pnw approach to xeriscaping_gva

www.gardenvisioninc.com © 2012 Garden Vision LLC

A Pacific Northwest Approach to

Xeriscaping

Kate Easton

www.gardenvisioninc.com

Achieving Low

Maintenance Gardens

Xeriscape gardens are the result of

Planning

Design choices

Plant choices

Maintenance practices


Xeriscape Gardens

Plan for future needs Young children quickly grow and abandon outdoor past-times

Vegetable gardens may need to be downsized as family gets smaller

Plan to modify spaces to other uses as needs change

Pay now, enjoy sooner Purchase larger sized plants

Cover a good portion of soil with easy care materials (hardscape,

groundcovers, wild flowers, grasses)

Hire expertise when needed (masons, concrete, carpenter, etc.)

Create sustainable landscapes and gardens Ideally, a closed system that produces and uses all soil nutrients and

organic supplements

Example: Dairy cows supply manure for the garden for those with room

Example: Using composted green waste on lawns, beds, pots is

achievable even for apartment dwellers


Design Principles Right plant, right place (climate, water, soil, sunlight

requirements) Use a combination of native and non-native plants with similar

cultural requirements

Suit the existing environmental conditions

Hedge plants that fit the space to avoid pruning

No tall trees under utility lines to avoid pruning

Reduce need to prune, water, fertilize

Right plant placement allows for natural future

growth and eliminates pruning

Use slow growing perennials, shrubs, trees that need

little pruning and don’t outgrow space

Eliminate or reduce lawn area when your needs

assessment allows Largest user of water, fertilizer & maintenance time

Incorporate narrow strips into planted beds or paths


Design Principles

Use solid surface materials and make paths wide

enough If using gravel, make it at least 3” deep, preferably 4-6” to

eliminate weeding

Width depends on use: 6-8’ for a main path, 4-5’ for secondary

Border paths with wide sunny and shady planting areas

Use gravel in service areas to reduce or eliminate

maintenance chores in that area

Make your beds BIG, SIMPLE, FULL If you have weeds, your bed doesn’t have enough plants in it

Use a tight matrix of border shrubs, perennials, bulbs and

grasses that provide a succession of bloom and color

Apportion plant types for even coverage 1/3 evergreen, half to 1/3 native, remainder color, long interest

Choose plants that are drought tolerant, adaptable and or have a

long season of good looks


Plant Selection

Use hydro-zones to decrease watering need Closest to house / water source can have higher water

requirements

Farthest away little to no water

In-between less water needed

Avoid trees in lawn Roots compete with grass for water, air, nutrients

If must have, clear area between trunk and drip line of grass.

Over time, add plants around the tree (out side the drip line) to make a shrub & groundcover bed anchored with a tree Most woodland plants can compete well with tree roots


Plant Selection

Select plants that need minimal care, are disease and pest resistant, and have a long season of interest

Select healthy specimens at the nursery Avoid plants with these characteristics or let

the plants grow as they will ‘hard to establish’ ‘susceptible to disease/pest’ ‘needs frequent division’ ‘short lived’ ‘needs staking’


Some Xeriscape Plant Choices for NW

Acer (Ginnala, Amur, Vine)

Douglas Fir

Western Red Cedar

Mountain & Western Hemlock

Salal

Ribes

Snowberry

Huckleberry

Elderberry

Rudbeckia

Carex

Echinacea

Pennisetum

Miscanthus

Most Viburnums

Heaths & Heathers

Euonymous

Heuchera

Barberries

Natives Non-Natives


Maintenance Approach

Time well spent

When do you have time for maintenance and how much of it?

Where do you spend most of your maintenance time now and how

could that time be better spent?

Prioritize by which areas need the most ongoing maintenance

Remove or reduce the size of each one in priority order

Mixed annual & perennial border into shrub and easy care perennial border

What maintenance tasks are chores or distasteful to

you?

Eliminate the distasteful tasks by changing the plants in the landscape

Replace a fast-growing hedge with a fence

Add easy to care for shrubs, herbs, bulbs, ornamental grasses

Replace fussy plants with drought tolerant ones

Transform the lawn into wildflower meadow or mixed shrub bed or

evergreen groundcover


Maintenance Guidelines Eliminate or reduce repetitive tasks

Mowing, trimming, edging, watering, feeding, weeding

Create a maintenance schedule Weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual tasks

Mowing, plant monitoring, weeding, fertilizing, deadheading, mulching, pruning, clean-up, etc.

Eliminate tasks or let plants do their thing Roses will dead head themselves (pick up petals when weeding)

Let lawns get a little taller before mowing and mow at a higher height

Prune only when necessary for plant health (avoid bonzai and compulsive shaping)

Self-mulching gardens

Allow plants to die or go dormant with diginity – let the leaves lie where they may

Chop up large foliage with a hoe, shovel, cultivator in spring


Maintenance Guidelines

Plant in the fall as rains are starting to eliminate need for watering new plants

Don’t water – select drought tolerant plants Use drip systems or soaker lines on trees and shrubs for first 2

years Perennial, vines, groundcovers may need supplemental water the

first season Once established, leave ’em alone

WEED regularly until plants have filled in Pull all the root out Use a flame weeder or vinegar-concentrate to control weeds

MULCH! (4-6” applied annually) Reduces weeds Reduces need for water Balance soil temperature

Soil under 3” of mulch is 10 degrees cooler in direct sun Soil under 4” of mulch is 20 degrees cooler in direct sun


Maintenance Guidelines

Make good dirt and kick the feed habit (fertilizer) Fertilizer encourages rapid growth which may result in

added pruning

Properly prepare the soil for micro-organism diversity Feed the soil compost instead of fertilizer Add minerals annually Alfalfa pellets in spring provides fresh nitrogen for

good initial leaf growth Use compost tea as foliar spray or soil soak

Soak is equivalent to 6” of compost (Dr. Elaine Ingham, Oregon State University)

If you must use fertilizers, do it judiciously and sparingly

Practice Integrated Pest Management

pnw approach to xeriscaping_gva

Documents

woodland plants

higher water requirements

design principles right

plant types

right plant placement

largest user of water

house water source

larger sized plants