Water-Conserving Landscaping
Efficient landscapes are a key to water conservation. It's important to consider all aspects of your landscape and how they work together in conserving (or wasting) water. Lawns are the great consumers of water in our landscape. In the summer, water consumption rises by as much as 60 percent, with most of that going to our lawns and gardens. Perhaps it's time to try xeriscaping to create your own water saving landscape design.

Creating a waterwise landscape, while it requires careful planning, will save you water and money on your water bill. Once established, a xeriscaped garden is easier to maintain than a conventional garden. You'll also spend less money on fertilizer, weedkiller and other chemicals. Not to mention being able to cut down on time spent mowing a lawn. Say hello to more leisure time!

The seven principles of xeriscaping:

1. Planning for water conservation
   Evaluate your property and design a plan incorporating your particular characteristics. Answer these questions: How will you use your site? What amount of sun and shade does it receive? What type of soil do you have and how does it drain? Are there any slopes or puddle-collecting depressions? What competition do other landscape elements present? Think long-term (two-three years) in your planning, consider consulting a landscape professional.

2. Improving the soil and using mulches
   Examine your soil type for proper water holding capacity and drainage. Typically, adding organic matter, such as mulches and compost, will help soil retain water, decrease soil compaction and water runoff. Mulch is used on top of planting beds while compost is usually dug into the soil. Both reduce evaporation and mulches will also insulate soil from the sun, reduce erosion and minimize weed growth. Mulches can be organic or inorganic: wood chips, shredded wood, bark, pine needles, leaves, grass clippings, coarse peat, crushed stone or gravel. For more information on mulching request the factsheet Gardening - make the mulch of it!

3. Using alternative groundcover rather than grass
   One option is to reduce the amount of lawn you have by selecting other types of groundcovers. You could even go inorganic and opt for interlocking paving stones. For more information, request the factsheet Alternative groundcovers (generic species list).
   
   Where you would like to maintain a lawn, choose a cool-season grass type with low water or fertilizer requirements, such as a mixture of one of the fescue grasses (creeping red, chewings, sheep, tall and hard fescue) with a finely textured "turf type" perennial ryegrass.
   
   Maintaining a grass height of approximately 7 cm (3") is ideal for retaining moisture and shading out weeds. Remember your grass only needs 2-3 cm (1") of water a week (consider soil type, slope drainage and amount of rainfall and water accordingly). The best time to water is early morning when your lawn absorbs more water.

4. Collecting rainwater for watering your site
   Plants and trees love rainwater, so why not give them all you can? Rainwater collection systems can be as simple as raising the soil around each shrub and tree to form a mini-basin so plants get a bigger drink. Through the use of gutters and downspouts, you can catch rainwater and channel it to your landscape elements or store it in a rainbarrel to use during dry periods. Learn more about the City's Downspout Disconnection Program.

5. Using highly effective watering methods
   Water your xeriscape garden early in the morning to avoid excessive evaporation and burning of plants. Make sure you only water the lawn and planted areas and not the pavement. Water heavily once a week (applying more water less frequently actually uses less water) approximately 2-3 centimetres (1 inches) every three to seven days.
   
   If you have a lawn and you notice it becoming brown during hot mid-summer temperatures, it could be too closely-cropped or it could just be a natural occurrence. You can't keep it growing by watering it. All northern grasses grow slowly at this time. While the blades may stop growing and turn brown, the plants are still alive and with autumn rains will green up again.

6. Selecting low water use plants
   The design of a xeriscape garden uses a "zone" planting concept. Place plants that need heavy watering close to your house where they will help cool your home. A tree's shade can lower both soil and air temperatures by as much as 6-10 degrees C. Save the outer edges of your property for those plants that need little water. Often these selections can provide privacy as well as good screening and shade and wind reduction, factors that all help to reduce water loss.
   
   Southern exposure areas, which dry out faster in direct sunlight, suit plants that have low water requirements. Plants in areas of shady, northern exposure need little water. Group thirsty plants together for efficient water use. To grow healthy, hardy plants you need to consider providing proper care for the entire plant system, from the roots right up to the tip of the plant.
   
   Check out the variety of drought-tolerant plants (trees, shrubs, groundcover, perennials) in both native and ornamental species available at your local garden centre. Try experimenting with a small area first. Keep in mind the type of soil you've prepared when selecting your plants. Remember that newly planted drought-tolerant species need extra watering until they are established (check with your local garden centre because water needs vary depending on the plant). Native plants are ideal for waterwise gardens because they are generally more resistant to disease and pests, can thrive on the rain they receive in their natural habitat, have adapted to local soils and can withstand seasonal weather variations. They also provide food and cover for native birds.
   
   Walk around uncultivated areas around your neighbourhood to get an idea which native plants do well in your locale. This can be a good way to pick up ideas on how to group your plantings. Ornamental plants, while they're not native to our region, are known to do well because they come from similar climatic conditions or from dry weather regions, such as China, Australia and the Mediterranean. Almost all bulbs are drought-tolerant, making them ideal choices for waterwise gardens. Make sure you've planted a drought resistant grass mix if you desire a lawn.

7. Pruning and maintenance practices to save water
   If you've used fertilizer on any of your plantings, they will need a lot of water to grow (a slow release fertilizer and compost is best). Pruning and thinning out of trees and shrubs not only shows them off more, it also saves water. Make sure not to overdo it or tree bark will get sunburned and soil will dry out too fast. Whenever possible, use natural alternatives to herbicides and pesticides to prevent pollution and save money.

Selective list of suggested plants and flowers for your xeriscape garden*:

Deciduous shrubs:

• Fragrant Sumac
• Siberian Peashrub
• Rockspray Cotoneaster
• Father Hugo Rose
• Red or Black Chokeberry
• Flowering Quince
• Northern Bayberry
• Memorial Rose
• Butterfly-bush
• Spirea
• Fiveleaf Aralia

Evergreen/broadleaf:

• Wintercreeper Euonymus
• Rocky Mountain Juniper
• Adam's Needle (a yucca)
• Wintercreeper Colorata
• Colorado Red Cedar
• Vancouver Jade Bearberry

Perennials:

• Dragon's Blood (Sedum spurium)
• Wooly Thyme
• Catmint
• Golden Marguerite Daisy
• Lamb's Ear
• Moss Phlox
• English Lavender
• Dwarf Wooley Yarrow

* These plants and flowers may all be found in the Queen's Park Xeriscape Garden, which is open to the public. It is located between the Hepburn and Whitney Blocks on the south-east corner of Queen's Park Crescent and Grosvenor Street in Toronto.

For more information related to natural lawn and garden care, please go to www.toronto.ca/health/pesticides/index.htm.