When we think of drought-tolerant, or xeriscape, design, normally Mediterranean and Southwestern-style houses and gardens come to mind. That is since the dawn of gardening, those climates have always needed water-efficient plants and trees. However, what if you possess a more traditional-style residence, like a colonial or Victorian?
Those styles typically sport lawns with enormous swaths of grass, hedges, rosebushes and other water-hungry plants. The fantastic news is there are loads of options for grasses, shrubs and plants with lots of color that create beautiful landscaping even for conventional styles, and they won’t suck on your water system dry.
Normandy Remodeling
This blossom’s big yard, verdant shrubs and flower arrangements are completely stunning. This landscape goes by the publication for Northeastern style that is conventional. However, some homeowners might not want to quench the thirst that is powerful this installation requires.
Shades Of Green Landscape Architecture
Not all grasses possess the water requirements of typical turf. Drought-tolerant No-Mow Fine Fescue or Buffalo grass replaces a typical yard behind this shingle-style home.
Simmonds & Associates, Inc..
A splash of lavender out of a few roses or fuchsia out of a bougainvillea would look picture perfect next to a conventional house. But perhaps you don’t have cash or the time for your upkeep.
BE Landscape Design
This traditional cottage offers the same bursts of color, using a “yard” of creeping thyme along with a rich and colorful front yard using a drought-tolerant ground cover and shrubs.
Large bushes of Spanish lavender (Lavendula stoechas) serve up a few water-saving purple magical.
The way to grow lavender
BE Landscape Design
In another view of the identical yard, these flagstones are surrounded by a carpet of creeping thyme (Thymus praecox articus) and bordered by colorful blue chalk sticks (Senecio mandraliscae), flax (Phormium hybrid), Spanish lavender (Lanvendula stoechas), kangaroo paw (Anigozanthos) along with the large Pride of Madeira tree (Echium fastuosum).
Robert Shuler Design
In yet a different yard variant, the drought-tolerant blossoms in this rustic heath offer this English state classic home with a soft green carpet, however, one which is considerably more water efficient than manicured turf.
Dig Your Garden Landscape Design
Whenever you do want a lot of green and color, combine various grasses and drought-tolerant flowering shrubs, such as one of the numerous forms of lavender. While most traditional flowers and lawns slurp up water, a yard in this way can encircle you with character and color and be largely self-supporting once established. Here stunning fronds of Orange Sedge (Carex testacea) and fountain grass (Pennisetum) offer both color and quantity, with graceful textures.
Le jardinet
In this colorful backyard, drought-tolerant plantings show that you can save water and still pile on all of the reds, yellows, oranges, greens, blues and purples you desire. Bright daylily (Hemerocallis) along with reddish-hued smoke bush (Cotinus coggygria) type the foreground of the lovely landscape.
Arterra Landscape Architects
This Victorian is complemented by Many Different drought-tolerant grasses including blue fescue (Festuca glauca) and feather reed grass (Calamagrostis ‘Karl Foerster’)
Arcanum Architecture
Shrubs supremely match this colonial farmhouse.
Beinfield Architecture PC
At times, but the answer for saving water is a bit more hardscaping and also a bit less yard. The approach works well for this traditional farmhouse in New York.
If you add hardscaping, try to design it in a way which allows water to seep into the dirt below. To put it differently, don’t create a solid concrete or rock surface, but rather one that is permeable. That will reduce risks of soil erosion in which the water leaves your hardscaping and will lower the load in your municipality’s storm water sewers.
Dan Nelson, Designs Northwest Architects
Segmenting a garden with walls and pathways reduces the planting area — and water demand — while creating interesting spaces and supplying natural focal points. What’s more conventional than a courtyard garden?
(An enormous shout-out to Ira Johnson of Rainscape Design at San Francisco for his valuable aid identifying the plant varieties shown in this ideabook.)
