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The 505 Outside Blog covers topics on desert friendly landscapes practices, landscape maintenance, irrigation principles, and seasonal tips.
Colorado Blue Spruce Fat Albert, Picea pungens “Fat Albert”
Exposure: Full sun Water: Medium Height and Spread: H 50' X W 20' Blooming Season: NA Description: The Colorado Blue Spruce adjusts well to most Albuquerque soils and is a staple in numerous landscapes. It is resilient to flooding and drought as well. This tree...
What type of grass is that?
Karl Forester Grass plumes with pink Bush Muhly grass located behind it.
November is for Sheltering
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 the roots and find shelter in the ground. We can support this transition to help plants thrive during the entire winter season. Also,...
Pink Flamingo Muhly, Muhlenbergia x Pink Flamingo
Exposure: Full Sun Water: Medium Height and Spread: H 4' X W 2' Blooming Season: Fall Description: Pink Flamingo is a native grass that is heat, cold, and drought resistant. During late summer into mid-fall, wonderful soft pink airy flower spikes appear. This desert...
Don’t Jump to Conclusions when Diagnosing Tree Problems
We love our trees. Trees have a cooling effect in our yards by providing shade and they increase property value. When our trees do not “look good,” we try to help them, but when that one “magic” application does not solve the issue, we are often discouraged. A proper...
The Balancing Act of Watering Trees in the Fall and Winter
The balancing act of watering your trees in the fall and winter is important. Established trees should be watered two to three times a month in the fall season and once a month in the winter season. If not watered properly, trees that get too dry during this time can...
Reduce your watering this autumn
September days can have widely varying temperatures, with some days getting into the 90s, but we can count on nights being longer and cooler. This means that plants do not need to be watered as often. Ramping down how often you water your yard is a great way to save...
Greek Germander, Teucrium cossonii majoricum
Exposure: Full Sun Water: Medium Height and Spread: H 6” X W 18” Blooming Season: Summer Description: This drought-tolerant groundcover enjoys the heat from adjacent boulders and is wide spreading along walkways. The silver evergreen foliage is a welcome addition in...
New Rebate: WaterSense Spray Sprinkler Bodies
You probably don't pay a lot of attention to sprinkler bodies, those plastic devices that house the sprinkler's spray nozzle. Well, not until one breaks and your yard suddenly looks like the fountain at the Bellagio. But selecting the right sprinkler body can have a...
New Rebate: SWAT Pressure Regulator
Pressure regulators are another essential technology for improving the efficiency of your irrigation system. They are an integral part of keeping your system running in peak condition. Pressure regulators come in two basic styles: inline or valve fitted. An inline...
New Rebate: SWAT Flow Sensors
Irrigation systems have grown more efficient by leaps and bounds in recent years to maximize water savings. Now, many systems can even communicate with you via your smart phone or computer. There are some tried and true, if under-used, pieces of equipment you can add...
WA Customers list the “Top Reasons to Convert a Lawn to a Desert Friendly Xeriscape”
Water Authority customers have been inspired to convert their turf to sustainable, resilient xeriscapes that save water, time and money and provide habitat for wildlife and pollinators for many reasons. Below are some of our favorites: “We just didn’t see the...
New Rebate: WaterSense Smart Irrigation Controllers
Smart technology has become popular at homes and businesses because it makes some aspects of daily life easier and more efficient. WaterSense Smart Irrigation Controllers are the Water Authority conservation group’s favorite smart technology. These types of...
Irrigation Service Tip and Watering Recommendations for the Summer Season:
Service: Direction is Everything! Your irrigation system is only as good as its aim. Adjust sprinklers and emitters to make sure they are delivering water to the landscape and not onto rocks, bare earth or pavement.June is a great time to check and replace any...
Tips to Keep Mature Trees Healthy
Our urban forest (yes, the trees in your landscape are part of a forest) provides so many benefits too us – cooling, increased home values, beauty, and better mental health just to name a few. Here’s what you can do to help keep your members of our urban forest as...
How should I adjust my irrigation as my woody plants get larger?
