XERISCAPE ANALYSIS: A CASE STUDY IN A RESIDENTIAL GARDEN IN ISTANBUL

Abstract

Climate change, the most important problem of the times, threatens humanity. The factors such as increasing world populations, urbanisation, technological developments and economic growth have reached to a dangerous point for both the ecological balance and the water resources. In this context, it is revealed how important the necessity of developing new landscaping methods in which the water is effectively used in outdoor landscape areas in the cities. The arid landscape (Xeriscape), has become an important application issue in today's conditions. The main aim of the xeriscape landscape design approach is to protect water resources by minimising the use of water. Current conditions, in which water is so important, the right landscape design and applications begin with a well-done survey analysis which consist of natural and cultural data. A residential garden in Beykoz, Istanbul, has been chosen as a study area. It has been examined the extent of the effective use of water in the landscape application of the home garden based on survey, water use zones, mulch use, grass area detection, drought tolerance of plant species, water consumption amount. In the study, suggestions have been brought forward for efficient use of water especially in residential gardens, in terms of contributing to further studies.