City Hall Xeriscaping

City Hall Xeriscaping Project

The sod and basic landscaping at city hall has been torn out and replaced with "Xeriscape," a term coined by the Denver Water Department in 1981 meaning dry landscape. "Xeros" is a Greek word meaning "dry."  Xeriscape landscaping is also known as "water-wise," "water-smart," "low-water" and "natural landscaping.  

It requires drought-tolerant, native plants that have adapted to Indiana's hot, cold, wet and dry weather.  Compost and mulch were also added to ammend the high clay soil and help water absorb and perculate back to the water table.

Native plants drastically reduce the need for irrigation, fertilizer and pesticides, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Less irrigation results in less runoff, while less chemical applications keep runoff clean while reducing the amount of polluted runoff entering the White River and its tributaries.

Several thousand natvie plants were installed at city hall, including maple and redbud trees, coneflowers, black-eyed Susans, daylilies, and prairie grasses like little bluestem and prairie dropseed.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, 7.8 billion gallons of the water consumed daily in the United States is devoted to outdoor use -- the majority of it for landscaping.