In the beginning, or rather until 300 years ago, Colorado’s high plains wore a mantle of grasses and flowers adapted to a climate of extremes. In winter, temperatures dipped to minus 15 degrees one day and soared to 65 the next. Summer temperatures reached 100 for days on end, baking moisture from the soil.
Any humidity that survived the heat and constant sun would be sucked away by the prairie winds. When the extremes were unbearable, native plants went dormant, waiting for a hospitable mix of temperature, sunlight and moisture. And when that happened, in the spring of wet years, the prairie would wake, stretch and bloom, producing a bounty of forage, flowers, fruits and grasses.
Europeans settled on the Colorado plains about 300 years ago. They liked it, but wanted something different.
They wanted lush landscapes remembered from the East Coast and Europe. To create those landscapes they had to irrigate from remote, trickling rivers and drill down to shallow aquifers.
It worked for some generations. Towns bloomed, green from spring to fall, with strange, exotic plants. Time passed; alien landscapes around homes and businesses struggled to survive, taking huge shares of a scarce resource. Something had to be done. The answer was to learn from the plains.
Thus Xeriscape was born 25 years ago. It is landscaping that merges with the prairie. It thrives in meager soil, anticipates swings in weather and uses water wisely.
For 25 years, natural beauty has slowly returned to the cities on the plain. The Xeriscape generation is growing.
During the next 12 weeks, Denver Water offers a series of articles to introduce Xeriscaping to those who still have misconceptions about the practice.
Xeriscape, landscaping for the high plains, is a key to our wise water use for the next 25 years. And it can be beautiful when properly planned and planted.
