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Desert Library Landscape Evolves into Xeriscape Botanical Garden02-12-09 | News

Desert Library Landscape Evolves into Xeriscape Botanical Garden

There are over 1,000 plants in the Glendale Xeriscape Botanical Garden. The weeping acacia (Acacia pendula), an Australian native, usually develops into a small evergreen tree with a rounded crown and pendulous branches. Lemon-yellow puffball flowers appear from April to May. It is a slow to moderate grower in the Phoenix area, although it may eventually grow 40-ft. tall and 25-ft. wide.

Yucca grandiflora-Sahuiliqui is native in Sonora, Mexico and rare in cultivation. This is a tree-like species growing up to 20-ft. with only a few branches. The leaves are nearly three feet long and the flower stalk holds creamy-white flowers.

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When the Glendale, Ariz. Main Library opened in 1987, it was landscaped in keeping with the trend at the time?EUR??,,????'?????<

In 1990, David Schultz, a water conservation coordinator, pictured a small xeriscape demonstration garden for the library. The city?EUR??,,????'?????<

In 1994, Richard Bond, then a botany major at Arizona State University, was hired to design and construct a cacti garden at the library. This 1,300 sq. ft. garden includes over 250 different cacti and succulents and incorporates winding paths and partially embedded boulders in place of some turf areas.

In 1997, the city and Glendale Community College cooperated to install a 16,000 sq. ft. xeriscape extension planned by landscape designer Carrie Nimmer. The garden contains 150 edible and medicinal plants native to the Southwest and replaced a grass area on the south side of the library.

There are now about 1,000 plants in the Glendale Xeriscape Botanical Garden, representing over 400 species of desert-adapted native and nonnative plants. About half of the turf areas are now gone and garden signage identifies many of the plants. The garden is considered one of the best demonstration gardens in the state. The garden is open to the public every day of the year and there?EUR??,,????'?????<

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