Xeriscape for Urban Water Security: A Preliminary Study from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Date
2011
Authors
Smith, Brittany
Patrick, Robert J.
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JSTOR
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Abstract
Xeriscape is a contemporary landscape maintenance term coined from the Greek xeros, meaning dry, and scape, from the Anglo-Saxon term schap, meaning view. The practice of xeriscape encompasses many landscape styles and materials to produce everything from lush gardens to desert-like landscapes. The purpose of xeriscape is to achieve low garden maintenance measured by less watering, less fertilizer and pesticides, less weeding and less mowing. The defining feature of xeriscape is how water is used with the goal of water efficiency through practices such as mulching, appropriate plant selection and landscape design. As urban regions in Canada look to enhance future water security what opportunities might there be in landscape conversions from mono-culture grass lawns to xeriscape? Using case study research in a Canadian prairie-region city, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, this research explores household motivation for xeriscape gardening. Through identification of household motivation for xeriscape, urban policy makers will be better able to design programs and incentives aimed at enhancing water security. The results of this research show that households with xeriscape landscaping were motivated mainly by factors related to landscape aesthetic and physical activity rather than water conservation.
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Copyright © 2011 by the Institute of Urban Studies
All rights of reproduction in any form reserved.
Keywords
xeriscape, urban water, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Citation
Smith, B., & Patrick, R. J. (2011). Xeriscape for Urban Water Security: A Preliminary Study from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Canadian Journal of Urban Research, 20(2), 56–70. http://www.jstor.org/stable/26193869
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Citation
Smith, B., & Patrick, R. J. (2011). Xeriscape for Urban Water Security: A Preliminary Study from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Canadian Journal of Urban Research, 20(2), 56–70. http://www.jstor.org/stable/26193869