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 and landscaping styles change over time. We once thought of gravel as low maintenance and tidy, but now are finding out isn’t the best choice as far as sustainability and community health. Thankfully, through the efforts of local designers, tree experts and Water Authority resources, there is a sea change in understanding the problems that gravel, weed fabric and plastic sheeting can cause in our neighborhoods.
Gravel soaks up heat and radiates it back into the neighborhood, warming up the city. We’ve also found out that gravel and weed fabric don’t discourage weeds, instead their seeds and dust settle on top, sprouting in no time. This leaves few options other than using herbicides, because pulling them can be difficult once they’re rooted in the weed fabric, and using a hoe is difficult in gravel larger than crusher fines. Additionally, tree and plant roots need two things: water and oxygen, neither of which permeate through old weed fabric clogged with silt. Wanting to install some flowering xeric plants near your new front door? That’s going to be a challenge — moving the rock out of the way, cutting the weed fabric and finding a way to install drip irrigation under the existing weed fabric and rock. Perhaps you’d like to invite pollinators to your new yard? Well, our native (and solitary) ground nesting bees won’t find a home in your yard because they can’t burrow through the weed fabric or rock to nest in the soil.
But all hope is not lost. Whether you’re aiming to remove all the gravel, just take out some around existing trees to improve their health or make your outdoor living space cooler and be sure water is soaking though the old weed fabric (or worse, plastic), there is help.
If you have a limited budget and time but want to do some good, use a piece of rebar to poke holes in the weed fabric around your existing plants. This will ensure they can use some of our precious rainfall and allow for oxygen exchange.
Have an existing tree that’s suffocating in heat absorbing rock? Time to grab the wheelbarrow and a shovel. If you’re removing small sections at a time, start with areas with the dripline of the tree. Here is where weed fabric is actually useful: In good condition it can make the gravel removal easier. Lift up the fabric carefully, using it to form the rock into piles that can be scooped up more easily. A square end shovel can be useful here because it’s less likely to rip the fabric underneath as you work. If you need to remove large rock like cobble, I recommend sitting on a protective pad and doing it by hand. Have a 5-gallon bucket or wheelbarrow right next to you to put it in. Some homeowners construct a basic wooden frame out of two-by-fours and wire mesh to make a screen to separate the gravel from dirt. Size it to fit over your wheelbarrow so you can transport the dirt more easily.
Albuquerque’s three convenience centers accept about two wheelbarrows full of rock (or dirt and concrete). Be sure not to take too much because you may be turned away. For larger amounts, you can try the Sandoval County Landfill in Rio Rancho or Southwest Landfill on Albuquerque’s southwest mesa; be sure to call first to confirm they will accept it. Alternatively, many homeowners are looking for gravel for erosion control under downspouts so try placing a FREE add on Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace or Nextdoor. It will most likely get picked up in no time.
Now if your whole yard is full of gravel, you’ll probably need to call in someone who is better equipped, someone with a skid steer (Bobcat). Front yards are easier, but backyards can usually be done with a smaller machine if access is limited.
The obvious question to follow is, what’s next? We recommend wood chips spread to a depth of 4 inches. This mulch (without weed fabric) helps improve the soil over time and allows the tree and plant roots to breath. It also cools the environment a few degrees compared to rock. Several suppliers in the Albuquerque area sell mulch, and they all deliver. They’ll be happy to tell you how much you need if you know the dimensions. Additionally, several places offer free or discounted mulch. Call up large tree removal companies and see if they have any or head to the East Mountain Transfer Station in Tijeras and pick up a cubic yard for $5. There is also a great website called ChipDrop that connects tree service companies with homeowners who want mulch — you may have to wait a while for the stars to align but it’s totally free.
If you’d like to speak with our experts for more tips on removing gravel and having a healthy desert-friendly yard, reach out to us at AskanExpert@abcwua.org
As in most fields, change is slow. Older ways of thinking permeate the landscape industry, but some steps in the right direction (like wood chips instead of gravel) can make a difference over time.
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 a dirt mess after monsoon season.
