Xeriscaping vs. Zeroscaping for Drought and Wildfire Resilience

In our high plains desert environment, traditional lawns require ample water and maintenance. Xeriscaping refers to landscaping that utilizes drought-resistant plants and rocks to reduce water usage. Xeriscaping principles can help us thoughtfully plan fire resilient landscaping, enhance wildlife habitat around our home, and lower our water bills. Xeriscaping is often conflated with Zeroscaping, where gravel is used to cover the entire area, but this solution may not be as simple as it sounds. 

Gravel can compact soil beneath it, reducing infiltration of stormwater. Even with landscaping fabric beneath, invasive species often grow in the debris that lands between rocks. Rocks often heat up far more than a lawn or other garden. This creates a bit of an ecological dead zone, mainly beneficial to less desirable species. Rocks and gravel are wonderful tools to incorporate into portions of your xeriscaped yard, but the seven principles of xeriscaping offer us other tools as well. 

From Ted Smith at UW Extension:

  1. Planning and Design: A well-thought-out map of your property that accounts for sun exposure, soil type, and the way you use your yard.
  2. Soil Improvement: Adding compost or organic matter to help the soil retain moisture and encourage deep root growth.
  3. Practical Turf Areas: Limiting traditional high-water grass to functional spaces where it is needed, rather than using it as a default ground cover.
  4. Efficient Irrigation: Using targeted watering systems like drip lines instead of evaporation-heavy sprayers and ensuring water goes exactly where it is needed.
  5. Mulching: Covering exposed soil with organic mulch or rock to suppress weeds, keep root temperatures cool, and lock in moisture.
  6. Plant Selection: Choosing native or deeply adapted plants suited to your local climate and rainfall.
  7. Appropriate Maintenance: Weeding, adjusting irrigation as plants grow, and pruning to keep the landscape healthy and tidy.

These principles are also helpful for planning a fire resilient landscape. Dense plantings right up against your home, ladder fuels, and dead vegetation increase your home's risk in the case of wildfires. Consider replacing flammable plant materials such as junipers and other evergreens with species that do not contain flammable resins, have leaves with higher moisture content, and do not seasonally accumulate excess fuel beneath it. An ideal location to use gravel and rocks is around the perimeter of your home where fuels reduction is most critical. Dead, dry plant material is another fire risk to wacth out for, and choosing native, drought resilent species can reduce dead fuels around your home. 

Learn more about creating a defensible space around your home below:

parkcountyfirewise.com

Beautiful Local Examples of Xeriscaping 

A Home in Powell 

A vibrant garden featuring various flowers, cacti, and shrubs with colorful blooms set against a house backdrop.
A lush garden with vibrant flowers and grasses, featuring a stone path, surrounded by a rural landscape and a house in the background.
A colorful flowerbed with various blooming flowers, surrounded by rocks and some tall grasses. Nearby is a patch of green grass.
A vibrant garden with colorful flowers, greenery, and rocks, nestled beside a house and open field.
A vibrant garden featuring red roses, orange lilies, and various greenery along a rocky stream bed.
A garden scene featuring various plants, yellow flowers, pebbles, and a small stream running through the landscape.
A garden path with rocks, various plants, and colorful flowers, along with a truck in the background on a sunny day.
A colorful flower garden with a pond, rocks, and a turtle, set against a dirt area and a truck in the background.
A landscaped front yard featuring green grass, blooming pink flowers, a concrete path, and a charming home exterior.
A vibrant garden featuring yellow and red flowers, green foliage, and a rock pathway, with a field and road in the background.
A vibrant garden featuring lush green plants and clusters of yellow flowers, with a small rocky stream running through.
A landscaped garden featuring colorful flowers, grass, and a rocky stream bed, surrounded by a white fence and buildings in the background.
A vibrant garden with colorful flowers, a small stream, and pebbles creating a picturesque natural landscape.
A vibrant garden featuring various flowers, cacti, and shrubs with colorful blooms set against a house backdrop.
A lush garden with vibrant flowers and grasses, featuring a stone path, surrounded by a rural landscape and a house in the background.
A colorful flowerbed with various blooming flowers, surrounded by rocks and some tall grasses. Nearby is a patch of green grass.
A vibrant garden with colorful flowers, greenery, and rocks, nestled beside a house and open field.
A vibrant garden featuring red roses, orange lilies, and various greenery along a rocky stream bed.
A garden scene featuring various plants, yellow flowers, pebbles, and a small stream running through the landscape.
A garden path with rocks, various plants, and colorful flowers, along with a truck in the background on a sunny day.
A colorful flower garden with a pond, rocks, and a turtle, set against a dirt area and a truck in the background.
A landscaped front yard featuring green grass, blooming pink flowers, a concrete path, and a charming home exterior.
A vibrant garden featuring yellow and red flowers, green foliage, and a rock pathway, with a field and road in the background.
A vibrant garden featuring lush green plants and clusters of yellow flowers, with a small rocky stream running through.
A landscaped garden featuring colorful flowers, grass, and a rocky stream bed, surrounded by a white fence and buildings in the background.
A vibrant garden with colorful flowers, a small stream, and pebbles creating a picturesque natural landscape.

