Xeriscape!

It sounds like such an exciting word! I love it.

I have been thinking about xeriscaping ever since the snow began melting and the little irrigation tubes began to show in my garden.

The former owner of my house was a passionate gardener and spent many years lovingly building this property into a spring, summer and fall oasis. Waves of colour and green greet me when I look out from the windows to my backyard. Underneath the surface though, lies a twisting labyrinth of irrigation tubes. They basically look like earth-coloured hoses, that have tiny holes in them, which drip water out based on how I set my timer to do so.

When I first moved in, the system seemed to be on all of the time! I could hear the water turning on from the garage area and it made me crazy! I love my gardens, but I was not loving my water bill. Orangeville has metered water systems, and wow, it is expensive to irrigate a large garden. Not to mention, environmentally insensitive.

This year, I am removing one large garden. I will replace it with seed for now and hope that the little ground cover that is other parts of my "lawn" (I believe it is called "Ajuga") will creep up and take over the grass. Ajuga grows like mad, is great in shady areas it seems and is lovely to walk on. Plus, I found out last summer it doesn't need cutting!

I have also become really interested in Xeriscaping while I ponder my water-loving gardens. On a recent walk, I discovered a series of homes that have some great front yards very creatively xeriscaped. Xeriscaping just means "An environmentally friendly form of landscaping that uses a variety of indigenous and drought-tolerant plants, shrubs, and ground cover." These homes, located on Woodvale Court, feature scrubby trees and grasses, dry "streams", driftwood, stone pathways and sitting areas. They are lovely and interesting, and not a patch of turf is to be found. I will take a photo the next time I am by; this is an interesting stretch of street in Orangeville to be sure.