Is Your Garden X-Rated? Xeriscape Tips for Denver Colorado

Is your garden X-rated?

No not that x-rated, silly. Xeriscape, or xeric is the name of the game when living in a semi-arid locale such as Denver and much of Colorado. With the hot months just around the corner, our thoughts turn to ways we can add beauty without becoming a slave to our flowers and running up our water bill.

Xeriscape Colorado is a program of Colorado WaterWise. “Xeriscape promotes creative approaches to water conserving landscapes by helping people improve their landscapes and to reduce the need for water, maintenance and other resources.”

There are seven key principals to xeriscape gardening, as provided below by About.com:

Planning and Design – Have a Plan. Take a look at your garden’s topography, exposure and soil. Don’t try to fight your site. Create planting zones and group your plants by their needs. For example, groups tough, drought tolerant plants in areas exposed to full day sun, give less tolerant plants some partial shade and keep the more delicate or demanding plants for a spot near your water source.
Choose Appropriate Plant Material – You may choose to incorporate a few plants that will need to be coddled, but for the most part, selecting plants that thrive in your area during low water conditions will give you the best results. This often includes native plants that we so often take for granted. The choice of plants will vary by region, even within a single yard. You may also be surprised to see how many plants are considered xeric, once they have established themselves and when properly cared for.
Soil Improvement – The old adage that if you take care of the soil, the soil will take care of the plants, is very true here. The key, as always, is incorporating generous amounts of organic matter. This will improve water penetration and retention in any type of soil. Rich, loose, water holding soil will encourage good root development and lessen the plant’s need for supplemental water. It is best to amend your soil before planting and to regularly use organic mulch.
Mulch – Mulching is a naturally occurring process, but as gardeners we tend to want things tidy and we rake away all the leaves and debris that coat and decay into the soil. So we have to bring in more aesthetically pleasing mulch, such as shredded bark and compost.
Practical and Appropriate Turf Areas – Most of us still want some areas of lawn in our landscape and many of us want way too much lawn. Think about how much water, fertilizer and gasoline it takes to keep your lawn green throughout the summer.
Efficient Watering – Not all plants need the same amount of water and those needs may change with the seasons. If you’ve followed the steps above, you have your plants grouped by their water needs, including your lawn, and can water only where it’s needed.
Appropriate Maintenance – Yes, even a xeriscape garden will require some maintenance. Watering, weeding, pruning, deadheading and sensible pest management will all factor into the quality of your garden.

Plant selection is key to the success of a xeric garden, but don’t even think it’s going to be about rocks and cactus. There are so many plants that do quite well on limited water. If you get 1 inch or less of natural water per week then planting xeriscape plants fit nicely so you don’t have to provide much in the way of additional watering. In my xeric planter bed I water about once a month during the hottest of months: July, August, and September. That’s it. One deep and long soaking per month is all it needs from me. Mother Nature provides the rest.

The flowers that do best in my small suburban xeric planter bed are:

Tulips
Anemone
Iris (miniature)
Red Valerian
Moonshine Yarrow
Knockout Rose
Threadleaf Coreopsis
Blanket Flower
Lilies
Cupid’s Dart
Missouri Evening Primrose
Asters

Notice I don’t mention plants such as broom, brush, or cactus. Those are just not my cup of tea and don’t provide the look that matches the rest of my front yard garden. There are also others I would like to have incorporated, but don’t have the room, such as penstemon and poppy mallow. Update: I have just purchased some penstemon and a few sunflowers to add a bit of punch to this area. Will be planting them this afternoon.

The X-Rated Classification System for Xeriscape Plants is a useful guide for grouping together Xeriscape plants with similar watering requirements:
X-Rated plants prefer slightly dry conditions (about 1 inch of water per week)
XX-Rated plants prefer dry conditions (about 1/2 inch of water per week)
XXX-Rated plants prefer very dry conditions (about 1/2 inch of water per 2 weeks)

You can find a list of x-rated plants here, including trees and shrubs.

Average annual rainfall in Denver is 15.4 inches.
Summer months average rainfall: May = 2.32in., June = 1.56in., July = 2.16in., August = 1.82in., September = 1.14in..

If you’re not sure about what to plant in your xeric garden and you want some tips and ideas then a visit to several local xeriscape demonstration gardens is in order.

Visit Colorado Waterwise for a list of Xeriscape Demonstration Gardens for Thornton, Pueblo, Parker, Loveland, Ft. Collins, Denver, Colorado Springs, Broomfield, Boulder, Black Forest, and Aurora.

And also the Colorado Water Conservation Board has a list of Local Area Xeriscape Demonstration Gardens to visit.

Highlands Ranch Xeriscape Garden provides a nice brochure with lots of information and a list of xeriscape plants to use.