Low-Maintenance Is Not No-Maintenance
The seventh principle — maintain appropriately — is where most xeriscape reputations are made or lost. Clients are sold 'low maintenance' and sometimes hear 'zero maintenance.' Your job is to reset that expectation in writing and then deliver a maintenance program that keeps the landscape healthy, water-efficient, and looking intentional. A neglected xeriscape does not die gracefully; it fills with weeds and looks abandoned, and that is the reference photo a bad review is built on.
A well-designed xeriscape typically needs far less labor and water than a conventional lawn, but the work is different: seasonal, not weekly.
