Xeriscaping – what is it and how do you do it?

Xeriscaping means gardening with dry weather and droughts in mind. Gardening so that your plants needs as little additional water as possible. And as I look out across my rather dry garden, I have a feeling it’s a word we gardeners are going to hear more of.

I’m going to have to redesign the bottom of my garden when the sheds come down. (Officially the two ugliest sheds in the world). So I thought now was the perfect time to get to grips with the basics of xeriscaping.

Xeriscaping – doesn’t have to be boring

I have to say I began my research with trepidation. I feared xeriscaping would mean creating nothing but gravel gardens.

However I’ve discovered that a xeriscaped garden doesn’t have to be a moon-skape. It doesn’t have to be all interesting rocks, lumps of driftwood, massive succulent plants and little else.

Thank goodness for that. As while I love a sculptural cactus as much as the next person, my gardening style is more romantic Bridgerton than rugged Spaghetti Western! Much as I admire a Japanese gravel garden, it would blooming odd if I attempted to create one at the bottom of my garden.

Reassuringly, it seems possible to create a garden that needs very little extra water, in just about every gardening style there is. Yes, I can have bucket loads of romantic planting without bucket loads of water.

However there are some tips and tricks I’ll need to follow.

9 Step Guide to Xeriscaping

• Plan ahead
• Limit lawns
• Harness perennials
• Focus planting
• Prepare soil
• Mulch
• Water in then climatise
• Choose the right plants
• Weed

1. Plan Ahead -Landscaping and Contouring

Firstly, design your garden with water conservation in mind. If rainfall is going to be limited in the summer, you want the rain you get to be focused on the plants or areas of your garden which are likely to need it. Contour your garden and borders so that available rainwater heads to areas such as your lawn or thirstier plants.

2. Limit Lawns

Lawns typically receive the lion’s share of a garden’s watering. And I’ve read that at least 50% of the water used to water lawns is wasted as it evaporates before it reaches the grass. If water is going to be limited in the summer in the future we’re maybe going to have to lessen our love affair with lawns. I personally will find this really hard to do, as I feel some green lawn sets off the look of rest of the garden really nicely. However, I could definitely limit my addiction to purely practical areas and give more of my lawn over to flowerbeds. That would reduce the amount of thirsty grass in my garden but still put a very large smile on my face.

3. Harness Perennials

Xeriscaping doesn’t mean saying ‘no’ to colour or to traditional romantic borders. There are lots of drought tolerant colourful, flowering perennials out there. If you plant them en masse you will have a huge ‘punch’ of colour in your design. But also all the foliage close together will help keep the roots cooler – reducing the need for water.

I’ve definitely noticed this in my sunny border. In this space I have perennials such as Echinacea, Nepeta, Campanulas, Geraniums, Astrantias, Sedums and Veronicas closely packed together.

Trust me, I’m not some some kind of gardening/weather visionary. When I planted the border 6 or so years ago I didn’t think oooh I’d better deploy xeriscaping principles. No, I simply like things closely planted together. I think it gives a generous look to a border. Added to that, I love perennials! But by happy chance I discovered that once I got these plants properly established, they needed very little watering. In fact I don’t water this border at all. And it never looks worn out or dry.

Now I should quickly add, you can’t do the same with shrubs. If you plant them close together you are more likely to get diseases and problems, as they need air circulating around them. So don’t plant them cheek by jowl.

4. Focus Your Planting

If you are going to have a few water-hungry plants, put them in the same section of your garden. That way you can focus any watering you do in that specific area. So for instance, my Annabelle hydrangeas above, are not only shaded by trees, but they’re in one concentrated line. I do occasionally water them when I see their leaves drooping. But they’re about the only thing in my garden (other than my pots of course) that I water. And when I do water them I’m watering multiple water-hungry plants at once.

5. Prepare Soil for Xeriscaping

Beyond carefully choosing and grouping your plants, there are things you can do to ensure they can cope with less water.

Dig in organic matter such as farmyard manure, well-rotted garden compost or composted bark into your soil when planting or sowing seeds. It will make a really huge difference to the amount of water retained by the soil and reaching your plants’ roots. 

