New Land Use Suggestion - Xeriscaping

AMMilliman · 2022-11-09T01:08:26.475Z

I have a suggestion for a new Land Use category. I am mapping an arid region where xeriscaping is more common than grass areas. For example, in wetter places, grass is used on medians and landscaping so that would be an obvious use of landuse=grass. In arid regions it is more common to see a mix of succulents, shrubs, hardy annuals/perennials in these spaces than regular grass. These are not natural landscapes so natural=scrub doesn’t apply. I have included a Wikipedia picture as an example of this landscape style for reference:

image800×1067 252 KB

Fizzie41 · 2022-11-09T03:04:16.936Z

You could possibly use either Tag:leisure=garden - OpenStreetMap Wiki or Tag:natural=shrubbery - OpenStreetMap Wiki?

Kovoschiz · 2022-11-09T03:39:27.083Z

That’s not a landuse=, nor land-cover. There is irrigation= and irrigated=, so it might be eg landscaping= or gardening= =xeriscaping as the method to be a companion. But xeriscaping seems to not have an exact definition. The actual species= / genus= / taxon=, or eg irrigated=limited would be better.

AMMilliman · 2022-11-09T05:07:47.227Z

Thank you. I thought of leisure=garden as well, but I wasn’t sure if it was a good fit or not. Oftentimes they are less curated-looking than this picture, and sometimes they are on medians and other areas not accessible by pedestrians as just filler. I like natural=shrubbery a lot though, that’s definitely the closest I have seen and it could totally work, especially since there are versions where I am that utilize native plants (though clearly planted by people for use as landscaping). My only concern is that this tag is listed as “rejected (inactive)” on the Wiki. Would it be a faux pas to use it?

AMMilliman · 2022-11-09T05:17:21.112Z

Thank you for your reply. Could you point me in the right direction to find out more about landscaping=? I was having trouble finding it on the Wiki. Thank you!

Mateusz_Konieczny · 2022-11-09T06:43:12.435Z

AMMilliman:

I have included a Wikipedia picture as an example of this landscape style for reference:

this specific case is clearly a garden/greenery and should be tagged as such - maybe with extra tags indicating that it is a xeriscaped one

dieterdreist · 2022-11-09T08:44:05.000Z

These are not natural landscapes so natural=scrub doesn’t apply. I have included a Wikipedia picture as an example of this landscape style for reference:

I would go with leisure=garden and garden:style=succulent_garden (or without the _garden) and appropriate garden:type (see taginfo)

there is just one use of it, but seems a straight fit: https://taginfo.openstreetmap.org/tags/garden%3Astyle=african%3Bsucculent_garden

dieterdreist · 2022-11-09T08:46:30.000Z

it could also be tagged with man_made=flowerbed (I am refusing to use landuse for flowerbeds, but it is done)