You may be surprised to hear that some of us actually like Bermuda grass lawns. In fact, I’ve even planted the grass in my backyard. I’ll take you through the pros and cons and why I’ve come to love the Bermuda grass lawn. It can be the right plant for the right space to fill the right need.
Many homeowners would like turfgrass but feel irresponsible watering a lawn in the arid Southwest. The key to choosing a turfgrass is to determine the one most suited to the specific needs of your landscape The Water Authority is not anti-lawn that is efficiently irrigated and physically used and enjoyed. Bermuda grass cultivars are one means of having a traffic/play/dog tolerant surface that uses half the amount of water of a traditional cool season lawn
According to the “turf research lab” at New Mexico State University (NMSU), “Certain turf characteristics, such as climate adaptation, water use, traffic tolerance, color, quality, maintenance requirements, and available resources, are all factors that need to be considered when selecting a turf species. Climatic adaptation and traffic tolerance, which largely determine the future use of the turf area, are the two most important factors. Many problems encountered in maintaining turfs can be attributed directly to selecting the wrong turfgrasses for Albuquerque’s difficult growing conditions and to the lack of resources, especially water, that homeowners and professional turf growers face in the state.” This means that understanding how much traffic (kids and dogs playing) and our very dry local climate are how we should be selecting turf grass species not what the big box store happens to have in stock.
There are two different categories of turfgrasses: cool season and warm season. Common Cool season grasses are Kentucky Bluegrass, Perennial Ryegrass and Tall Fescue. These are cold tolerant, green most of the year and hold up to extensive foot traffic. But they use a lot of water, up to 50” a year If efficiently irrigated. The water authority frequently has many customers (especially commercial customers) that water grass 80-100” per year! in a town that only gets an average 8” of precipitation. Common warm season grasses are Bermuda grass, Blue Grama and Buffalo Grass. Warm season grasses have a shorter growing season. This means they green up in mid spring, are low maintenance and require less water than cool season grasses. But blue grama and buffalo grass can’t take extensive foot and paw traffic plus they go dormant in the winter.
In my case, I had an existing native buffalo and blue grama grass lawn. It had always been perfect for our home. It’s native, low water use, easy to maintain and beautiful to look at. Fast forward to three kids and two dogs later. I was noticing wear and tear in certain areas of my lawn from two large dogs leaving run paths and kids playing soccer. I’m a professional landscape architect and knew Bermuda grass is a prolific spreader but in this case, I was actually looking for a grass to take over and fill in around the heavily accessed places in my yard. I found a species that could meet both my needs called Cynodon hybrida Dog Tuff ™ Grass Plugs, originally from High Country Gardens. There are many cultivars available check out the many options researched by NMSU. It is a Bermuda grass hybrid perfect for high traffic and play areas. It has excellent durability in yards with dogs. Once established, it is highly weed resistant, deep rooted and provides a soft, cushioned feel for bare feet.
The grass itself “produces an extensive system of creeping rhizomes and stolons commonly called runner roots that often have a scaly appearance. It also produces fibrous roots at the stem nodes. Bermuda grass reproduces through seed and vegetatively through rhizomes and stolons,” according to NMSU, allowing it to spread with just a little bit of water, around 20” a year. I find that it rarely needs mowing because of the traffic we give it. I mow it about twice a summer to the highest setting my mower goes around 4”.
Bermuda grass plugs.
The data on this grass comes from NMSU, which has turf study sites in Las Cruces and Farmington. A few key points from their study sites mentions that “Bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon) is similar to Kentucky bluegrass in its tolerance to traffic and turfgrass recuperative capabilities after stress or damage, but it appeared to be more aggressive than Kentucky bluegrass during hot weather in mid-summer.” NMSU evaluated five different varieties of bermudagrass, Guymon, Riviera, Wrangler, and Yukon, at both their northern NM and southern NM sites. “Riviera was given higher quality ratings than the other varieties due to finer leaf blades. Being a warm-season grass, the bermudagrasses required less irrigation to exhibit a quality comparable to the cool-season grasses.”
