Xeriscape Information

Xeriscape is a method of landscaping where specific principles are applied to the design, implementation, and ongoing maintenance of a landscape resulting in visually pleasing environment and reduced water usage.

Principles of Xeriscaping

Planning and Design.

• Standard design considerations: Function, circulation, space, form, color, texture, relation to building architecture, etc.
• Consideration of microclimates.
• Creation of microclimates.
• Consideration of topography.
• Consideration of soils.

Reduced Turf Areas.

• Turf is where the most water is used in the landscape.
• Consider how much grass is needed in the landscape.
• Consider alternative, drought tolerant grass types.

Efficient Irrigation.

• Proper sprinkler design: head type and spacing.
• Zone turf areas separately from shrub zones.
• Proper run times and watering intervals to match plants, soils, exposure, and topography.

Soil Improvement.

• Encourage deep, healthy, drought tolerant root systems to save water.
• Types of amendments: organic and inorganic.

Mulches.

• Benefits: Water conservation, temperature buffering, aesthetics, and weed control.
• Types: organic and inorganic.

Choose Appropriate Plants.

• Much confusion and dispute about this. See definition of “xeriscape plant”.
• Consider exposure, microclimate, soil type, topography, and ambient water available.
• Use list of plant water usage.
• Native plants.

Maintenance.

• Proper fertilizing, insect control, weed control, and pruning results in a stronger, more attractive plant that uses less water.
• Sprinkler maintenance: Clogged nozzles, adjusting overspray onto sidewalks, patios, etc. Adjust run times and intervals for weather and time of year.
• Maintain and supplement mulch as needed.

Back to the top.

Plant Ratings

Plants Needing Minimal Water Requirements

Minimal Water Requirement Trees
Gambel Oak
Oneseed Juniper
Pinyon Pine
Siberian Elm
Single Leaf Ash
Tree of Heaven
Utah Juniper

Minimal Water Requirement Shrubs
Antelope Bitterbrush
Apache Plume
Banana Yucca
Big Sage
Cliffrose
Curlleaf Mt. Mahogany
Fernbush
Four Winged Saltbush
Leadplant
Mormon Tea
Mountain Mahogany
New Mexico Privet
Rabbitbrush
Shadscale Saltbrush
Soapweed
Three Leaf Sumac

Back to the top.

Plants Needing Low Water Requirements

Low Water Requirement Trees
Bristlecone Pine
Burr Oak
Cologreen Juniper
Flamingo Box Elder
Goldenrain Tree
Grey Gleam Juniper
Hackberry
Mimosa
Pink Dawn Chitalpa
Ponderosa Pine
Purple Crown Locust
Purple Robe Locust
Rocky Mountain Juniper
Russian Hawthorn
Russian Olive
Tolleson's Weeping Juniper
Wichita Blue Juniper

Back to the top.

Low Water Requirement Shrubs
Allgold Warminster Broom
Arcadia Juniper
Armstrong Juniper
Austrian Copper Rose
Blue Chip Juniper
Blue Creeper Juniper
Blue Mist Spirea
Blue Pfitzer Juniper
Blue Rug Juniper
Blue Tam Juniper
Broadmoor Juniper
Buffalo Juniper
Fragrant sumac
Gold Coast Juniper
Golden Sword Yucca
Gro-Low Fragrant Sumac
Grootendorst Rose
Hansa Rose
Hetz Blue Juniper
Hughes Juniper
Ivory Tower Yucca
Mint Julep Juniper
Moonlight Scotch Broom
Moordense Juniper
Nanking Cherry
Native Chokecherry
Persian Yellow Rose
Pfitzer Juniper
Red Yucca
San Jose Juniper
Scandia Juniper
Sea Green Juniper
Siberian Peashrub
Silver Buffaloberry
Smooth Sumac
Staghorn Sumac
Table Top Blue Juniper
Tam Juniper
Therese Bugnet Rose
Western Sand Cherry
Woods Rose
Yellow Flowering Currant

Back to the top.

