The Goreski Garden

Wayne Goreski retired to Kelowna from Ontario. Initially he had plans to take out the lawn in his small front yard and “xeriscape” it by laying down landscape fabric, covering it with rocks and adding a few plants.

After attending an OXA “Introduction to Xeriscape” class, Wayne modified his approach and he sent a series of before, during, and after photo story of his project with these comments:

“Here are a few pictures of my spring xeriscape project. I am so pleased with how it turned out and have received many compliments. I followed your guidance: no stones – except for the walkway, no filter cloth, and used drip irrigation. I mixed some native and non-native plants for summer colour – and voila – all done! I have lots of bees and butterflies. It sure makes grass look boring.”

Preparing the ground and digging out an old tree

Spreading the new topsoil

“I had a great time doing the whole project myself. The full cost was $1947 including soil, plants, mulch, flagstones, and drip irrigation.” “I used your plant database on the OXA website to select the plants. Some of the plants I used are: Diabolo Ninebark, Coreopsis, Liatrus, Gaillardia, Yarrow, Echinacea, Russian Sage, Rudbeckia, Shasta Daisy, Hen & Chicks, Mosquito Grass (Blue Grama), Blue Oat Grass, Elijah Blue Fescue, and Feather Reed Grass.”

Photo credits– Wayne Goreski