According to Wikipedia, Xeriscaping “refers to landscaping and gardening in ways that reduce or eliminate the need for supplemental water from irrigation. It is promoted in regions that do not have easily accessible, plentiful, or reliable supplies of fresh water, and is gaining acceptance in other areas as climate patterns shift.”
Xeri, comes from the Greek “xeros,” meaning dry, and “scape,” is a kind of view or scene. When you put the two words together you have a landscape with slow-growing, drought-tolerant plants to conserve water and establish a waste-efficient landscape. Xeriscaping will also reduce the high cost of your water bills and comes in very handy during the drought periods we sometimes have in Florida.
For an in-depth explanation with lots of suggestions for choosing plants please click on the following link – xeriscaping. This link will bring you to the IFAS website, which looks like a newsletter. There is a plethora of helpful information other than gardening and landscaping. For example, you can find helpful information on energy, water conservation, waste management, wildlife, natural history, food and other local information.
There is a home on NW 8th Avenue in Gainesville that makes use of one aspect of xeriscaping. All the plants have been strategically planted so that the water runoff on the property goes to these plants. It is truly a zero maintenance yard in spite of the variety of plants growing there.This home sits next to Rattlesnake creek and boasts a magnificent variety of trees such as:
- Japanese persimmon
- grapefruit
- Orange
- Satsuma tangerine
- an avocado tree from Mexico and
- Three varieties of olive trees
- green olive
- black olive
- brown olive
- a Hong Kong Orchid tree and/or Mountain Ebony
- camellias
- two kinds of Bougainville’s
- Paw Paw trees, and of course
- Saw Palmettos
If having all this fruit isn’t enough, the home itself is an architects’ delight with 2 story soaring windows in the family room, an updated kitchen, a mother-in-law suite, a loft overlooking the pool area and a free form salt water pool.
There is a ravine along the back portion of the property, where rattlesnake creek runs, which has a cross-country trail system running through it. This ravine sustains the life of, and breeding habits of, 60 of the 65 varieties of dragon flies found in Florida.
This home has over 3000 square feet of heated and cooled living space and is located only 8 blocks from the University of Florida in Gainesville. This is not only a great home, but you can purchase it at the great price of only $219,000.00. This is a pre-approved short sale and the home will not last long on the market. For more information about this great home, please click on the following link: MLS# 329532.
Regarding the slide show below, the smaller pictures are of the home cleaned up when someone who cared about the property was living there. The larger pictures are of the home in its current condition. It can very easily be restored to the way it used to look – all it needs is some elbow grease and trimming of the yard. If you would like to take a tour of this property, please call for an appointment at the numbers below.
Jocelyne Grandjean-Brown
CDPE Trained
RE/MAX Professionals
Gainesville, FL 32606
Office: 352-375-1002
Cell: 352-870-9929
Mme Jocelyne 