Xeriscaping is the process of

landscaping Landscaping refers to any activity that modifies the visible features of an area of land, including the following: # Living elements, such as flora or fauna; or what is commonly called gardening, the art and craft of growing plants with a goal ...

, or

gardening Gardening is the process of growing plants for their vegetables, fruits, flowers, herbs, and appearances within a designated space. Gardens fulfill a wide assortment of purposes, notably the production of Aesthetics, aesthetically pleasing area ...

, that reduces or eliminates the need for

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering of plants) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has bee ...

. It is promoted in regions that do not have accessible, plentiful, or reliable supplies of

fresh water Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salt (chemistry), salts and other total dissolved solids. The term excludes seawater and brackish water, but it does include ...

and has gained acceptance in other regions as access to irrigation water has become limited, though it is not limited to such climates. Xeriscaping may be an alternative to various types of traditional gardening. In some areas, terms such as '' water-conserving landscaping'', ''

drought A drought is a period of drier-than-normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, ...

-tolerant landscaping'', and ''smart scaping'' are used instead. The use of plants whose natural requirements are appropriate to the local climate is emphasized, and care is taken to avoid losing water to

evaporation Evaporation is a type of vaporization that occurs on the Interface (chemistry), surface of a liquid as it changes into the gas phase. A high concentration of the evaporating substance in the surrounding gas significantly slows down evapora ...

and runoff. However, the specific plants used in xeriscaping vary based on climate as this strategy can be used in xeric, mesic, and hydric environments. Xeriscaping is different from

natural landscaping Natural landscaping, also called native gardening, is the use of native plants including trees, shrubs, groundcover, and grasses which are local to the geographic area of the garden. Benefits Maintenance Natural landscaping is adapted to t ...

, because the emphasis in xeriscaping is on selection of plants for water conservation, not necessarily selecting native plants. Xeriscaping produces greenspaces that require low amounts of maintenance and irrigation, and promote biodiversity; however, due to societal norms and lack of landscape understanding, public perception of xeriscaping has frequently been negative, as some assume that these types of landscapes are ugly expanses of just cactus and gravel. However, studies have shown that education in water conservation practices and xeriscaping's benefits can greatly improve the public's perception of xeriscaping.

Etymology and similar terms

Nancy Leavitt, an environmental planner with Denver Water, coined the term ''xeriscape'' in 1981 by combining ''landscape'' with the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

prefix ''xero-'', from (), meaning 'dry'. The term ''zero-scaping'' (or ''zeroscaping'') is sometimes substituted for ''xeriscaping'' due to phonetic similarity. When used seriously, zero-scaping usually refers to a different type of low-water landscaping that uses very few plants or none at all. Because ''o'' is the most common connecting vowel in Greco-Roman vocabulary, ''xeriscaping'' is sometimes misspelled as ''xeroscaping''. Similar terms and phrases include '' water-conserving landscaping'', ''

-tolerant landscaping'', and ''smart scaping''.

Advantages

Xeriscaping has the potential to reduce water usage and maintenance, improve biodiversity, lower pollution, as well as mitigate heat within urban areas; however, the effectiveness of this sustainable process has not been evaluated on a long-term large-scale basis. It was found that in arid US states, like

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

and

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

, that 75% of households' potable water was used to water residential and urban lawns. Xeriscaping aims to help preserve water for people and animals amidst an increase in droughts brought about by

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

Water conservation and lower maintenance

Xeriscapes can reduce water consumption by 60% or more compared to regular lawn landscapes."Xeriscape Colorado". Web. 23 May. 2016. http://coloradowaterwise.org/XeriscapeColorado In Turkey, one of the first large scale xeriscaping evaluations was conducted. It was found that switching an average city park to more native vegetation in the region can lower irrigation usage by 30–50%. Assuming a water usage reduction of 30% it was found that a city can save roughly $2 million annually (however, this exact value is dependent on location). The use of native plants lowers the necessity of watering as the vegetation has already adapted to thrive in the climate and does not require assistance with irrigation or fertilization. The

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a Green building certification systems, green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), it includes a set of rating ...

program has recognized xeriscaping as an effective water reduction process and has started to incorporate credits in the certification process across all their programs for facilities that reduce their outside water use and irrigation. This credit can be met by using xeriscape strategies and efficient irrigation systems. This further validates the beneficial claims behind xeriscaping, and it is anticipated that more energy and environmental credit systems as well state ran programs will encourage and incentivize xeriscaping for greenspace development. While evaluating the cost of annual maintenance and park construction, xeriscaping drastically lowers these costs by roughly 55% and 57%, respectively. Aside from occasional

weeding Weed control is a type of pest control, which attempts to stop or reduce growth of weeds, especially noxious weeds, with the aim of reducing their competition with desired flora and fauna including domesticated plants and livestock, and in nat ...

and mulching, xeriscaping requires far less time and effort to maintain. This is the case because under xeriscaping principles the vegetation used for urban greenspaces are indigenous to the area; therefore, are less expensive and require less assistance to acclimate and survive in the environment when compared to imported vegetation. This means that the systems use less water as well as lower rates of pesticides, and

fertilizers A fertilizer or fertiliser is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrition, plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from Liming (soil), liming materials or other non- ...

when compared to current urban and residential greenspaces; this further helps lower annual maintenance costs. Maintenance waste, such as lawn clippings, contribute organic waste to landfills and fertilizers contribute to

urban runoff Urban runoff is surface runoff of rainwater, landscape irrigation, and car washing created by urbanization. Impervious surfaces (roads, parking lots and sidewalks) are constructed during land development. During rain, storms, and other Precipitati ...

pollution Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause harm. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the component ...

; however, xeriscaping eliminates these negative effects as clippings are encouraged to remain on the greenspace which allows for a lower use of fertilizers.