The amount of water needed and where that water should be applied changes as woody plants (such as trees, shrubs and vines) get larger. Woody plant material has two types of roots, stabilizing roots and feeder roots. Both types of roots do just what their...
Irrigation Service Tip and Watering Recommendations for the Spring Season:
Service: April’s freeze may have damaged your irrigation system, so make sure to inspect it for leaks, or broken sprinkler heads and emitters! Watering Recommendations: Spring rains are benefitting established landscapes! Follow these watering recommendations to keep...
Three Ways to Water Established Trees
Trees are incredibly valuable and provide a wide array of benefits, from increasing home values to improving mental health. Unfortunately, Albuquerque has suffered large losses of trees in the past decade. It’s more important now than ever to take care of your...
Spring Lawn Best Practices
Do you want to walk barefoot across cool, soft grass? Especially on those hot summer days? We’d love for you to do that! We also want you to take care of your lawn in a healthy way that saves the most water. One might assume that proper lawn care begins in the spring...
Avoid water waste! Follow Time-of-Day Watering Restrictions from April 1 to Oct 31
A lot of things have changed since last spring, but at least one thing is the same: April 1 is still the date on which time-of-day watering rules go into effect for Water Authority customers in Albuquerque and Bernalillo County. That means sprinkler and spray...
Irrigation Service Tip and Watering Recommendations for the Spring Season:
As the landscape irrigation season gets under way, inspect your irrigation system for leaks and clogged, broken or missing sprinkler heads and emitters. Use a pressure gauge to verify that sprinkler heads are operating at recommended pressures, and check and clean all...
Soil Searching: To Amend or Not to Amend?
Shredded woodchip mulch helps soil hold moisture and insulates plant roots on a frosty November morning. Photo credit M. Thompson. One of the most frequent questions we get at NMSU Extension is, “Should I add fertilizer or amendments to the soil when planting?” The...
New Water Authority Rebates: Easy Ways to Boost Your Landscape Irrigation Efficiency
Having a healthy and functional (and desert friendly) landscape is about making smart horticultural and irrigation decisions. Burqueños know that water conservation is a way of life -- and an important responsibility in this beautiful high-desert region. By working...
Local educational resources are one click away
We scoured the internet, met with local experts, and pulled together a great educational resource list for you. When you’re ready to dig into all there is to know about landscaping in New Mexico, these resources are ready for you. Plants: Native Plant Society of New...
February 2020 Monthly Service Tip and Watering Recommendations
Watering Recommendations: When warmer days set in, you may be inclined to water your landscape, but this winter continues to bring much needed precipitation to meet the needs of your landscape. No need to water this month! Per our Winter Watering Recommendations, your...
2019 Annual Weather and Conservation Highlights
In the past 20 years, 14 of those years have been drier than normal, and six years wetter than normal. Temperature In 2019 New Mexico was warmer and drier than normal! 1.6 degrees above normal. This ranked in the 20th warmest on record for New Mexico. The...
Help, my trees need pruning!
The winter is best time of year to prune trees. The Water Authority recommends hiring an arborist to prune them because arborists specialize in the care of individual trees. They are knowledgeable about the needs of trees and are trained and equipped to provide...
Have trouble identifying plants? We’ve got an app for that.
Have you ever wished you could just take a picture of a plant and have the internet identify it for you? Turns out, there are a lot of digital options to help with the identification of plants. We’ve reviewed the best resources so you don’t have to. PLANT APPS:...
January 2020 Monthly Service Tip and Watering Recommendations
TREES: It’s officially winter and cold weather will be here for a while. January’s service tip is to take a moment to inspect the trees on your property to see how they are doing. Walk outside and take a good look at your tree, starting with where the tree enters the...
Our Favorite Evergreens
When we think of the word evergreen, many of us think about pine trees, cedars and junipers. However, an evergreen is simply any plant that remains green all year long. These plants are welcome fixtures in our winter landscapes, too. 505Outside highlights these...
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Water Conservation Program
P.O. Box 568
Albuquerque, NM 87103-0568
505-842-WATR Option 4
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P.O. Box 568
Albuquerque, NM 87103-0568
505-842-WATR