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SG12
Smart Scaping
REDUCE THE NEED FOR SUPPLEMENTAL WATERING WITH A XERISCAPE DESIGN | BY BONNIE A. REESE
Xeriscape is a method of conserving water through landscaping.
Starting with a great design is the first principle of xeriscape, but any existing
landscape can be treated as a low-water use landscape. If you are starting
from scratch, carefully plan your design to be as low maintenance as
possible.
If you have an existing landscape that requires a lot of weekly or monthly
maintenance and you want to do less, you need a renovation. Sometimes
this just means removing too large plants and replacing them with plants
that will be just the right size at maturity.
WATER WISE PRINCIPLES
Three principles unite all low-water use landscaping: hands-on irrigation
management, grass replacement where possible and generous use of
mulch. Focus on plants that thrive, or least tolerate, high alkaline heavy clay
soil and are not plagued with insect or disease problems.
The real trick in proper irrigation of your plants is for you to become an
efficient water manager for your property, and this means leaving your
sprinkler system in the “off” position most of the year. People tend to overestimate
the amount of water a plant requires.
In general, grass uses about four times the water than do shrubs,
ground covers and most perennials. For water conservation and for the
health of your other plants, it is extremely important to have the capability
to water just your grass. During the growing season, grass needs properly
applied irrigation about four times a month and beds need a deep
irrigation about once a month.
When you water anywhere, make it count. Water deeply and thoroughly
and allow the soil to dry before you water again. Except for bog plants,
this principle applies to all types of plants.
For plants that may require more frequent irrigation, such as annual
flowers, group them together in locations where it’s convenient to water
them separately from the rest of the landscape either by hand, a separate
sprinkler station or soaker hose.
You can’t conserve water in a landscape without mulch. Use lots of it.
The standard minimum for bagged mulch is to maintain a depth of three to
five inches. Organic mulch breaks down and must be replenished annually.
Gravel can be an excellent mulch and the best part about it is that you
don’t have to replace it yearly. If you don’t like the look of gravel, add a light
layer over the top with an organic mulch or allow leaf litter to build up in
the area.
Ground covers can be considered living mulch. But be careful; plants
classified as ground cover have one main mission in its life — to cover
ground. They are always aggressive and spreading plants and often just not
what is called for in mixed bed plantings.
Beside water conservation, mulch will also help stabilize the moisture
content around your foundation, add nutrition to the soil, keep the soil
about 15 degrees cooler than exposed soil — your roots really appreciate
that — and it also provides erosion control and aids in preventing
compaction.
Reap Rewards in the Kitchen Garden
BY MIKE GIBSON AND SUZY FISCHER
The kitchen garden has its roots in the European cloister garden.
Withdrawn from the secular world during the Middle Ages, monasteries gave
rise to the creation of the cloister — a central courtyard sided by covered
walkways joining the monks’ cubicles. These gardens provided herbs, vegetables,
fruits and flowers for most of the monastery’s sustenance. They were
characterized by strict geometric patterns and usually divided into four areas
by two cross axes.
Today’s kitchen garden is the culmination of all that is rewarding about
gardening. Here, the Gulf Coast climate allows for year-round production of
fruits, flowers, vegetables and herbs, so the kitchen garden is never idle.
The urban kitchen garden varies in form, prominence and size. For cooks who
love to garden, it may consume your entire landscape. For lazier gardeners or
those with limited time, the kitchen garden may be a few small beds behind
the garage where, if left unattended awhile, its neglected appearance does
not disturb an otherwise manicured setting.
For those who want to devote a sizable space to the kitchen garden, the
geometric layout of the cloister garden is well suited to tight urban development.
Rectilinear beds of a manageable size allow for easy installation and
maintenance. Instead of walls, hedges or low fences (that could support pole
crops or espaliered fruit trees) may define the garden.
Finding a sunny location is the most important factor when planning a
kitchen garden. While there are some fruits and vegetables that can tolerate
some shade (or even require it, such as starfruit), most need full sun. Welldraining,
compost-enriched soil will go a long way in ensuring your success.
Quartered gardens were a common design for cloister gardens and remain
popular today.
When deciding on varieties of edible plantings that perform well in our
area, Urban Harvest is an invaluable resource (www.urbanharvest.org or
713.880.5540). Local garden centers are another great source of proven
varieties of plants for our area.
Texas Home & Garden ShowGuide | February 13th-15th, 2009 | www.texashomeandgarden.com