Free Landscaping IdeasInspiration for Xeriscaping and Xeric GardensThe internet and the local library are full of useful free information – sometimes contradictory, most often confusing. All you want is some free landscaping ideas to get you started with your garden plans. To decide the most important aspect of your garden, think of what activities take place there.
All these things are important to decide before spending any money on landscaping. Landscape design ideas can be as simple as just getting rid of grass and planting a thyme lawn. If this is an option for you, find out how to solarize your lawn to kill the existing growth. Flower garden plans for a flowery paradise filled with plants for bees is an easy way to help the environment. Building up by constructing a rock retaining wall or vertical garden gives more room for planting gem-like alpine plants or succulents, both easy care choices for water wise landscaping. Using drip irrigation systems for those plants that absolutely need water and planting drought tolerant plants everywhere else is the wave of the future. What is Xeriscape?Xeriscaping, or zeroscaping as it’s sometimes called is simply ‘xeri’ meaning ‘dry’ and ‘scape’ as a short form of ‘landscape’. With more and more municipalities and towns finding that there isn't enough water to fill the demand, building a xeriscape is being encouraged. Xeriscaping is a way of having a beautiful garden without wasting water on ornamental plantings by choosing xeric plants such as succulents, Sedum, Sempervivum, Jovibarba and thyme to create an extraordinarily beautiful space. Xeriscape DesignsMost xeriscape designs are simplistic, using one or two shapes and building on those to make a cohesive whole. A circle can be used taking the house as a central point, and concentric or interlocking patios, gardens and rock walls ripple out from that point. Most xeriscaping uses Permaculture techniques to determine which plants should be closest to the dwelling (those with higher water demands) and gradually becoming more drought resistant the further away they are. Landscaping with rocks is an easy way to provide more dimension to your xeriscaping. Where to find Free Xeriscape and Landscaping IdeasSome simple and free landscaping ideas can be gleaned from magazines, which usually have great pictures and even elevation plans in some cases. Other places to get great xeriscape ideas are to visit botanical gardens on garden tours. In many cases, these gardens are well established, so you can see how your garden will evolve over time. Xeriscape ideas are luckily becoming easier to find as more landscapers and garden designers find that this system of garden design is now more in demand. Everyone wants simple, easy to maintain and still beautiful surroundings. Free landscaping ideas are all around us. Keeping your eyes open for interesting and unique landscape ideas is as easy as looking at public landscaping. The landscapes around public buildings like government offices, high rises and in public parks have been designed for low maintenance and with plants that don’t require much more than a spring time cleanup.
Where to find Free Xeriscape and Landscaping SuppliesGet free rocks and boulders for your landscaping projects by contacting those in charge of road crews working in your neighborhood. I once got about 40 truck loads of free fill from a ditching project to raise up a low spot in my yard by offering a place for the crew to dump their excess. No, it wasn't screened, and it was gumbo clay, but it gave me some topography to work with on a very flat site, as well as some great rocks. Watch for ads in the paper from chipping crews - these are the trucks with large industrial chippers on that clear out underbrush from powerlines, and chip it all on site. They really appreciate not having to drive many kilometers to find a place to dump it, and you can get free mulch for all your projects. Look for 'urbanite' or chunks of concrete sidewalk or other debris - these make incredible 'rock' walls to plant with trailing Sedum and other rockery plants. Invest in a couple of sizes of screens to grade gravel or other materials, and be prepared to do some work to make the free stuff useable. Expect to rent or borrow some machinery if the materials you get for free are not already in bite sized chunks. Use some of these free landscaping ideas in your next xeric garden project.
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Xeriscaping - Landscaping with Less Water
Gardening with a Light Hand on the Land
The focus is on landscaping with easy care drought tolerant plants like Sedum, Sempervivum and thyme and using natural materials to build rock retaining walls and it's easy to see why.
It used to be that once in a while these kinds of plants would come to the fore, and successfully maneuver dry summers, but now it's obvious that these are the most suited to what is becoming the norm.
Interested in learning how to build a patio? See this page for patio design ideas.
Seeing how beautiful these unique landscapes are and how well they perform in challenging conditions will encourage others to find unique plants to use in their own xeric garden.
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