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In the heart of Albuquerque, the Rio Grande Bosque includes 4,300 acres of protected cottonwood gallery forest. It’s a great natural space to find inspiration for your own landscape. The bosque is just one of many beautiful open space areas in the greater Albuquerque...

Maybe you recently moved into a house that has never been updated — think avocado tile in the bathroom and shag carpet in the sunken living room. You look outside and the theme continues — a sea of gravel and railroad ties. As with interiors, home exterior fashions...

Growing winter veggies is a fun and valuable effort more people should experiment with in our area. In many ways, winter gardening is a lot easier than trying to garden in the summer — there are fewer pests, cooler temperatures require less watering and common winter...

If you have heard of Bermuda grass or live in one of the older areas of Albuquerque, just the name might make you flinch or grimace. The reason it gets a bad rap is because it is dormant in winter, it spreads like crazy into garden beds and can magically appear out of...

Your new xeric plants are in, and everything is looking good. What do you need to do to keep it that way? Start by looking at your irrigation controller. It may be programmed to apply water too frequently and/or for too long in order to get the plants started. If you...

As a landscape professional, one question I’ve always dreaded is, “How much should I water this tree?” Honestly, there are so many variables that giving a blanket answer is fanciful. More than likely, a part of the answer is, “More than you are now!” Trees are big...

Nationally, food waste contributes to 58% of methane fugitive emissions from landfills c/o the EPA. Composting this food waste at your home and in your community helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions while building local healthy soils. Compost is defined in the...

Nothing adds the same quality and value to a landscape as a healthy mature tree. Trees are so important to our community now and for future generations. The benefits include cooler outdoor spaces and homes, aesthetic appeal, carbon capture, stormwater mitigation, and...

Below are some great gifts for that homeowner who likes to tinker in their yard and also save water. Practical gifts are always in style! Favorite Garden Books: A local favorite author, Judith Phillips has been writing garden books for decades. The book...

Type: Deciduous Exposure: Sun/Shade Water Use: Medium Mature Size: 25’ x 25’ Description: A New Mexico native tree that grows fast, sometimes up to 4 feet a year. This deciduous tree produces brilliant red-maroon fall color. The leaves then fade to a chocolate...

The Water Authority’s xeriscape rebate program, and predecessor programs run by the city of Albuquerque, have seen about 12 million square feet of turf replaced over the past 25 or so years. Since 2009, the top five years for program participation were: This has...

Just as we take shelter when the weather turns colder, so do your plants. This time of year, plants store most of their nutrients in their roots and find shelter in the ground. We can support this transition to help plants thrive during the entire winter season. Also,...

Desert friendly xeriscapes are a great way to replace high-water-use turf grass with something beautiful, low-water-use and wildlife-friendly. Many Albuquerque area homeowners are taking their conversion projects a step further and choosing wood chip mulch over gravel...

What is urban heat? Dark surfaces like concrete, asphalt and brick absorb and retain heat from the sun. Little spaces between buildings can create heat canyons that trap this heat, forming “islands” that are warmer than rural or suburban areas. Urban heat can affect...

Trees are especially important in arid, urban environments like Albuquerque and Bernalillo County. They provide shade, mitigate urban heat, reduce greenhouse gasses and air pollution, and create wildlife habitat, among many other benefits. All trees, even...

Nothing adds the same quality and value to a landscape as a healthy mature tree. The benefits include cooler outdoor spaces, cooler homes, aesthetic appeal, carbon capture, stormwater mitigation and more. There are some key things to think about when it comes to...

If you’ve walked around your neighborhood, you’ve probably noticed cherry trees being flocked by birds and buckets of fruit with “Free Organic Apricots” signs. Yes, it’s harvest season in Albuquerque. Have you ever wondered what becomes of all that fruit? Back in...

Have you ever heard of forensic arboriculture? Probably not … but it is a thing! Figuring out why trees die can be a challenge as there are often multiple causes, and the clues may be obscured by time or a deep layer of rock mulch. If you look at enough dead and dying...

Being someone so immersed in planting design in my daily life and someone who is so plainly in love with plants, both wild and cultivated, it can be difficult to narrow my focus and play favorites. I owe this relationship with plants unequivocally to my grandmother...

Food forests and edible landscapes have been around for a very long time. They are what helped ancient humans survive and thrive. Hunter-gatherers likely did not expend precious energy by wandering aimlessly, hoping to find sustenance, but rather they were able to...

Color has a more dramatic impact in a garden if plants with strong flower colors are juxtaposed against one another. In this Kaleidoscape design by Judith Phillips, the blue-purple blooms of dwarf butterfly bush, desert sage, catmint, lavender and vitex are contrasted...

As homes around the Greater Albuquerque Area are converting their high-water-use turf grass to desert friendly xeriscapes, many are choosing to use wood chip mulch instead of gravel or other aggregate, which can be hot and allow weeds to pop up.  The Water...

The Albuquerque metro area has a wide variety of landscapes. These include desert-friendly landscapes, lush pollinator-friendly xeriscapes and wildscapes or prairie plantings where native grasses and wildflowers bring the feel of a prairie to a yard. Rain gardens are...

Albuquerque ranks third, after New Orleans and Houston, among cities with tree loss. Our trees are dying because they aren’t being watered properly or at all. How should we water established and mature trees? To address this problem a landscape architect and a...

Building a refuge for wildlife in our yards is a way to nurture habitat on a personal scale and actively care for our wild neighbors. By intentionally creating spaces we can share with other urban species, Albuquerque can be a refuge for both people and wildlife....

With so much time spent at home this year, many homeowners have taken up gardening. To encourage this trend and spread the joy that spending time in nature brings, we’ve pulled together a list of Water Authority Conservation staff’s favorite garden tools they can’t...

These free desert friendly designs were designed for the Water Authority by local landscape professionals Judith Phillips, George Radnovich and David Cristiani. These templates can serve as blueprints and thought-starters to guide residential and business property...