Xeriscaping is not only used in arid and semi-drought climates; it is also utilized in other climates, in the gardens of those who are interested in saving water. The most crucial Xeriscaping technique is the selection of appropriate plants. So, we offer you a xeriscape plants list below.
What is xeriscape gardening?
Xeriscape is a low- or non-water landscaping method intended to reduce irrigation requirements. Other names for xeriscape are water-conserving landscaping and drop-tolerant landscaping. “Xeriscape” comes from the Greek word “Xeros,” which somehow conjures up dry landscape ideas. However, this is not how reality is. With xeriscape, you may enjoy a lush landscape while reducing the amount of water necessary to maintain it.
We have several species for your Xeriscape landscape right here. Please see the Xeriscape plants list below.
Principles of Xeriscape
Choosing and planting a tree is only the first step in creating a rich Xeriscape setting:
You need to follow the following principles:
Make a detailed plan for everything: Determine the shaded or shady areas in the yard after conducting an overall garden inspection so you can choose a tree type with the proper lighting requirements.
- Minimum grass area: The grass yard requires high watering, so switching to planting trees and water will be much better than planting grass.
- Choose a tree that requires less water (Refer to Xeriscape plants List below).
- Put trees in the exact location that requires equal amounts of water: To ease maintenance and prevent water waste, group and plant plants with similar water requirements in the exact location.
- Use the rust irrigation system: You can precisely target your Plants by using a tiny irrigation system. Simply watering in a large enough area helps the foliage dry out and reduces plant illnesses.
- Use the surrounding mulch to reduce evaporation: Mulch is very impressive. It acts like a sponge, limiting the amount of steam produced by the steam. Adding the mulch layer minimizes the need for watering and contributes organic matter to the soil once it decomposes.
- Regular tree maintenance is necessary to reduce the need for plants to use water: The more your plants grow, the more branches and leaves there are, and the greater the requirement for water, so be sure to prune the tree frequently.
Xeriscape plants list
Many different plant species can work well in Xeriscape. Trees, vibrant plants, shrubs, or even grasses could all have diverse shapes, sizes, and colors.
The plants we recommend using in your garden are listed below. You can be confident that they will exist given the local weather conditions, including rainfall, extremely high temperatures, no frost, and soil components.
Xeriscape Perennials
Do you think this xeriscape plants list will only include drab, brown plants? However, the vibrant perennial list below will surprise you and prove this is untrue. Each Xeriscape Perennial has a distinct color and appearance. It has a life expectancy of two to three years, but it can entirely live longer.
Cushion Spurge
Flowers from Cushion Spurge have vivid yellow colors. They often begin to bloom in late April or early May and are in the form of vibrant green foliage in the summer.
Lavender
Lavender is a high-performance xeriscape plant. They grow well during the dry, hot summer and reach their peak in mid-June. The floral canopy is fragrant when touched. It is frequently grown next to garden chairs and the path.
Lavender prefers soil that drains well, is suited for arid sandy environments, thrives in direct sunlight, and requires little maintenance.
German Iris
German Iris frequently tops everyone’s Xeriscape plants list because of its high drought tolerance. German Iris showcases its beauty in various hues, including white, yellow, and orange.
Coreopsis
Coreopsis comes in more than 80 different kinds and is drought-tolerant. Types of Coreopsis produce yellow, orange, pink, red, chestnut, and purple flowers that resemble daisies. It blooms from the summer till the fall. Different species’ foliage differs in color, with some having substantial green leaves and others having greener greens.
These plants can withstand drought and are easy to grow. So, it prefers a dry environment with full sun.
Moss Phlox
In April and May, Moss Phlox flowers bloom in shades of pink, red, and purple. Moss Phlox is a low-growing, hardy perennial xeriscaping plant that adds a lovely color.
Oriental Poppy
Oriental Poppy can develop spontaneously in a water shortage. This perennial tree has red, bright red, orange, purple, pink, and mixed colors. They often bloom in May and June.
Ostrich Fern
The best drought-resistant tree is the ostrich fern. They have bright green bunches of ostrich hairs growing from the bottom of the tree. Add Ostrich Ferns to the garden has not only beautiful vegetation but also has Fiddleheads to eat.
