Landscaping Small Yards

The Art & Scienceof Xeriscaping

With increasing frequency, home and business owners are discovering a lot of ornamental plants and shrubs acquired from local retailers don’t do well when temperatures soar and water is scarce.

That harsh and self-evident truth is leading many owners of withered gardens and burned-out lawns to consider xeriscaping – a specialized form of landscaping that significantly reduces or eliminates the need for supplemental water in gardens, plant beds and even full lawns.

“When we moved from Michigan to The Woodlands in 1981, I told my wife I was through with snow shovels and lawn mowers,” Joe Fleshner said. “We basically just let the yard go and let nature take care of what grows.”

Such an extreme approach to lawn care – or lack thereof – is at best a tradeoff. Fleshner saves time but has to put up with a disheveled yard that many would consider unsightly and some neighbors might consider a breech of the public trust.

Total abandonment of yard work is not an option for many homeowners, said Diane Cabiness, owner of a specialty bird and butterfly gardening business.

“Most residential communities and subdivisions have specific guidelines with lawn requirements,” she said. “It’s a good idea to check your deed restrictions before you decide to give away your mower.”

But that doesn’t mean homeowners are forced to endure long hours of weeding, feeding and watering lawns and beds to maintain a presentable appearance. A significant number of native and specialty plants that require minimal water or care are available for gardens and plant beds that are virtually maintenance free.

“Nature has a wonderful way of filling voids,” Cabiness said. “There are a number of native plants that can tolerate the volatile heat and rainfall of Texas.”

Not so long ago, homeowners acquired plants they liked from local forests and roadways and planted them in their yards, Cabiness said. Now, most people buy plants from home and garden centers. But many of those carefully nurtured plants come from areas far away from Texas and its specialized climate.

“A lot of plants are not suited to our area,” Cabiness said. “They may do well in one season, but they can’t handle the full range of weather conditions here.”

Tom LeRoy, Montgomery County Extension agent, agreed.

“A lot of dry weather plants like cactus can handle the heat and dry conditions we get here,” he said. “But we also have periods of cold, rain and high humidity. They won’t do well with that.

Small Yard Landscaping

Small yard landscaping can be quite messy when there is an exceptionally small space to maneuver in. design ideas are limited and even the kinds of plants to put in need to grow in a size that can be accommodated in the yard. For example, you may want to put in plenty of lush greens to bring life to your yard; however, these may be limited as it may be too big when it matures. If they grow to be too large for your garden, you may end up chopping away at some and then throwing away at small sickly flowering plants.

Water systems or irrigation systems are not one of the first things that come to mind when one decides on a certain small yard landscaping for their homes. The biggest problem arises when the landscaping proper itself has been completed only to find that one has to put in ugly looking sprinklers just to water the plants. Sprinkler systems tend to spray water indiscriminately. Even if they are turned on for a limited number of minutes, this does not ensure an efficient means of delivery.

Unobtrusive water systems can be added to not only water your plants but also provide for efficient irrigation. Simple water trickle systems incorporated into your small yard landscaping ensures that water gets to the plant and does not evaporate. Significant amounts of water can be wasted via evaporation and indiscriminate watering. Water may be sprinkled liberally but provide no nourishment to your plant life if an effective water system is not in place.

These trickle system can be installed before or after the plants have been placed in their garden beds. Unlike popular belief, these water systems can be quickly and easily installed. Water hoses can be laid out close to or beside plants themselves making sure that delivery is efficient with less run over wastes.

The parts of the drip system are readily available in most handy man stores. They are easy to assemble and only a couple of parts are essential to the project. The head is the part of the system that is connected to the water source. Second is the plastic tubing which water passes through. In small yard landscaping these hoses and tubing can be easily laid out across the garden. They can be moved according to the needs of the plants. The hoses are easy to replace and are very cheap.

Small yard landscaping must have both form and function to be aesthetically pleasing to the eyes. After all, what is the use of putting in a large palm tree in the middle of your small yard and then leave no other room for other plants to grow. Or, if you do put in a large fruit tree or bush, chances are it will not allow any other plant to thrive. They might deprive smaller plants of soil nutrition and the roots of the larger plants may not allow the roots of smaller plants to grow.

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