Pluses of Drought-tolerant Albuquerque Landscaping & Ideas on How to Get it Done
When you are trying to landscape your garden in Albuquerque, you should be mindful about long dry periods. This is where you need to be mindful about drought-tolerant landscaping ideas. It will provide you the opportunity to maintain a healthy and green landscape throughout the entire year. On top of that, you can also reduce the use of excessive water by your landscape. Here are few such drought-tolerant landscaping ideas that you can consider.
Shrink the lawn
One of the best options available to make your landscape drought tolerant is to shrink it. This is where you need to consider getting drought-tolerant grass for the lawn. Some of the best examples for such grass include fescues and zoysiagrass. When you get any of these grass options, you can make your lawn hard. On top of that, you may consider getting ornamental grasses. Then you can create a drought-friendly garden with ease.
Install a drip irrigation system
A drip irrigation system is capable of sending small amount of water to the roots of your plants and grass. You have the ability to control the amount of water as well. This will help you to save water and avoid unnecessary evaporation. In other words, you can end up with enhancing the overall water efficiency of your lawn.
Keep your soil covered
It is a good idea to cover your soil with a planting scheme as well. It can also help you to overcome evaporation. There are quite a few options to keep the soil covered. For example, you may group the plants together and have a clumped planting scheme. This will enhance overall shade. Likewise, you may also consider adding mulch. Another great option is to go for a drought tolerant low-growing groundcover.
Grow more native plants
You can find quite a few native drought tolerant plants out there in Albuquerque. These native plants are capable of surviving the tough weather conditions. That’s because they are adjusted to the unique environmental conditions along with time. You may consider getting more of such native plants to your garden. Then you can maintain a drought-free landscape. On top of that, you can increase your chances of attracting pollinators to the landscape as well.
Get few succulents to the garden
Succulents are capable of storing inside their fleshy leaves. They are a great option available for a drought-tolerant landscape. You can often find them nestled in the form of windowsills. However, you can use them out there in your landscape as well.
One of the best forms of succulent plants available to consider is sedum succulents. They come with a hardy groundcover. You can find many different native varieties of this plant across the United States. They are capable of delivering a natural look and feel to your garden as well.
Group all the plants with similar needs
When you are planning the landscape, you should group all plants that have similar needs together. For example, you need to group all the low water plants to one section of your landscape. Plants that are hungrier for water should be in a separate part. Then you will be able to water them accordingly in an efficient way.
Introduce an outdoor living space to the landscape
When there is an outdoor living space in the landscape, you will be reducing the amount of area where you need to water. This is where you can get an outdoor living room, a deck, or even a patio. It will provide a great space for you to have container gardens. This will provide an alternative option for you to retain the green look and feel of your landscape.
Consider planting in your parking strip as well
If you have a parking strip, you should consider planting some drought-tolerant plants in there as well. Then you can enhance the curb appeal of your landscape as well as the sidewalk. You should pay attention to the small space that exist in between the curb and the sidewalk. This area is considered as hell strip because nobody focuses on them. They usually accumulate dog poop, road salt, and parking mishaps.
If you want to make this area more useful, you need to consider getting some drought tolerant plants in there. This will not just enhance the curb appeal but can also help you fight against soil erosion. However, make sure that your plants don’t grow more than 4 feet in height. You should also adhere to local regulations.
Get a rain barrel installed
Saving water in rainy days is a good habit. Then you can use that water for other purposes on non-rainy days. This is where a rain barrel can help. You can adjust the ends of your gutters to collect water into the rain barrel. Then you can directly connect it to the garden hose and water your garden.
Get porous hardscaping materials
Make sure that all the hardscaping materials you get are porous. This will help you to let rainwater go into the soil underneath. This will not just help you to save water but can also avoid flooding. Instead of getting concrete or asphalt, you need to get interlocking concrete pavers. Likewise, you may consider adding a gravel layer to fill in the spaces around steppingstones, instead of cement or mortar.
Final words
Now you have a clear idea on how to create a drought-tolerant landscape effectively. This will help you to effectively manage water and save both money and time. It will be quite beneficial for the environment and ecosystem around your house as well.