Xeriscape Shrubs
This xeriscape plants list includes a collection of trees called xeriscape shrubs that can be used most adaptable in recent landscaping projects. For example, they can be used to create privacy for your garden and act as a windbreak. Of course, this group of trees also has excellent drought tolerance and anti-erosion properties.
Beauty Bush
Around May, the light pink Beauty Bush flowers will begin to blossom every year. Make sure to trim and give the tree a form because the leaves tend to grow lushly.
Hansa Rugosa Rose
Rosa Rugosa is one of the most simple roses to cultivate. Rosa Rugosa is well-known for its wrinkled leaves, dark pink flowers with a layer of wings, and countless pistils. Hansa Rosa Rugosa requires little maintenance and has good pest and cold resistance.
Caragana
Caragana blooms in the spring, with yellow flowers and hanging beans under the branches. It has fatty leaves of light green leaves that turn yellow in the fall. Adaptable, incredibly cold-resistant, and tolerant of harsh conditions including alkalinity, salt, poor soil, and strong winds. You can add caraganas to your garden, use them as Hedges/Screening, or simply Naturalizing and Woodland Gardens.
Russian Sage
Russian Sage has a blue flower mixed with a bit of purple that looks quite a thunderstorm with lavender. The Russian Sage inflorescences stand out on the gray-green leaves on the silver-white trunk.
This tree is subject to good drought, growing in the rocky mountains, where the soil is drainage, enough to make it an ideal tree for xeriscaping.
Yucca
Yucca is known for its big leaves and numerous thorns that develop on the thick and long woody stalks. However, many yucca plants make beautiful ornamental plants for gardens. Because yuccas resemble palm trees, planting them in your garden or within your house will give the area a tropical feel.
Yucca grows in sunlight and arid sand. As long as the soil is healthy and not very fertile, all yucca species can flourish there. The Yucca tree develops like an attractive shrub in the landscape of gardens, occasionally blooming.
Mugo Pine
Mugo Pine is a type of coniferous, needled evergreen. It has dark green needles and dense branches. Mugo Pine can be used effectively as a low hedge, ground cover, planting for foundations, or as an evergreen for rock gardens.
Smooth Sumac
Smooth Sumac is a shrub with attractive branches and short, crooked, drooping trunks. The staggered double leaves have alternate growth, and vivid red leaves will fall in the early autumn.
Xeriscape Trees
Xeriscape Trees are an essential component of an intelligent xeriscape. These plants can thrive and provide shade and overall cooling effects. Planting xeriscape Trees help reduce water requirements for plants near them. In addition, the tall xeriscape trees also help block the wind, increase the house’s privacy and reduce noise.
Douglas Fir is a famous tree that is often used to create Christmas trees. They grow up well and show the toughness worth the form, and in the drier position, it shows even higher plasticity appearing in the forest of temperate rainforest forest.
Lodgepole Pine
Lodgepole Pine can adapt to many different environmental conditions and even handle drought, cold, shade, and poor soil conditions. It has needles growing in pairs of 1.2 to 2.4 inches long with sharp tips. The bark is thin and scaly and colored orange-brown to Gray.
Ponderosa Pine
Ponderosa Pine is a large pine tree (evergreen) with large woody stems and straight stems with a wide, open, uneven cylindrical canopy. The pyramids, from narrow to wide on young trees, grow on old trees. It is adapted to various soil and environment conditions, including alkali, dry, low humidity, wind, and high altitudes. It is capable of high drought tolerance once established.
Rocky Mountain Juniper
Rocky Mountain Juniper is a type of evergreen tree. The leaves of Rocky Mountain Juniper are often shaped like a narrow crown, some species will have other leaf shapes and colors. The juvenile foliage consists of needles that are sharp and white-coated. Adult foliage’s scale-like leaves range in hue from dark to bluish to light green.
Include it in your xeriscape plants list, utilizing it as a focal point tree but also frequently used as a deer-proof hedge along fences and property lines.
Blue Spruce
The Blue Spruce impressed the landscape with its solid architectural shape in the form of a pyramid and horizontal and sturdy branches forming a dense tree. The Blue Spruce has blue-green colored needles and is a codified tree.
