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WEST SIDE GARAGE PLANTING

© Max Dalrymple

Xeriscaping (TM) programs recommend you plant most of your landscape in the driest of plants, those that do not require any supplemental water. Actually, most Xeriscaping(TM) programs like gravel, sand and rock. I like plants and don't like living in a gravel bed, although I've seen some nice ones and will eventually write an article for those who like that sort of thing. Having said that, however, I hope most people will consider planting some of the more xeric trees. This world needs as many as we can get!

The west side of your house is an ideal place to begin "Xeric to the Max" landscaping, since that area gets a lot of the very hottest sun each day. Can we design a landscape there with plants that will survive the heat that area produces? I think we can.

If you're building and designing a new home, you may want to put your garage on the west side. This will put the un - cooled space where you park and store your car or bike between you and the very warmest wall of your house. You can also install a transparent or translucent garage door on the south wall. This will add winter warmth from the sun, making your garage more comfortable in that season. If you have a breezeway between your garage and your house you can also put your rainwater collection barrels for both the house and the garage in the breezeway, although you may want the house's barrels on the east side, where you'll be growing more water intensive plants.

The attention getting southwest "Xeric-to-the-Max" tree is the Desert Willow (Chilopsis linearis), which grows to twenty feet tall and about ten to fifteen feet wide. The flowers are pink to purple and will bloom from May to July. This tree will grow at elevations up to 5,500 feet.

Plants that don't require supplemental water after they are established include ARTEMISIA tridentata, or Big Sage. This plant, with its silver foilage looks great against a wall or fence, although you might want to substitute with Russian Sage if you plan to interplant with pink flowers. You could use three to fill in the space along the wall, unless you want to substitute with Apache Plume, or the plants below. I've read this plant doesn't do well below 1,500 feet.

FALUGIA paradoxa, or Apache Plume, is another big, four feet by four feet, showy plant with white flowers and pink seed heads. Low - growing juniper looks good beneath this plant. I haven't put it in the drawing, but it would look attractive as a privacy barrier between your front and back yards.