Xeriscaping: Water Conservation for Garden City

Water Conservation is a major concern for Garden City

If you live in Garden City, or any of the other communities around Bear Lake, you know that drought has been a long-standing issue for the area. The water levels have been lowering year after year and even the periods of heavier snow and rainfall haven’t brought it up to even the levels I remember as a kid. With that in mind, water conservation is a concern for a lot of people. If you’re interested in saving water, you might consider xeriscaping.

What is Xeriscaping?

Xeriscaping comes from Greek: Xeros, meaning dry. It’s a low-water, low-maintenance style of landscaping that relies on local plants and minimizing grass to reduce the use of water to keep it healthy. Because a properly set up xeriscape is adapted to the local environment, it requires very little work and can survive on the amount of rainfall natural to the area. It saves a lot of time and money on its maintenance and, with proper design it can look amazing. It offers many benefits.

Water Conservation

The big one.

A lot of us rely on grass for our yards because we think of a nice, manicured lawn as aesthetically pleasing. The problem for people living in Utah is that grass like that isn’t suitable for the region. We’re too dry for it. While grass does have some advantages, like reducing water run-off, it takes a lot of water to keep it green, especially when it’s first installed. Instead of covering your whole lawn, xeriscaping reserves grass for specific patches where it serves some specific purpose.

According to studies, cities that implement xeriscaping projects on a broad scale can see as much as 60% reduction in water use. In places like Garden City, where droughts are common, that is a huge advantage. With more water to go around, there’s less fighting over water use. What water does get used is used for things that better the community as a whole. It also saves you a bundle on your water bill.

Lower Maintenance

Lawn maintenance is time consuming. Every week, you have to mow your lawn, water your plants, and do other things to help your lawn adjust to the environment you live in. Xeriscaping avoids this by doing away with grass. Grass makes up the bulk of the work and water spent on your lawn. Take that out and suddenly you have much less to worry about. Keep in mind, of course, that lower maintenance isn’t zero maintenance. You’ll still have to prune trees, repair damage, and clean litter, but this is very little compared to the hours you spend keeping your grass in good shape.

Allergy Reduction

Allergies are an issue for a lot of people. It can range from a mild annoyance to a potential health problem. Grass is a potent allergen and the longer it grows, the worse it gets. Plus, cutting the grass fills the air with those allergens. Doing away with grass eliminates this problem altogether. Furthermore, a lot of weeds are specifically evolved to rely on grass to survive. These weeds, also allergens, find it hard to grow in a xeriscaped yard.

Less Pollution

Grass lawns require a lot of fertilizers and pesticides to keep in good shape. When you water your grass, these chemicals get washed out, where they flow into rivers, lakes, and other bodies of water. This is called “urban runoff” and it’s a serious pollution problem for many cities.

Xeriscaping significantly reduces this problem. With no grass, you won’t be needing as much fertilizer and pesticides, and you won’t be watering your lawn as much. This combination means a lot less pollution in our natural water sources. Less pollution is good for everybody.

Better Soil Health

One of the ways that you reduce grass is by replacing it with mulch and shredded bark. Mulch and bark hold moisture better than grass. This reduces evaporation, which causes a lot of water loss for your average lawn. By reducing evaporation, you also reduce irrigation needs. They also contain a lot of nutrients that the plants you do grow can benefit from, further enhanced with the addition of compost and enriched topsoil, further reducing the fertilizers needed to keep your landscape healthy.

Furthermore, by improving water retention, you reduce erosion without needing to rely on lots of grass to hold the soil in place. Since the soil holds water better, it’s less likely to lead to run-off and carry the soil away during periods of rain.

Those Concerned About Water Conservation Should Try Xeriscaping

For many reasons, the issue of water is probably not going to get better anytime soon. Between the continued drought, regular summer heat, and increased water consumption as part of the tech industry’s latest billion dollar scheme destined to eventually go the way of the dodo, water conservation is going to be much more important to a lot of people.

Xeriscaping is a simple thing you can do to help. With a bit of planning and efficient irrigation, you can create a landscape for your home or business that won’t take much water, won’t need a ton of maintenance, improves soil quality, and still looks good. You waste less water, leaving more for everyone and get a unique and interesting yard at the same time. Everybody wins!