26 Drought-Tolerant Landscaping Ideas

Whether you’re dealing with water restrictions or lack of rain, it’s still possible to create the yard of your dreams with drought-resistant landscaping techniques. You can craft inexpensive drought-tolerant landscaping using simple methods that aren’t tough to implement or adopt practices that demand a little more time and effort.

This pretty front yard fits into the inexpensive drought-tolerant landscaping category. A planting bed brims with colorful, low-water-use plants including perennial Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia ‘Denim ‘n Lace’) and annual zinnias. Both of these bloomers boast drought and heat tolerance and stage a stunning show even when the rain gauge is on the low side. Keep reading for more drought-tolerant landscaping ideas.

This drought-tolerant front yard gushes with cottage garden charm thanks to lush, low-water plantings that include shrub and climbing roses, pink alstroemeria and Mexican bush sage. The space trades thirsty turf for a stone patio, which allows precious rainfall to seep into cracks between stones to irrigate the landscape. Bright Adirondack chairs add another splash of steady color to the drought-tolerant front yard.

Water-permeable surfaces like gravel and stepping stone paths are key hardscape components of drought-tolerant landscaping, allowing rain or irrigation to reach the soil. Gravel is a common mulch in a xeriscape, which is a type of low-maintenance drought-tolerant landscaping that survives on rainfall, even in arid regions. These plantings include cactus, Mediterranean native plants and succulents like agave that thrive with little rainfall.

A combination of succulents, ground cover, asparagus fern and ornamental grasses fill this drought-tolerant garden with shades of silver and green. Stepping stones form a water-permeable path, and a ground cover helps cool soil by slowing water evaporation from the soil surface. A birdbath with a fountain adds the sound of trickling water, beckoning birds for a sip and dip.