I have talked about my xeric garden which runs along the south side of my house right next to the foundation, but I have not told you about my xeric garden along the back of the fence facing our alley. My hose barely reaches back there, so I was required to plant only those perennials which needed very little water.
The first thing we did was to have this strip dug out (it was all gravel, clay and asphalt) and filled with good soil which was then topped with a heavy river rock that would not wash into the alley in heavy rains.
,Along the back I put in Panicum 'Northwind' a tall upright blue-green grass that turns tan in the fall and stays standing until the most heavy snows. I also used some Sedum 'Autumn Fire' which stays more upright in the winter than Autumn Joy. Interspersed throughout this thirty foot plus strip is Nepeta 'Walker's Low', Agastache 'Rosita', Agastache ' Blue Fortune', Centhantrus Ruber Alba 'White', and Sedum 'Vera Jameson'. These perennials are all xeric (requiring very little water) http://www.highcountrygardens.com/
It was a challenge planting these among river rock, but mulch would not work in this area because of the water flow, it would wash down the alley. A few other neighbors have begun to beautify the back of their homes in the same way. We now get some walkers down our paved alley to look at the garden. I live in the suburbs but the lot is very citified.