Low Water Requirement Vines, Groundcovers
Blue Spruce Sedum
Dragons Blood Sedum
Golden Acre Sedum
Kinnikinnick
Purple Ice Plant
Red Carpet Sedum
Silver Lace Vine
Silver Mound
Wooly Thyme
Yellow Hardy Ice Plant

Back to the top.

Plants Needing Moderate Water Requirements

Moderate Water Requirement Trees
Adams Crab
Amur Chokecherry
Austrian Pine
Autumn Brilliance Serviceberry
Bechtel Crab
Bonita Flg. Apricot
Bungei Catalpa
Camperdown Elm
Dawn Flg. Apricot
Eastern Redbud
European Bird Cherry
Flame Ginnala Maple
Fruitless Mulberry
Goldenchain Tree
Green Vase Zelkova
His Majesty Corktree
Homestead Elm
Indian Summer Crab
Japanese Tree Lilac
Kentucky Coffeetree
Lavalle Hawthorn
Leprechaun Ash
Marshall Seedless Ash
Newport Plum
Patmore Ash
Paul's Scarlet Hawthorn
Pioneer Elm
Princess Kay Plum
Purple Leaf Catalpa
Red Jade Crab
Regent Pagoda Tree
Rocky Mountain Glow Maple
Royal Purple Smoketree
Scotch Pine
Shademaster Honeylocust
Shubert Chokecherry
Skyline Honeylocust
Skyrocket Juniper
Snowdrift Crab
Spring Snow Crab
Summit Ash
Sunburst Honeylocust
Thundercloud Plum
Turkish Filbert
Urbanite Ash
Washington Hawthorn
Weeping Mulberry
Western Catalpa
Winter King Hawthorn

Back to the top.

Moderate Water Requirement Shrubs
Abbottswood Potentilla
Alleghany Viburnum
Alpine Currant
Amur River Privet
Anthony Waterer Spirea
Arnold's Dwarf Forsythia
Arnold's Red Honeysuckle
Ashleaf Spirea
Autumn Magic Black Chokeberry
Bearberry Cotoneaster
Beauty Bush
Blue Avena
Blue Fescue
Butterfly Bush
Calgary Carpet Juniper
Chinese Lilac
Cistena Plum
Common Juniper
Common Purple Lilac
Cranberry Cotoneaster
Creeping Oregon Grape
Dart's Gold Ninebark
Dolchica Spirea
Double Flowering Plum
Dwarf Fountain Grass
Dwarf Snowflake Mockorange
Early Cotoneaster
Emerald Mound Honeysuckle
Fairy Queen Spirea
Flowering Quince
French Hybrid Lilac
Froebel Spirea
Goldfinger Potentilla
Goldflame Spirea
Ground Cotoneaster
Halward’s Silver Spirea
Hancock Coralberry
Harry Lauder’s Walking Stick
Hybrid Shrub Rose
Jackman Potentilla
James MacFarlane Lilac
Japanese Red Flg Quince
Kinnikinnick
Korean Dwarf Lilac
Koreanspice Viburnum
Littleleaf Lilac
Lodense Privet
Maiden Grass
Mentor Barberry
Minnesota Snowflake Mockkorge
Miss Kim Lilac
Mohican Viburnum
Mugho Pine
Peking Cotoneaster
Pink Beauty Potentilla
Pink Flowering Almond
Plume Grass
Primrose Beauty Potentilla
Prince of Wales Juniper
Pyrenees Cotoneaster
Red Chokeberry
Red Prince Weigela
Regent Serviceberry
Rock Cotoneaster
Rose of Sharon
Royal Gold Broom
Saskatoon Serviceberry
Snowberry
Snowmound Spirea
Spreading Cotoneaster
Spring Glory Forsythia
Sunburst Hypericum
Tallhedge Buckthorn
Triumphans Spirea
Vanhoutte Spirea
Wayfaring Tree
William Penn Barberry
Yellow Groove Bamboo
Youngstown Juniper

Back to the top.