 

Lawn front and back: Birds eye blue grama – natively grown near Heart Mountain

Landscaping: 

Perennial flower beds – front and rear 

  • Low maintenance varieties selected to grow well in Powell 
  • Four season interest
  • Dry creek beds: Downspouts drain into dry creek landscape – water diverted away from foundation

Water spigots – front and back yard

Front yard perennial plants: 

  • Hen and chicks succulents 
  • Prickly pear cactus
  • Stella de Oro and Gold  Daylily 
  • Karl Forrester feather reed grass
  • Red twig dogwood
  • Purple coneflower 
  • Little Bluestem grass
  • Creeping phlox purple
  • Red creeping sedum
  • Sedum Autumn Joy

Back yard perennial plants: 

  • Purple coneflower
  • Gloriosa daisy
  • Columbine (white, yellow, and multi color)
  • Karl Forrester feather reed grass
  • Little Bluestem grass
  • Liatris blazing star
  • Liatris - purple
  • Allium – Drumstick deep effervescent purple 
  • Chives – winter interest 
  • Garlic chives
  • Daylily – gold 
  • Stella de Oro daylily
  • Hens and chicks 
  • Iris – purple and yellow 
  • Gaillardia flower - AZ sun blanket flower
  • Black eyed Susan daisy 
  • Bachelor button – goldfinch birds love the seeds
  • Blue flax 
  • Yarrow – Coronation Gold 
  • Marigold – French yellow and orange, multi color 
  • Sedum - Autumn Joy
  • Oriental poppy – orange and red
  • Large branching sunflowers 

Veggie gardens: dry fit watering system: easy connect spring/disconnect and drain in fall

Three raised bed vegetable garden areas automatic above-ground sprinklers throughout: easily disconnected/drained in autumn 

  • Walking onions
  • Garlic chive
  • Chive – Italian and Garlic
  • Oregano
  • Thyme

Wood chips around garden beds keep the area walkable, weed free, low maintenance, and cool 

 

Thomas the Apostle Center in Cody 

A landscaped area with a sign, rocks, plants, and a wooden building in the background under cloudy skies.
A pathway lined with overgrown grass and yellow flowers, bordered by a wooden fence and a tree, under a cloudy sky.
A garden scene with purple flowers and a bright yellow sunflower, set against a brown wall.
A landscaped area with a sign, rocks, plants, and a wooden building in the background under cloudy skies.
A pathway lined with overgrown grass and yellow flowers, bordered by a wooden fence and a tree, under a cloudy sky.
A garden scene with purple flowers and a bright yellow sunflower, set against a brown wall.

The gardens at the Thomas the Apostle Center (TAC), were designed with the help of the Denver Botanical Gardens. In planning these gardens for the retreat center, emphasis was placed on beauty and biodiversity  throughout the warm season when guests are visiting. 

Artemisia Frigida              July – September 
Asclepias Speciosa           June – August 
Calamagrostis                    June – September 
Blue Flag Iris                        May – June 
Rhus Trilobata                    April – June 
Syringa                                    April – June 
Ericameria Nauseosus   September – October 
Asters                                      August – October 
Solidago                                  August – October 

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