But remember, if the water is going to be retained at root level you can’t be half-hearted with the digging. You need to dig to around 10 cm deep.

6. Mulch

I’m a massive fan of mulching as you well know dear reader. So this xeriscaping tip is an easy one for me to follow. Mulch minimises the need for watering. It also squeezes out weeds which will be competing with your plants for whatever water is beneath the ground. But again, as with digging you can’t skimp with mulching.  Lay about 5-8cm (2-3 inches) of leaff mold, compost, grass clippings, woodchips, bark, manure after planting. Obviously giving your newly planted plant a good water first – and leaving plenty of space around the stem for growth and to avoid rot.

Doing so at this stage helps keep the moisture available for the roots at their crucial growing period, and means the plant will be stronger and more drought tolerant when they are more established. 

7. Water in then climatise

Unless you are planting something as a feature plant, I think it makes no sense to buy large plants. A plant in a 1 litre pot is so much cheaper than one in a 3 litre pot. And in my experience, after the first year or so they will have reached the same size. But if you are buying small plants, you must water them in carefully and keep watering them for the first season until they are established. But after that don’t water them. 

Doing this will help to make them develop the good deep, complex roots they will need to access water beneath the surface of soil effectively. These roots will help them cope with future dry spells. 

8. Choose Plants Suited to Xeriscaping

Beyond all of this there are obviously some plants which is better suited to xeriscaping than others. Josh Novell, gardening expert and director of Polhill Garden Centre has given me some helpful tips for identifying these low-water garden plants. He advises:

Plants with very broad leaves – particularly those with deep lobes around the edges – may be more naturally drought tolerant, as there is less leaf space in need of water. 

Others have waxy leaves, built to keep water in. For instance think succulents. Succulents need very little water and can thrive in hot humid conditions, absorbing water vapours from the air and storing this for weeks. 

Other drought-resistant plants have furry leaves, which works to trap moisture for longer.

As well as these features, there are several varieties of deep-rooted plants, which have long roots that absorb moisture well below the surface level of the soil. 

Plants with green-grey or silver leaves also tend to need less water. A good silver-leaved perennial is Senecio candidan – also called ‘angel wings’. This plant with its large, silver leaves actually thrives in low-moderate moisture soil, which makes it perfect for dry weather.

I agree with Josh about his suggestions. I also recommend Stachys byzantina. It offers the double-whammy of having green-grey and hairy leaves. No wonder mine thrives in incredibly dry spots in my garden such as my raised tulip bed.

Other great options for silver shrubs and bushes include Helichrysum Goring Silver and, Santolina chamaecyparissus, or cotton lavender as I’ve always known it. All are naturally drought-resistant plants, assuming your soil retains any water it does get well. 

For those looking for drama and a long season of performance Cardoon (Cynara cardunculus) is worth looking at. First, you get its foliage in Spring – a mass of arching, jiggedy jaggedy divided, spiny leaves up to 50cm long which are woolly with white hairs. These look amazing with bulbs like tulips. Then in July and August you get the drama of purple, thistle-type flowers on top of 6ft stems.

Shrubs for Xeriscaping

Good shrubs for low water conditions include Lavenders, Hebes and Rock Roses.

I’ve got all three in my garden and can verify I don’t water any of them at all. I did when first establishing the plants, but now they are left to their own devices.

Also ground cover plants like the Sweet Woodruff in my border below, can provide cooling root conditions to the plants they’re growing near, making them a helpful addition in a xeriscaped scheme.

9. Xeriscaping means weeding

As already mentioned, weeds will compete with your plants for nutrients and water. So don’t let them take hold. Stay on top of weeding. Weed regularly and that means weekly! To be honest if you weed regularly like this I don’t think it actually is much of a task. And if you stick a good audio book or podcast on, I think it’s a very pleasurable way to spend 30 minutes or so.

So that’s it! Some xeriscaping tips which mean that no matter what type of garden you have, it can be a low-water garden. Ideal for coping with our increasingly dry conditions.

Happy xeriscaping!