well - plant appropriately and you could argue that reduces water usage more than creating an artificially free-draining ‘xeriscape’ environment.

    My summer (def not winter!) inland climate is much hotter than the UK of course, but I find myself needing to water the ‘drought tolerant’ perennials in massively amended clay soil with much improved drainage more than I thought I would. The clay-tolerant shrubs and plants my predecessor plonked straight into the rocky clay need none.
    Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
  • MarlorenaMarlorena Posts: 8,705
    I think it's an example of how an imported term is not always appropriate for local conditions.  The most important difference for us is rainfall.  Even in the driest parts of Essex it will still rain..  they won't see much in Arizona or California, so xeriscaping as a term is more appropriate for them, whereas 'Gravel Gardening' is better for us, as we can plant a more diverse range, and closer together..

    It's rather like replicating an 'English Garden' in California.  It doesn't really work because it's not in England, the landscape and climate are totally different..
    Xeriscaping - American style - doesn't work for us, - Gravel Gardening does..
    East Anglia, England
  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    I planted my small south facing garden 15 years ago, just been out there and you can feel the warmth of the sun in early March. When the garden was first started some grit was added as I planted but I couldn't describe it as a gravel garden.
    Because the sun is hotter now I have noticed over the years a significant change in the plants that will grow in this space. I refused to water this area with a hose and have gradually changed the plants to cope with the situation . In times of drought this garden looks at it's best . I have planted conifers with grasses something I would never of thought of until I read Plant Driven Design by Scott Ogden who lives yes in Arizona.
    Although the word Xeriscaping is a bit much for us all in the UK I do think we should look at some of it's principles as we may need to use them in our gardens of the future. 
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
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