Moderate Water Requirement Vines, Groundcovers
Chinese Wisteria
Creeping Baby's Breath
Creeping Oregon Grape
Creeping Potentilla
Edible Grape
Engleman Ivy
Goldflame Honeysuckle
Hall's Honeysuckle
Mother of Thyme
Snow in Summer
Trumpet Vine

Back to the top.

Plants Needing High Water Requirements

High Water Requirement Trees
Aristocrat Pear
Autumn Blaze Maple
Autumn Gold Ginkgo
Autumn Purple Ash
Blackhawk Mountain Ash
Bradford Pear
Cardinal Royal Mountain Ash
Colorado Blue Spruce
Crimson Frost Birch
Crimson King Maple
Cutleaf Weeping Birch
Dawn Redwood
Emerald Queen Maple
European White Birch
Ft. McNair Horsechestnut
Green Mountain Sugar Maple
Greenspire Linden
Improved Norway Poplar
Kwanzan Cherry
Liquidambar
London Plane Tree
Narrowleaf Cottonwood
Navajo Globe Willow
Niobe Weeping Willow
Noreaster Cottonwood
Northern Pin Oak
Paper Birch
Pyramidal Euro. Hornbeam
Quaking Aspen
Red Oak
Red Sunset Maple
Redmond Linden
Redspire Pear
Royal Burgundy Cherry
Silver Queen Maple
Siouxland Cottonwood
Snow Fountains Cherry
Spartan Juniper
Sterling Silver Linden
Swamp White Oak
Sweedish Columnar Aspen
Tai Haku Cherry
Theves Poplar
Tulip Tree
Weeping Cherry

Back to the top.

High Water Requirement Shrubs
Alfredo Viburnum
All Summer Beauty Hydrangea
American Arborvitae
Annabelle Hydrangea
Berri-Magic Holly
Blue Boy Holly
Blue Girl Holly
Blue Star Juniper
Burkwood Viburnum
Carol Mackie Daphne
Common Snowball
Compact European Viburnum
Compact Oregon Grape
Compact Winged Euonymus
Crimson Pygmy Barberry
Cutleaf Elder
Dark Green Spreader Yew
Dawn Viburnum
Dense Japanese Yew
Dwarf Alberta Spruce
Dwarf Blue Arctic Willow
Dwarf European Viburnum
Dwarf Fothergilla
Dwarf Greenstem Forsythia
Dwarf Norway Spruce
Emerald and Gold Euonymus
Emerald Gaiety Euonymus
Firey Cascade Pyracantha
French Pussy Willow
Golden Elder
Golden Mockorange
Golden Nugget Barberry
Golden Vicary Privet
Green Beauty Boxwood
Heavenly Bamboo
Isanti Dogwood
Japanese Evergreen Euonymus
Japanese Kerria
Japanese Maple
Japanese Red Barberry
Kelsey Dwarf Dogwood
Kobold Barberry
Lalandei Pyracantha
Leonard Messel Magnolia
Light Series Azalea
Little Rascal Holly
Mahonia aquifolium
Manhattan Euonymus
Nesting Spruce
Newport Viburnum
Onondaga Viburnum
Oregon Grape
Oriental Arborvitae
P.J.M. Rhododendron
Pagoda Dogwood
Peegee Hydrangea
Ramapo Rhododendron
Red Buckeye
Red Twig Dogwood
Rose Glow Barberry
Royal Star Magnolia
Shasta Doublefile Viburnum
Variegated Dogwood
Weeping Norway Spruce
Winged Euonymus
Winter Gem Boxwood
Yellow Twig Dogwood
Yukon Belle Pyracantha

Back to the top.

High Water Requirement Vines, Groundcovers
Boston Ivy
Bowles Periwinkle
Carpet Bugle
English Ivy
Japanese Blood Grass
Purpleleaf Wintercreeper

Back to the top.

 

Bookcliff Gardens
(970) 242-7766
755 26 Road (North 1st at I-70) • Grand Junction, Colorado 81506
Ask the Expert
©2008, Bookcliff Gardens