| Water shortages in dry climates are forcing home | | | | Water conserving plants of prostrate habit can form |
| gardeners and professional landscapers to reduce the | | | | a transition area between the lawn and the shrub |
| area of the garden taken up by the lawn. The | | | | border. These can create a satisfying link to the |
| trouble is that nothing that can replace a lawn in the | | | | trees and shrubs, especially if their leaf texture is |
| field in which a lawn works. Young children cannot | | | | similar to that of the tall plants. For example, |
| play as safely on hard paving, you can't really play | | | | Asparagus densiflorus "Sprengerii", associates |
| soccer on wooden decking, and it's hardly practical to | | | | beautifully with Junipers, Melaleucas, and other |
| lie down on a bed of ground cover plants, as one | | | | thin-leaved bushes. Low-growing species of |
| would on grass. | | | | Cotoneaster combine well with roses and other |
| Yet a garden whose area is 90% grass, is as unviable | | | | shrubs and trees from the rose family, such as apple, |
| as it is unsustainable in dry and semi arid regions such | | | | plum, hawthorn, and pyrocantha. Transition areas of |
| as the Mediterranean, much of the American west, | | | | ground covers could reduce lawn space by over |
| Australia, South Africa, and the Middle East. The only | | | | 20%. |
| way forward is to rethink the garden's design | | | | Adding Seating Areas |
| concept, by moving away from large open spaces, | | | | Adding a seating area of decorative paving stones or |
| to smaller, more intimate ones. Here are some means | | | | wood decking brings different parts of the garden |
| by which the problem can be approached. | | | | together, and makes for a more interesting and |
| Enlarging the Shrubberies | | | | usable space, than the patio, lawn, border formula of |
| The width of the shrub and bush border can be | | | | the common suburban plot. A seating or paved area |
| enlarged at the expense of the lawn. The usual habit | | | | is of course a space that consumes no water. |
| of planting shrubs in a thin line at the lawn's edge, | | | | What about Artificial Grass? |
| results in a lack of proportion between the two | | | | Simply replacing the lawn with fake grass, however |
| spaces. A wider border on the other hand, creates | | | | convincing the new products are in visual terms, is |
| more depth and perspective. Most shrubs can be | | | | not likely to achieve satisfying results in the long |
| grown consuming at least a quarter of the water | | | | term, mainly because plastic cannot replace either the |
| required by grass, and some plants such as Junipers, | | | | smell or touch of grass. However, artificial turf could |
| Leucophylum, or Pistachio, on a lot less. Think of the | | | | be a satisfactory medium in a highly stylized, |
| saving when the 50cm strip at the lawn's edge is | | | | contemporary, garden design, which is minimalistic, |
| replaced with a bold space some 2 meters wide. | | | | austere, and angular in character. |
| Designing with Ground Cover Plants | | | | |