Albuquerque Xeriscape Landscaping Explained – Part One
Xeriscaping Explained
Xeriscaping is a method of designing landscapes to lower or take away the requirement of irrigation. In most cases this equates to landscaping using xeriscaping requiring a small amount of water each week or no water whatsoever, other than the water supplied by natural means, i.e. rain. The goal here is to provide home owners and business owners an explanation of what xeriscaping is so they can learn about it and perhaps consider landscaping their home with it here in the beautiful city of Albuquerque, NM.
Albuquerque homes and businesses today feature xeriscaping landscaping design more often and for good reason. Xeriscaping looks beautiful, it Xeriscaping landscape designs use little to no irrigation, lots of decorative gravel and native plants require small amounts of water. The climate of the southwestern part of the USA particularly New Mexico, receive low amounts of precipitation, with most cities in the State of New Mexico only getting 11 to 12 inches of rainfall annually. Xeriscape landscaping is perfect for the low annual moisture output in Albuquerque and the rest of New Mexico.
The arid climate of Albuquerque, NM, makes xeriscaping the perfect landscaping solution for the area. There are times when it does not rain in Albuquerque for months at a time. Water has become the gold of the 21st century because it has become scarce due to use and because it has become more costly. Big water bills equal higher and higher annual cost for homeowners. Xeriscaping translate into lower water bills. If a home has xeriscape landscaping installed there is an up-front cost, but once it is in place each month and every year thereafter means lower water bills for home owners. Albuquerque has mandated watering days during spring and summer. Albuquerque home owners with xeriscaping limited watering days is no problem what so ever.
The popularity of xeriscaping has sky rocketed in the last 30 years due to the fact water has become scarce, it translates into lower water bills and it conserves water year-round. Xeriscaping contributes positively to the environment because it uses plants that are native to the area which translates into introducing an added natural balance to the area, as opposed to installing a giant grass lawn that uses up tons of water and adding tons of non-native grass pollen into the local atmosphere. Plants used in xeriscaping are the right ones for the dry southwest climate because they need very little irrigation, if any, and if the do need water, it is very minimal. Xeriscaping landscaping usually involves removing traditional grass laws and huge water hungry flower beds, in its place installing beautiful decorative gravel, water retaining mulched flower beds, well-designed drip irrigations systems with direct water to plant water lines featuring water conserving ½ to 2 gallon per hour bubblers and lots of water conserving native plants. Albuquerque landscaping xeriscaping plants to consider are as follows: Acacia, Peppermint, Weeping Bottlebrush, Incense Cedar, Cypress, Eucalyptus, Juniper, Olive, Pine, California Pepper, Bottle Tree, Palo Verde, Western Redbud, Desert Willow, Crepe Myrtle, Chilean Mesquite, Pomegranate, Oak, Idaho Locust, Chaste Tree, Bearberry, Shrubby Wormwood, California Lilac, Brittlebush, Flannelbush, Christmasberry, Calif. Tree Mallow, Purple Sage, Oregon Grape, Yellow Bells, Blue Hibiscus, RockRose, Grevillea, Rose of Sharon, Lavender, Cape Plumbago, Indian Hawthorne, Red Flowering Currant, Cape Honeysuckle, and Shinyu Xylosma Plants acclimated to dry environments of the Southwest like Albuquerque, NM, are called xerophytes. The arid climate of Albuquerque, NM gives landscaping companies like R & S Landscaping, the ability to plant a variety of different types of xerophytes like Acacia, Peppermint, Weeping Bottlebrush, and Incense Cedar.