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September 19, 2025

Move over, green lawns. Drier, warmer climate boosts interest in low-water landscaping

  • Prolonged drought in Western states has challenged ideas about the “ideal” outdoor aesthetic.
    • By CALEIGH WELLS and BRITTANY PETERSON
    Associated Press

    iStock image [enlarge]
    Xeriscaping — from the Greek “xeros,” meaning dry — involves using native or drought-tolerant plants to reduce the need for irrigation.

    LITTLETON, Colo. — When Lena Astilli first bought her home outside of Denver, she had no interest in matching the wall-to-wall green lawns that dominated her block. She wanted native plants — the kind she remembered and loved as a child in New Mexico, that require far less water and have far more to offer insects and birds that are in decline.


     
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