The shocking reason homeowners don’t like Bermuda grass is that it can become a troublesome weed, especially in southern NM, so it is wise to separate this grass from garden areas with a dry, unirrigated buffer strip, concrete mow strip at least 8”x 8” or other barrier. I like to design a concrete walk, patio or edger around these grass areas.
Grass lawn framed by concrete walk.
When placed strategically in a landscape this water friendly, high traffic, low mow grass is a winner in my book.
Author: Jill Brown, ASLA Landscape Architect and owner of My Landscape Coach in Albuquerque. Even more resources about turfgrasses can be found over at NMSU, one of our nations top university turfgrass science programs. Have a question about the article? AskAnExpert@abcwua.org
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 hired a contractor, they may have set the controller to water every day because it’s easier than getting a call about a plant that doesn’t look great.
Many desert-friendly plants and trees evolved to survive on very little precipitation but also to make the most of abundant rainfall when it does happen. They’ll store the water in their roots or grow larger (and produce more seed for dry years) than they would with only adequate water. A xeriscaped yard doesn’t automatically “save” water — it is up to the homeowner to do the actual water saving by adjusting their irrigation controller. My dog would be “happier” if I fed her as much as she wanted, but it’s wasteful (among other things) to do so. Watering your desert-friendly plants too much may cause them to outgrow the space they were designed for, which might mean pruning them more than they need so they don’t grow against the house or over a path or outcompete other plants. Overwatering also creates lush, tender growth that is more attractive to pests and susceptible to frost damage.
A recent study in Arizona found that xeriscaped yards didn’t have reduced water usage because the homeowners applied the same amount of water as they would for a traditional yard with a lawn and non-natives.
Here are steps you can take to make sure you’re watering correctly for your new landscape and keeping your plants healthy:
Reduce the number of emitters if needed: The best way to do this is by cutting off the drip emitter and installing a “goof” plug in the end of the ¼ inch tubing. This is preferable to trying to pull the ¼” coupler out from the larger line, which creates a larger hole that can’t be easily plugged.
Check your irrigation controller: You’ll want to keep the soil moist around the newly installed perennials, shrubs and trees for the first week, and that might mean watering every day if it’s above 90 degrees. After the first week, switch to watering every other day. Then on week three, switch to twice a week. Exceptions would be for cacti, which I would soak once when planting and then water once a week for the first month before tapering off to once or twice a month until established. (Perennials / grasses - 8-10 weeks, Shrubs - 1 year, Trees - 1-3 years.)
Check that drip emitters are working properly, especially if a plant looks wilted: Drip emitters often get clogged after a repair is made in the larger ½” or ¾” poly tubing. If you’re using “flag”-shaped emitters and one is not flowing, you’ll want to grasp the body of the emitter while you turn the top “flag” shape counterclockwise 90 degrees to allow the top to separate from the rest. You should do this while the zone is running so that you can see if any emitters aren’t working and so that the water pressure can clear the clog. Once you’ve twisted off the top, you should have a strong flowing stream of water coming out. Hold your finger over the water stream, forcing it into the drip outlet, which clears the clog.
If you’re using “button”-shaped emitters and one is clogged, you’ll need to cut it off and replace it. Don’t try to pull it off the ¼” tubing, just cut it off and plug in a new one so that the barbed insert has fresh (not stretched out) tubing to fit into.
Keep up with plant growth: As your desert-friendly plants grow larger, you can move the emitters farther away from the base of the plant and add new ones if needed; larger plants require more water. There are several ways to do this. You can poke a new hole in the nearby larger poly tubing, insert a ¼” coupler, run an additional ¼” line to the plant and add an emitter. However, if the main poly line is more than a couple of feet away, install a ¼” “T” in the spaghetti tubing and go from there. It saves time and means fewer holes in the main poly line. Remember, when installing ¼” couplers into the main poly, always poke the hole in the side, not the top; that way if you step on them by accident, they won’t break off. Also, if your plants are on a slope, the emitter should be on the uphill side, so water flowing downhill will cover more of the root zone. Check that water wells are still in place and holding water around the plant.
