Creating a Drought-Tolerant Xeric Garden

Imagine a garden that you (almost) never have to water. In a nutshell, that is xeric garden design. Reminiscent of a desert landscape, but adapted to our northern climate, xeric gardens thrive without additional water needs beyond natural elements once established. Plants selected for use in xeric landscape design are drought tolerant, thrive in dry soil, and require very little maintenance. They are ideal for dry, sunny locations. Here are some of our xeric patches, thriving while proudly neglected, un-watered and untouched since planting a year and a half ago.

Xeric gardens can be sparse or densely planted (like ours above), and can include interesting elements like stones, rocks, wood and other non-plant materials. Contrasting shapes, colours, textures and heights can be used for interest, but thriving xeric gardens also require purposeful and considerate design of natural water management and retention alongside plant selection. We also ensure many of the plants we use in our xeric landscapes are pollinator friendly to encourage bio-diversity.

We love incorporating xeriscaping principles into our garden designs and lawn replacement projects, particularly in hot, sunny parts of gardens that our clients would be happy not to water.