Drought-Friendly Landscaping

As droughts continue to become more frequent, longer, and stronger, how we care for landscapes will need to change to adjust to current needs.

“Long-term droughts require more effort to maintain your landscape,” says Cindy Grady, regional business developer for The Davey Tree Expert Co. “Property and facility managers will need to maintain water availability and usage for turf, trees, and shrubs to prepare them for the next drought.”

A drought can have various long– and short-term effects that must be considered when maintaining and planning a landscape. As a result of being underwatered, trees and shrubs will face decline and possibly failure. Weeds become more active as the turf is not properly watered. “Lack of water through droughts forces plants to survive rather than thrive,” says Grady.

Best practices for thriving landscapes start with the way trees, plants, and the lawn are watered. “One of the issues we’re seeing is people irrigating turf incorrectly,” says Grady. “We’re seeing properties irrigating daily or frequently throughout the week with short but frequent watering bursts, which doesn’t create a strong root system as the roots are trained to rely on receiving constant water.”

Proper watering means deeper and less frequent. Water longer and less frequently to create strong roots that will withstand a variety of stressors. An irrigation or water management audit can determine how systems are performing and how they can best improve their systems for water efficiency and money savings.

Using a different type of grass can make a landscape more drought resistant. Most lawns are made up of Kentucky bluegrass that requires frequent watering to stay healthy and strong, which can drastically affect an irrigation budget. Instead, consider using a different, low maintenance grass seed like blue gamma or buffalo grass, which requires less water.

To equip a landscape with stronger tools to withstand drought, implement xeriscaping. “Xeriscaping is the practice of designing landscapes with water efficiency and aesthetics in mind,” says Grady.

A xeriscaped lawn consists of three conditions. The xeric zone sits on the outermost parts of the south and west sides of the building. The plants in these zones are the most drought tolerant.

An expert can help plan a xeriscape landscape and help choose which plants to install. They also can conduct an irrigation audit to test the efficacy of a community’s current use of water. “There are a lot of pieces to making a landscape drought resistant, but it doesn’t have to be as challenging as it seems,” says Grady.