Biodiversity

Often times when areas develop there is a loss of forestation, and animal populations dwindle as they are forced to relocate. Implementing native vegetation in green spaces helps improve the insect and wildlife found in the environment as the habitat is reestablished to a degree, offering food and shelter to the wildlife. One application of xeriscaping that drastically improves biodiversity is the implementation of pocket forests.

Environmental and thermal discomfort remediation

Xeriscaping has been theorized to help offset the urban heating island (UHI) effect. UHI refers to the phenomenon in which urban areas are found to be hotter than neighboring rural sites due to large amounts of human activity. This temperature difference of a city area and its surroundings is usually higher at night as winds are lower and cannot dissipate the large amounts of heat generated in an urban area’s boundaries as readily. Upon investigating xeriscaping strategies in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...

, it was found that dry areas that utilized xeriscaping with shade trees were found to mitigate UHI effects during the day and night with an average temperature difference of roughly 2.5 ^oC (4.5 ^oF) cooler. However, when these same strategies were implemented in a mesic area, an environment with moderate amounts of moisture, it was found that thermal discomfort increased for residents and that these strategies had opposite effects to their intentions. Although xeriscaping strategies were found to mitigate UHI effects, it remains important to consider the climate and current landscape in which it is implemented in, in order to maximize its benefits and effectiveness.

Legal issue

Some homeowners associations (HOAs) have strict rules requiring a certain percentage of land to be used as

lawn A lawn () is an area of soil-covered land planted with Poaceae, grasses and other durable plants such as clover lawn, clover which are maintained at a short height with a lawn mower (or sometimes grazing animals) and used for aesthetic an ...

s but these rules either have been or are in the process of being overturned in many areas. Some US states (such as Texas and Florida) have passed legislation that allows homeowners to design lawns using xeriscaping methods, by prohibiting HOAs from imposing restrictions (e.g. on plant types) that are not "reasonable". As more homeowners take up xeriscaping, or drought-tolerant landscaping, garden retailers have struggled to keep up. A burgeoning poaching trade has filled the gap with cacti and succulents stolen from parks and private lands. Buyers as far away as Europe and Asia can end up with yuccas, agaves, and ocotillos uprooted illegally from southern

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

and shipped overseas.

Lawns and applications

One of the major challenges to the public

acceptance Acceptance in psychology is a person's recognition and assent to the finality of a situation without attempting to change or protest it. This plays out at both the individual and societal level as people experience change. Types of acceptanc ...

of xeriscaping is the cultural attachment to

turf grass Sod is the upper layer of turf that is harvested for transplanting. Turf consists of a variable thickness of a soil medium that supports a community of turfgrasses. In British English, British and Australian English, sod is more commonly kn ...

s. Originally implemented in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, lawns have become in some regions a symbol of prosperity, order, and community. In the United States, turf grasses are so common that it is the single most irrigated nonfood crop by surface area, covering nearly . Despite the high water, fertilizer, and maintenance costs associated with lawns, they have become the

social norm A social norm is a shared standard of acceptance, acceptable behavior by a group. Social norms can both be informal understandings that govern the behavior of members of a society, as well as be codified into wikt:rule, rules and laws. Social norma ...

in urban and

suburban A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

areas, even if they are rarely used for

recreation Recreation is an activity of leisure, leisure being discretionary time. The "need to do something for recreation" is an essential element of human biology and psychology. Recreational activities are often done for happiness, enjoyment, amusement, ...

al or other purposes. Xeriscaping offers an alternative to the over-use of turf grass lawns, but are not widely accepted because of preconceived notions of what it means to xeriscape. Xeriscaping can include lawn areas but seeks to reduce them to areas that will actually be used, rather than using them as a default landscaping plan. Xeriscaping is closely linked to movements and ideologies that advocate for more natural vegetation in residential and urban areas. One form of xeriscaping that has received a lot of attention is the implementation of pocket forests. Akira Miyawaki was a Japanese botanist who developed the idea of pocket forests which reintroduces indigenous trees and vegetation to developed environments in order to promote strong biodiversity. The method calls for the planting of naturally occurring trees and shrubbery densely into small compact areas, that can range from a size of a tennis court to a parking space. These pocket forests increase biodiversity, reduce noise (if placed near streets or noise polluters), improve air quality and soil retention, help with reforestation, and efficiently capture carbon dioxide. In order to promote fast growth and biodiversity the engineered ecosystem requires a layering of vegetation: the ground layer, a shrub layer, and a canopy layer. Due to this compact layering these forests usually are well established within two decades rather than the 70-plus years it takes for naturally occurring forests. Other forms of xeriscaping include rain gardens. These gardens are used to reduce the amount of runoff from impervious areas (such as roofs, driveways, sidewalks, etc.) and rely on water retentive plants and soil mediums to help filter pollutants from the storm water before it is reintroduced into aquifers and storm drains. These gardens require little irrigation and maintenance, and help protect waterways and remove pollutants. There are many other forms and applications of xeriscaping: it is essentially any form of landscaping that requires little to no irrigation. However, it is important to take note of the environment before implementation, and follow the principles, as success of one type of xeriscape in a xeric climate might not have the same effects if it were implemented in a mesic or hydric environment.

Gallery

File:Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden September 2017 27 (WaterWise Bed).jpg, Xeriscaping at the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden File:Los Angeles Air Force Base uses Xeriscaping to Conserve Water (17180421252).jpeg, Los Angeles Air Force Base File:Xeriscape 2, Hidden Meadows.jpg, Xeriscaping in Hidden Meadows, California File:Roseville xeriscaping 04.jpg, Example of xeriscaping in Roseville, California

References

{{Sustainability, state=collapsed Deserts and xeric shrublands Desert greening Sustainable gardening Types of garden Water conservation