Save Water; Save Your Lawn

Courtesy of Green Piece Indy:

Xeriscaping™, the practice of landscaping to conserve water, isn't all cacti and rocks. Dr. Mary Welch-Keesey, a Purdue University Consumer Horticulture Specialist at White River Gardens, prepared a downloadable handout titled "Xeriscaping™ in Indiana." Dr. Welch-Keesey recommends:

• Choosing drought-tolerant plants, especially natives, and planting them near each other based on their water requirements
• Reducing overall lawn size with more flower beds, or not irrigating as much of your lawn
• Using soaker hoses to water your lawn and flower beds, which you should do early in the morning about once a week, to build roots and reduce evaporation waste

Big box stores rarely stock a wide selection of native plants, so we recommend referencing the Indiana Native Plant and Wildflower Society's excellent resource page of nurseries in Indiana and the Midwest that carry native flowers, grasses, shrubs and trees.