OakCreek Xeriscape Final Report - Laserfiche WebLink

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. The junipers are often mistakenly called cedars; we do not have cedars in our area. It is easy to list the scrub oak. It is not easy to actually have a scrub oak. For all practical purposes they do not transplant after they have reached a size suitable for landscape use. About the only solution is to make them a school or class project to grCM them fran acorns. (Be neat to see the scrub oak you planted twenty-five years later.) * The Douglas Fir presents a problem. Although it is found in the foothills zone, we are probabaly belCM its natural range. A cooler, rroister and less exposed location would be a rrore suitable micr<rclimate. So the dilemna. It is an important plant in the ecosystem but not particularly adapted to this specific location. By the way, it is not a fir at all - hence the "Pseudo" in the botanical name. So it is necessary to abbreviate further listings of plants. Henceforth only the CCXTlT'On ncure will be listed, with the understanding that each plant will require a listing of the proper botanical name and a description of its place and irnp::lrtance in the ecosystem. . Native plants that might be found in slightly rrore favorable locations include the sand cheny, the =n and mlaIf ninebark, potentilla, cutleaf, srrooth and staghorn sumac, and creeping grape holly. In canon or riparian locations, may be found the alpine and golden currant, coralberry, servicebeny, snowberry, chokecherry, kinikinnik, native plum, shrub and native roses and the hackberry. This is not intended to be an exhaustive listing of all plants, but rather a listing of low water use plants that are suitable for Xeriscape use. Introduced plants or native plants from slightly different ecosystems include the Russian olive, Austrian and Mugo pines, peashrubs, new Mexico privet, nankin cherry, lilacs, cotoneaster~d blue mist spirea. Useful and adapted trees include the hackberry, green ash and sane of the hawthorns. The wild life plantings in the water harvest area can be developed from the above listings with the possible addition of sane willCMs. In the past low cost plant material has been available from the Soil Conservation Service; infonnation on their program is enclosed. . As stated earlier, the short grass prairie is the dcminant life form on the high plains. Blue grama grass predaninates, with occasional inclusions of Buffalo grass and we~te...rn wheatgrass in swales with heavier soils and increased water availabilty fran drainage. Closer to the foothills taller, bunch-type grasses such as big and little.bluestem, switchgrass, Indiangrass and prairie sandreed are seen. In view of their irnp::lrtance to the ecosystem it is suggested that grasses have praninent place in the landscape, with a 'lawn' area of blue grarma, a lesser area devoted to Buffalograss and the other grasses used as decorative or accent plants. &HIl\RY: Have a plan. Do the native indigenous area adjacent to the existing Ponderosa pines first. The plant list for that area is sufficient. The analenmatic stmdial. offers an opportunity to present a little known aspect of natural history. It can be done.