Blue Spruce develops the best in abundant moisture. Blue Spruce is often considered the best development with abundant moisture, but this species can withstand drought. It can also withstand shallow temperatures (-40 degrees C). Moreover, this species is more resistant to the harmful effects of heat and frosts than other related species.
Amur Maple
Amur Maple is known for its autumn color. With its orange-red leaves, this tree will make your yard bright in the fall. This tree can handle some shade, salt, and drought.
Autumn Blaze Tree
Autumn Blaze Tree is a red maple tree with superior fall color and good branch structure. Buds, small bunches of flowers, leaf stems, branches, and left wings in the summer are slightly red. However, the glossy green leaves still exist on the tree turning orange to bright red in the fall.
Xeriscape Ground Covers
It is excellent if there is a lawn in the yard, right? However, grass requires too much watering. Why don’t you replace them with xeriscape ground covers? They are among the most drought-tolerant and hardy, low-growing plants you will discover, and they may be utilized in various ways. A suitable ground coating and the climate will usually have a brilliant xeriscape ground covers area throughout the year without high water consumption.
Bearberry
Bearberries grow like low bushes. Its leaves are always dark green and have flexible stems with teardrop shapes. Its can survive on the soil, mainly sand and gravel surface. So there is no doubt that it is included in this Xeriscape plants list.
Hens and Chicks (Sempervivum tectorum)
Hens and Chicks is an indispensable tree in the Xeriscape plants list. Its develop well indoors and outdoors, at cool or hot temperatures. Hens and chick plants get the name from its rosette shape and propensity to have plenty of babies. A rockery or dry, nutrient-deficient soil is ideal for raising hens and chicks.
Stonecrop
The majority of Stonecrop has a flower-shaped appearance and produces flowers on the base foliage. The foliage is thick and semi-glossy.
Planting Stonecrops is an excellent way to begin your Xeriscape project. It is ideal for beds, borders, and rock gardens. Therefore, stonecrops are the appropriate tree in the xeriscape plants list for a dry spot in your yard. In addition, they require little maintenance and are rarely attacked by pests and diseases.
Thymus praecox (Mother of Thyme)
The trunk of the thymus praecox spreads horizontally and takes root to form a flat carpet. The leaves have fluff, fragrant and green. Tiny tubular flowers, purple-pink blooming from June to September. Thymus praecox has a spicy aroma, making it an ideal choice for the sensory garden. It can also be used as a replacement for lawn or as a massive fill-in between pavers.
Thymus Praecox grows best in sunlight and good drainage soil. However, they can also work well in sandy or rocky soil. The characteristic that makes it paralyzed into the xeriscape plants list is its poor drainage ability.
Stachys Byzantina
Stachys Byzantina leaves are silky silver tongues. Purple-pink flowers bloom in late spring and early summer.
This tree thrives in the sun with -dry enough, dry soil, and it is perfect in the stone gardens and xeriscape. They are very suitable for edging beds, walking, softening hard corners, and the accent in the border.
Sweet Woodruff
Sweet Woodruff is a highly suitable choice for Shade Gardens. With its star-shaped whorls of leaves and delicate white blooms, sweet woodruff ground cover may provide unique texture and flair to a heavily shadowed garden area.
Sweet Woodruff grows very well in moist soil, with good drainage, and is rich in organic matter, but it also grows well in dry soil.
Pachysandra procumbens
Pachysandra Procumbens is a shrub covered on the ground, spread through the roots of the underground, forming a thick carpet of blue leaves mixed with a bit of silver and purple. The leaves are arranged in a circle around the pulp, and the stems grow straight.
Pachysandra Procumbens is an excellent ground coating for the shady area. While it requires moist soil when young, when mature, it is highly drought-tolerant.
Xeriscape Vines
Boston ivy plants (Parthenocissus tricuspidata)
Boston ivy is a robust, fast-growing deciduous climber with glossy, lustrous deep green leaves that are generally over or three-lobed. The leaves of Boston Ivy turn to the brilliant nuance of purple, orange and red wine in the fall.
This plant grows the best in the sun to the shade of part in dry to medium soil, with good drainage.
