Sonoran Gardens Featured in Arizona Daily Star Article on Xeriscaping

Sonoran Gardens owner Chris Niccum was featured in an Arizona Daily Star article this past Sunday, January 17th. The article written by Elena Acoba titled “Xeriscape means dry, not dull” is on the subject of Xeriscaping and its importance.

With the help of designer Shelly Ann Abbott of Landscape Design West LLC, Sonoran Gardens won the 2014 Xeriscape Award this past November from the Arizona Landscape Contractors’ Association for their design of Tucson homeowners Betty & Jerry Eckert’s garden landscape.

Chris mentioned in the article that he hopes “the attention the award brings will help people better understand xeriscaping.” People still imagine that the term means “zero-scape,” essentially a dull, stark view of some rocks and cactus. “Xeriscape came up as a water-saving principle,” says Niccum. “I believe it has developed into a landscaping style.”

Shelly Abbott agrees that “xeriscape isn’t merely bringing the desert into the backyard,” but a “dialog between the desert garden” and the garden beyond the back wall. The Eckert’s garden is a “kicked up version of what’s out there.”

Click here to read the full Arizona Daily Star article “Xeriscape means dry, not dull”