Real Estate Tax Planning

Xeriscape – Low Maintenance Arizona Landscaping

A low maintenance yard in Phoenix is not a sustainable landscape. Sustainable is the desert, xeriscape is residential landscaping that will require very little water and adapt readily with the natural, rapid changes we experience from season to season. No where in the xeriscaping rules does it say that your plants never need fertilizer or moisture assitance.

Many people get the idea that the special landscape design method known as xeriscaping, means that you plant some cactus in a sea of rocks and it never needs another ounce of attention again. If you truly want “landscaping” around your home, this is not the secret to success.

Xeriscape is the art of growing only plants that will thrive on very little irrigation; it will not flourish with no irrigation whatsoever. Such a landscape installation will leave your home with very little curb appeal. Even desert plants you would be proud to have in your yard require some regular watering and nourishment.

When you buy any kind of ornamental plant that will do well in Arizona, it was raised to the size you purchased it at by a nursery. There the growers nurtured that plant with low levels of regular moisture and regular feedings of fertilizer. If they had not done this, you would never have purchased the plant. Why? Because such a neglected plant would be a very sad looking thing, and you would not have bought it in the first place.

Once that beautiful speciman you purchased is planted in yard, unless you maintain its now set in stone requirements, it will quickly cease to be so lovely. It isn’t that the plant is the wrong one for landscaping homes in Phoenix, the issue is all about the now reduced or missing environment it once enjoyed. The purpose of xeriscaping is to concentrate on planting only those plants that will deal with low water availability and thrive in the extremes of high and low temperatures that are natural to this part of the Southwest.

There are many plants both native to Arizona and those that readily adapt to our growing conditions that can be absolutely wonderful when provided with the right environment to be vigorous and healthy. It is important that the soil they are planted in has both the ability to drain well and to hold important moisture. This means improving the drainage in clay and decreasing the too fast draining sandier soil areas of your yard. In short, a beautiful landscape begins with a thorough assessment of the soil where you want plantings to ensure that your xeriscape plants will be given the opportunity to shine.

Sustainable means that a plant will do just fine with only the resources Mother Nature provides. Trying to recreate nature in your landscaping is very complicated, for in the wild the only plants that will do well unassisted in any small space only grow there because conditions are naturally perfect to support them. A manicured landscape is no place for sustainable desert plants. To create this situation, you will not have a landscape but weedy looking growth just like you see in the open land beyond your community.

It takes both assistance with proper moisture and good soil preparation to have a flourishing landscape in Phoenix, whether it is a xeriscape landscape design or one that is lush and tropical. A great deal of planning and a thorough understanding of the climate here and your soil conditions are crucial to enjoying lasting beauty from a low maintenance landscape.

Wisely using water is best done with drip irrigation programmed to provide your plantings with their needs on a regular basis. Unlike other regions, the natural land in the valleys and mountains around Phoenix, you must pay close attention to soil preparation to further conserve water while providing good drainage. Desert plants do not deal with being periodically flooded when planted in clay.

While xeriscape can be challenging, it is easily designed and installed to instantly take to growing in your yard right away. The secret is not just picking plants that deal with drought quite well. Even drought tolerant plants raised in a nursery situation still require moisture assistance and nutritional provisions, if your landscaping is going to be beautiful. The best looking plants, like beautiful people, are well taken care of; They eat a balanced diet rich in good nutrients and drink adequate amounts of water.

A stunning xeriscape is not only possible; it can be filled with beautiful colors, textures and many flowers. A good landscape plan is the first step, one that includes a thorough study of the soil and the right amendments implemented where they are needed. It helps a great deal to have a clear understanding of creating living beauty that stands the test of time beneath the Arizona sun.

About the Author

Jesse Inzunza has been making curb appeal and outdoor living area dreams come true in Phoenix, AZ for almost two decades. To learn more about how you can enjoy a beautiful, yet low maintenance landscape surrounding your Arizona home is simple. Just visit Desert Crest for more information.

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