Keeping a beautiful and well-maintained yard doesn’t require a lot of money, time or water if you plan ahead.

That’s what Aimee Mize Slovisky will teach in her free Thursday afternoon xeriscapes workshop, organized by Cumming Utilities.

"Xeriscapes is basically a fancy word for drought-tolerant landscaping," said Mize Slovisky, who works as a landscape designer and installer with Landscape Specialty & Production.

"It’s really simplifying your landscape so you’re having to use much less water and having not to use as much time in maintaining."

Mize Slovisky plans to share her seven-step plan for the landscape style, from design and plant selection to mulching and maintenance.

Her company often receives requests for easy care and low-water planting, so Mize Slovisky said she’s become well-versed in xeriscaping.

Plants native to the area, for example, can often fit the bill for tolerating the natural rain totals.

Aside from folks’ interest in lowering work time and water bills, she said area residents also know the importance of water conservation.

"If you’ve lived in Georgia in the past five years, you know you want drought-tolerant plants," she said. "It’s all about water waste. We waste so much water here in the summer landscaping here."

More plants die from overwatering than underwatering, said Mize Slovisky, adding that irrigation systems don’t need to be run so often.

The Cumming utilities department hoped to offer a class on the subject to teach people about the water conservation aspect, said director Jon Heard.

"In the past few years, we’ve come to understand that the water supply in North Georgia region and Atlanta region is limited and we’ve got to manage it properly," Heard said.

Outdoor watering typically is the biggest contributor to a spike in water demand during the summer, he said.

The city hoped to present the workshop as a way to educate people on the efficient landscaping style and contacted Mize Slovisky.

"We’re pleased and excited to be able to present a class like this to the public," Heard said. "Hopefully, it will be beneficial to our customers and our area."