The City of Airdrie is hosting a presentation on xeriscaping and water-wise gardening in the Genesis Place Rotary Room on July 26.
Guest speaker Joanna Tschudy, Community Development Coordinator of The Calgary Horticultural Society and owner of Inhabit Landscape Design and Consultation, will be giving tips to attendees on how to make their gardens more drought-resistant, more geographically appropriate in their plant choices, and lower maintenance overall.
“Xeriscaping is a form of gardening that is very conscious, in practical terms, of the usage of water,” Tschudy explained in a recent interview with the Airdrie City View. “Southern Alberta is a high, dry climate, and we (as xeriscapers) garden in response to that. Instead of fitting our gardens to what we want, we fit our gardens to the landscape and climate that we are in.”
Tschudy said by using xeriscaping techniques, Airdronians can create gardens that respond in smart ways to drought conditions like the region has been experiencing in recent years, and still have beautiful gardens.
To explain her point, Tschudy gave an example of how choosing one variety or rose over another can make a big difference to a garden’s overall drought tolerance, while lowering water usage and maintenance at the same time.
Many of the rose varieties gardeners use today, she explained, are prone to disease and fungal infections. They also need a lot of water to stay healthy. Instead of using these varieties in their xeriscape garden, Tschudy suggested local gardeners try a variety like “Winnipeg Parks” instead.
“It’s a beautiful red rose,” she said. “You could probably hit it with your lawnmower a couple times (by accident), and it would still come up and thrive. It needs very little water. It’s super hardy for our cold winters and our cool nights. And, again, for our super hot, dry summers.
“So you still have your rose garden, but it’s about choosing the roses that actually thrive in southern Alberta.”
Such is the beauty of xeriscaping, according to Tschudy; people can still plant the types of plants they want — whether it be flowers, herbs or vegetables — but they would grow them together in a way that they work together to conserve water and reduce maintenance time spent on activities such as weeding.
“It’s a style of gardening,” she explained. “You can still have those flowers. You can still have fruits or vegetables … There are many aspects of a xeriscape that still check everybody’s boxes. It’s how you are doing it that makes the big difference.”
The biggest inspiration for xeriscaping comes from observing how plants grow into different niches in the same ecological space in nature, Tschudy said, with mixtures of low shrubs and higher ones, the use of rocks and mulches in layers to help conserve water, and being conscious of how different plants use different levels in the soil to access water and nutrients so they are not in competition with one another.
“A typical xeriscape garden would be quite diverse in the plantings,” she confirmed. “The plants would be plants that can thrive on very little water consumption.”
Once established, a xeriscape garden is pretty much the poster child of low maintenance, allowing a person to have a beautiful garden without having to do so much work to keep it so.
“I have seen a lot of people move toward xeriscaping because they are gone for a month in the summer,” explained Tschudy, by way of example. “Or they are busy with their lives. Or they are just aging into their garden – so, ergonomically speaking, they are not as active in the garden or can’t get down on their hands and knees like they used to.”
Those interested in attending the free City of Airdrie-hosted talk on xeriscaping and water-wise gardening with Joanna Tschudy can pre-register online at eventbrite.com/e/xeriscaping-and-water-wise-gardening-tickets-644016258967.
The event takes place on July 26 starting at 6 p.m. and goes until 8 p.m.
