Xeriscape

Reader's　Digest 3/4月合併号の記事 "LAWN GONE" (サブタイトル Everyone Loves Their Yard...Except Mother Nature) からの引用です。

Try a really alterntive ground cover: rock.
Xeriscaping is a fancy word for a yard that needs little to no water to stay alive. These are popular in desert areas but can be made elsewhere. They often include a mix of drought tolerant plants like cactuses, agave and bright yellow rabbitbush, plus rocks, gravel and mulch.

「隣の芝生は青い」と言うのは米国ならではの表現で、米国では個人の庭でも公共施設の周りでも芝生は綺麗に整備されています。ところが最近、この芝生が水やガソリン（米国では個人の庭も機械の芝刈りを使う）等の資源の無駄、又自然な植物を疎外しているなどとして、芝生を止めようと主張している記事でした。昔米国に駐在していた時に、羨ましい（庭の芝と言うよりグラウンドなどの芝生）気がしていたので、大変意外な運動です。　しかし記事を読むと、最もな考えだとも思いました。
"xeriscaping" の説明（原形の "xeriscape"）を辞書で調べます。

・Collins Dictionary: a landscaping method designed to conserve water in arid regions by using plants that require little water and by employing efficient irrigation techniques: xeriscape means to place all plants with the same water needs together, emphasizing drought-tolerant plants.
・Wikionary: A kind of landscape design for arid regions, minimising the need for irrigation.: The blade-like leaves add variety to a cactus or xeriscape garden.
・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: a landscaping method developed especially for arid and semiarid climates that utilizes water-conserving techniques (such as the use of drought-tolerant plants, mulch, and efficient irrigation)
Xēros is the Greek word for "dry" that is the base for a handful of English words related to mainly dry printing (xerography) and dry, or xerophilous, habitats and their plants. In the early 1980s, the Greek adjective was used to name a type of landscaping practiced primarily in the arid western regions of the United States.

乾式複写機で有名なゼロックスと共通な語源だと知ると覚えやすいですね。