Go with no flow

Being a responsible gardener doesn’t mean you have to say goodbye to green and hello to gravel. Here’s how to xeriscape

- AMY LEHNER

Looking around at some of your neighbours’ lawns, it’s easy to forget that South Africa is still experiencing a water crisis, isn’t it?

What if you want a lush, green garden but still want to be a responsible eco-citizen? It’s time to try xeriscaping – the practice of designing your garden to reduce or even eliminate water usage.

Lawn: love or leave?

A rolling green lawn may be the first thing you picture when you think of your dream garden, but it’s really not worth the fuss. Keeping that lawn looking good requires an awful lot of water – not to mention time spent fertilising, weeding and mowing. Instead, why not try a hardy, indigenous groundcover that will give your garden the same lush feel. Plant Dymondia margaretae (silver carpet) for its cheerful yellow flowers (and it’s even hardy enough to be walked on). Try Coleus neochilus, a mid-sized plant with towers of purple blooms, or fill the space with Geranium incanum (carpet geranium), which has masses of purple-pink flowers. Another option is Asparagus densiflorus (asparagus fern) which is soft, green and feathery.