Help a gardening novice xeriscape his yard

medpt — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 11:38:13 -0800

I'd like to landscape my yard in a way that requires very little maintenance and water. Here is my ideal scenario (I know very little about gardening, so tell me if my thinking is preposterous):

I plant a bunch of plants that look pretty nice and live for years & years. They happily subsist on sunlight and rainfall; I never have to water them. I prune them occasionally when they've grown too much, but in general my yard looks pretty good and I never have to think about it.

Right now, we have grass (maybe 25x25 feet in the front and bit more in back) which requires regular mowing and watering in the summer. I find these tasks tedious and I don't like the waste of water. I'd be interested in replacing the grass with something that requires less water; but if there aren't any good alternatives, then perhaps a sprinkler system, which distributes water automatically and efficiently, would be the way to go.

I'm interested in first-hand advice on specific plants to buy, and recommendations of books, magazines, etc. Also, if you have experience hiring a professional landscaper (especially in my area) I would like to hear about it.

I live in Austin.

The machine in the garden--sprinkler question

craniac — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 09:25:36 -0800

I believe I need to replace my sprinkler controller. How hard is this? Here are the long ugly details. Apologies for the numbered list, but it's the only way I can recall all of the key moments in this little narrative.

1. I didn't turn off the main sprinkler main over the winter and was welcomed with broken bleeder valves and a geyser in the Spring.

2. I fixed those, but my sprinklers still didn't work, so I assumed it was a pipe problem

3. After a busy Summer of hand watering and other distracting chores, I finally bought a multimeter and started testing my wiring

4. There is no current going to my controller valves

5. The transformer is putting out 24VAC, but the terminals that the controllers are connected to are not getting any current. I have also replaced the backup battery.

According to a googled web page, I need to replace the box.

1. Can I just get a six station controller at a big box home repair place?

2. I will write down which color of wire is connected to each controller, but will the box come with sufficient instructions to connect those to the proper terminals?

My lawn basically looks like a dryed out meadow at this point. I am in Z5, Utah, and it has been a very Global Summer.

I know there will be a xeriscaping recommendation, and my only objection is that good xeriscaping is not cheap, and my kids need some lawn to run around on. I would like to gradually start replacing the front lawn, however, and I am looking into overseeding with something like Sheep Fescue and/or a good ryegrass or something that requires less water and is more interesting.

All of my neighbors except one have the green postage stamp thing going on.

Thanks for any suggestions.

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Help a gardening novice xeriscape his yard

The machine in the garden--sprinkler question