Native Ornamental Species for Urban Landscaping and Xero-Gardening in Semi-Arid Environments

Vegetation is the most important component of any landscape project. Sustainability, biodiversity and low maintenance are the main issues underlying the current trends in landscape designing. In addition, native species are of great interest because of their ability to adapt to abiotic stresses (heat, drought and salinity). The Region of Murcia (SE Spain) is a territory of a great floristic diversity, most of them with ornamental and ecological features of great interest for landscaping and xero-gardening. The purpose of this project is to develop a guide of use of native species with ornamental value for landscaping and xero-gardening in semi-arid regions via web. The web contains information about ecology, nursery production methods and xero-gardening and landscape uses of a wide range of Mediterranean native species, including trees, palms, shrubs and herbaceous perennials. The data is available to the general public and to the professional sector and is expected to be increased on line with the professional sector needs. The home page explains the site map, the involved partners the species forms, links to related websites and scientific references that support all the information contained in the web. The web-guide will be updated with a powerful search engine that provides real-time data and advice in selecting the most appropriate to each type of project and landscape design. The web-guide address is www.floramu.com.