Growing roses

Water-wise lawn replacements

One beautiful replacement for your lawn is low-growing Lantana (Lantana montevidensis  L. selowiana).  It grows very fast and blooms almost year 'round.  Your local nursery should have young plants in a rainbow of floral colors so you can pick one that complements the color of your home.  For example, a home painted a white or sand color might look great with a front yard densely filled with brilliant yellow blooms.  For a home with a pink exterior, consider purple, white or sizzling orange Lantana.  There is even a newish variety, called 'Lemon Swirl' with variegated yellow-green leaves and bright yellow flowers.  Lantana is very drought tolerant; too much water and fertilizer will result in fewer flowers.

Another xeriscape ground covering shrub is the Acacia redonlens, especially the 'Desert Carpet' variety.  This plant has narrow gray-green leaves, grows to about 2 feet in height and in early spring puts on a dazzling show with puffy yellow ball-shaped flower.  An important virtue of this shrub is that a single plant can spread as wide as 15 feet.  And talk about drought tolerant --Acacia redolens needs little water beyond what falls from the sky.

A third shrub to consider is Creeping Rosemary (Rosemarinus officinalis), a classic plant in Mediterranean gardens.  This fast grower is beloved by cooks and bees alike.  The creeping variety will grow to about 1 foot in height with dark green, fragrant narrow leaves.  In early spring bees swarm to its pale purple flowers.  Rosemary needs little watering, only light fertilizer and good drainage.  (A word of caution:  many bees in California, Nevada, Arizona and Texas have been Africanized and may be dangerous in a swarm.)

No doubt your local nursery will have other suggestions of good ground cover shrubs for your area and how to care for them.  Be sure to tell them you want a drought tolerant plant.

For other lawn replacement ideas on the Hot Gardens website, to go

Replacing Your Lawn -- read this for what  NOT to do
Replacing Your Lawn with Pavers
Replacing Your Lawn with Ornamental Grasses
Replacing your Lawn with Mazes and Knot Gardens

 

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