Xeriscaping is the art of creating a landscape that live in harmony with a surrounding dry environment rather than in spite of it. Many times when someone first discovers the idea of xericaping, they think that a xeriscape should have vast amount of gravel incorporated into it. This is just not true. Xeriscaping is meant to help a homeowner work with existing native plant to create a landscape, not remove plants completely from the picture.

There are many reasons why large amounts of gravel are not an ideal addition to a xeriscaped yard. The first is that gravel tends to reflect rather than absorb the heat in these areas. The reflected heat will add stress to the plants that are planted in the graveled area.

The second reason is that gravel may harm your xeriscape is that it may work its way into the soil. A gravel heavy soil can harm future plantings and make it difficult of you, the homeowner, to add to your landscape in the future. The only option you have to prevent the gravel from working into the ground is an undercovering of some kind, such as plastic. The undercovering will in turn keep water and nutrients from getting into the soil. This will also harm your landscape plantings.

Another reason not to use large amounts of gravel in a xeriscaped landscape is that what heat is not reflected from the surface of the gravel will be absorbed by the gravel and will be released long after the sun has gone down. This will have the effect of continually baking the roots of any plants that are planted in the gravel areas.

In xeriscaping, you have alternatives to gravel though. One of those alternatives is to just use traditional organic mulches, such as wood mulch. Organic mulches will asorb the heat and safely pass it through to the underlying soil. This will have the overall effect of keeping the soil temperature at a constant, cooler level. Also, the organic mulch will eventually break down and add to the nutrients of the soil, while still allowing water and other nutrients to find their way into the soil.

Another alternative is to use a drought tolerant groundcover, such as Turkish veronica or creeping thyme. These groundcovers will help keep moisture in the soil while suppressing weeds. They also add a nice green backdrop to surrounding plants.

So, you see, despite the idea that gravel is a part of the xeriscaping landscape, the uses of it can be more harmful than helpful. You are far better off using some other alternative of mulching in your xeriscaped landscape.