By Julie Etra

We all love the vast expanses of grass and those showy African tulip planted and maintained by the legions of FONATUR workers; mowing, weeding and watering constantly. However, there are numerous native and adapted species that require much less work and maintenance and can be clustered to take less work and water during the dry season. The term to describe this is xeriscaping, which refers to landscaping or gardening in a manner that reduces water use. It is often critical in dry climates where water may be scarce, hence the term ‘xeric’, meaning dry. Xeriscaping does not mean zeroscaping. I like to think of it as clustering plants with similar watering requirements; the idea is to be efficient with water. It is fine to have some grass, just consider size and shape as strips are very inefficient and hard to manage. Also consider fruit trees, they make a great focal planting, and make sure you have male and female plants according to the morphology of the species. Continue reading Landscaping →