Virginia Creeper Vine
Virginia Creeper Vine is an eye-catching tree that works well in almost any environment. Thanks to its ribbed lines, it is frequently used for ground coating or as a climbing vine on stone walls and subways. In addition, its leaves contain five leaflets and change from summer green to autumn foliage, ranging from orange-red to Burgundy. This remarkable transformation should earn a spot on the xeriscape plants list.
Honeysuckle Vine
Honeysuckle Vine looks very attractive with its sweet, yellow, and red flowers. It is an excellent addition to your Xeriscape landscape. Honeysuckle Vine can withstand shade and many different types of soil. It can grow as an independent shrub or climb the fence. In suitable regions, honeysuckles can be grown as ground cover, although most thrive with some support, such as a fence or a trellis.
Jackmanii Clematis Vine
Jackmanii Clematis Vine is the most commonly used and easy-to-grow plant. It is an adorable tree covered with many smooth purple blades and fades into light purple over time. The purple color is in harmony with greenish-cream anthers.
It is an excellent choice for a trellis. It can be trained to climb a wall, fence, or arbor and is well suited to containers.
Silver Lace Vine
Silver Lace Vine has small white inflorescences, a twisted or vertical body, and arrow-shaped leaves. The white silver Lace Vine flowers are very fragrant in summer and autumn. In the landscape design and installation, this drought-tolerant vine often winds around the arch, fence, or porch.
Trumpet Vine
Trumpet Vine is relatively easy to grow. Trumpet Vine has beautiful tubular flower beams from yellow to orange or red. The flowering of Trumpet occurs throughout the summer and fall.
Potato vines
Although this plant is called Potato Vina, it is not produced as potatoes but only used as ornamental. Potato Vina has many different colors – from almost black to pure black – and with some different leaf shapes. Potato Vina is a suitable versatile tree to fill outdoor containers, overflow on the wall, or cover the soil in the bed.
Ornamental Grasses
Ornamental Grass is a unique tree group in the xeriscape plants list. It not only have less or no water but also thrives in heat and full sun.
Blue Gramma Grass
Gramma Blue Grass is one of the shortest native ornamental grasses, 12-14 inches tall in full bloom, and has a good drought tolerance. It has fine-leaved leaves and blue-green seedheads that hang horizontally from the top of each stem like small brushes. When the plant is dormant, it turns tan.
Blue Lyme Grass
The striking silver-blue foliage is a unique attraction in any garden. This cool-season ornamental grass retains its vivid blue color throughout the growing season. In the summer, Blue Lyme grass produces wheat-colored plumes. Foliage clumps grow faster via rhizomes, making them ideal for swiftly filling huge areas and controlling erosion.
Golden Tufted Hair Grass
Gold Dew Tufted Hair Grass is a vibrant, fine-textured native grass prized for its profusion of misty, golden flowers and gorgeous seed heads that last throughout winter. It is highly decorated and is usually grown along the driving path or walkway or acts as a decorative jade in your garden.
Ideal development conditions for Golden Tufted Hair Grass is a light shade and fertile soil, but it is also suitable for medium soil and withstand hot, dry conditions.
Mexican Feather Grass
Mexican Feather Grass is a favorite decorative grass for home landscapes. Mexican Feather Grass is admired for its beautiful, elegant, and smooth grain, which cascades forth like a magnificent fountain. It is also exceedingly drought tolerant, which adds to its attraction. So it’s no surprise that this decorative grass is popular in xeriscape settings.
Ribbon Grass
Ribbon Grass is a small grass that grows to approximately a foot in height. It features a dense mat of foliage with flexible leaves that have pink or white purple hues at first. The leaves grow striped with green and white as plants mature.
Ribbon grasses have grown in popularity as garden accents. It thrives in various environmental conditions, including dry, moist, and wet soils, as well as sun and shade.
Purple Lovegrass
Purple Lovegrass grows low to the ground into dense clusters. Throughout most of spring and summer, it is green grass. But in the fall, the long flowers of red flowers grow on the grass.
Purple LoveGrass is grown in airy places, with slightly dry soil drainage and full sunlight. It withstands hot, dry conditions.
Pink Muhly grass
Above is the Xeriscape plants list we recommend. Of course, this Xeriscape plants list will not include all water-saving plants and trees appropriate for Xeriscape. So choose your favorite plants and contact Mile High Landscape right now to construct a beautiful Xeriscape landscape.