Water
Conservation.
APPROPRIATE VEGETATIVE SITING
Appropriate vegetative siting practice considers
three key factors that will influence the ultimate
location for a particular plant and particular
environment. They are type of foliage, the period of
dormancy, and the root system. Foliage which is likely
to be drought resistant is usually needle-like,
scale-like, leathery, filigree, hairy, wax-coated or
fleshy. Plants that are dormant in summer in the
southeast avoid the stress drought inflicts on the
vegetation that remains green in summer. Root systems
that are particularly suited for drought resistance vary
from deep tap roots to sinuous roots to water storing
roots. Tap roots penetrate the soil deeply, where
moisture will be the last to leave the soil in drought
conditions. Sinuous roots are adapted for dry
conditions because they have a higher surface area to
soil ratio than other root forms, because of their
elaborate network configuration. Water storing roots by
definition will be the last to expire in drought
situations.[1]
Minimizing
turf areas will improve a landscape’s conservation
value. Lawns require much higher maintenance than
other types of plant material in the landscape, not the
least of which is an inordinate amount of water for
sustenance. Turf can require two, three, and four
times the annual rainfall typical for the area. An
estimated 25 to 30 million acres represent the
collective lawn area in the Unites States. [2]
The responsible landscape designer and property owner
will do their part and reduce or eliminate turf to
incorporate more resource-efficient plant material.
Appropriate siting
allows plant material a natural advantage for survival
and does not tax the environment, the plant or the
caretaker in the process.
Rumary, Mark. Xeriscaping.
New York: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc., 2001, p 54 – 57.
Skow, John. "Can Lawns be Justified?"
Time. 3 June, 1991: 63.
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