The increasing impacts of climate change and drought have made water-efficient management of urban green spaces a critical issue in semi-arid cities. This study evaluates the water-saving potential of xeriscape landscape design principles in two major recreational areas in Ankara, T & uuml;rkiye: Bat & imath;kent and Bademlidere. In the first stage, existing planting designs were inventoried, and annual crop water consumption was calculated using the Penman-Monteith method and species-specific crop coefficients (Kc). In the second stage, xeriscape-based alternatives composed of lower-water-use species were developed and compared with the existing designs. The results showed that total annual water consumption was 90,591 m3 for Bademlidere and 185,566 m3 for Bat & imath;kent. For Bat & imath;kent, the proposed xeriscape design reduced annual demand to 82,835 m3, corresponding to a saving of 102,731 m3 (55.4%), or approximately the annual domestic water use of 600 households. Notably, clover groundcover, which is often promoted as a lawn alternative, was calculated to consume more water per square meter (1.31 m3 m-2 yr-1) than turfgrass (1.14 m3 m-2 yr-1) when a green appearance was maintained. These findings show that xeriscaping can substantially reduce irrigation demand in semi-arid urban landscapes; however, the water-saving performance of turf alternatives depends strongly on species composition, planting density, and site-specific management.