Inspect your trees: Check the leaves for any insect damage and the underside of leaves for insect infestations. Also make sure the mulch or gravel isn’t covering up any of the tree trunk above the root flare, which traps moisture that can cause decay or rot. Particularly in fruit trees, this can also allow detrimental insects access to the trunk where they could bore into it.
Check the soil around the base of your plants: Often during initial watering, the soil will settle into the planting hole and can expose the root ball, which causes it to dry out quickly. If you observe or suspect this, kneel in front of the plants, move the mulch out of the way and scrape the surrounding soil back around the plant to cover up the root ball. Then replace the mulch and reposition the drip emitter as necessary.
Learn the common or scientific names of your plants: If you don’t have a list, plant tags or a detailed landscape plan, some newer smart phones have a plant identifier built into the camera app (no need to remember the app store password and download another app). The closer you can get to the plant — showing leaves, branch shapes and flowers (if any) — the better the app will work. The phone (as we all know) can be wrong, but it will give you a place to start. Alternatively, send an email with photos to askanexpert@abcwua.org and we can help you identify
Once you know the plant names you can look them up in our xeriscape guide to reacquaint yourself with their water needs and mature sizes. Need help remembering the plant names? Often the plants themselves can tell you. Is it a catmint? Rub the leaves and smell the minty aroma. Turpentine bush? Lemony pine smell, for sure. Maybe it’s the shape of the leaves. Fernbush? Examine the leaves closely and see how they resemble an actual fern from a rainier climate.
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 plants with lots of leaves, and they can transpire a lot of water. That water is “lost” while the leaves are making sugars via photosynthesis, so trees have a high water demand.
If supply doesn’t keep up with demand, the tree gets stressed. How do you know if your tree needs more water? Learning to recognize signs of water stress can help you stay on top of your trees’ needs. There are some common symptoms and situations that may indicate that they are thirsty.
Water stress can be long-term (chronic) or sudden (acute). Chronic drought stress occurs commonly, as many irrigation systems are set up to be adequate for a newly planted tree. As that tree grows, though, it has more leaves and needs more water. Adding emitters and covering more ground is key to keeping up with the growth. Acute drought stress is less common; it happens when a tree suddenly loses most or all of its water supply, which up to that point was adequate. Finally, most rare of all, water stress can happen from too much water in the soil.
Chronic drought stress occurs when trees haven’t had enough water for some months or years. These trees will have smaller than normal leaves, and those leaves will be sparser in the canopy than normal for that species. They may be off-color, not as vibrantly green as normal. Often, there is dieback in the small, outer branches and twigs.
Annual growth will slow down. Evidence of this can be seen in small diameter branches if you can identify the ring scars that mark the annual growth segments. Ring scars are lines that circle all the way around the twig; they are not bud scars that form at each dormant bud and do not circle the twig. If annual growth segments are shorter last year than the year before, something bad is going on.
The short distance between these ring scars indicates a year of poor growth. This may have been the year it was planted, as that is stressful to trees.
In conifers, we see similar evidence — smaller and fewer needles and shorter growth segments. Often, pine needles will brown out from their tips, maybe just a little or maybe halfway. Conifers keep their leaves for several years, so partially browned needles can really slow down growth potential as the brown part isn’t making sugars. Chronically drought stressed conifers abound in New Mexico forests. They are more susceptible to bark beetle attacks than unstressed trees. Combine beetle-killed trees with very dry trees and wildfire becomes a huge concern.
Acute drought stress might happen when a trench cuts through the root system, such as with a new sewer line is installed. Acutely stressed trees tend to have sudden yellowing and then drying of leaves, maybe just on one side of the tree (the trench side, for example). Acute stress is hard for the tree to recover from.
In either chronic or acute stress situations, leaves may develop brown and dead edges. Termed “marginal browning,” this happens when excess salt in soil water gets deposited at the furthest edge of the leaf, building up to toxic levels. Leaves will often turn pale and then yellow during mid-season, well before fall temperatures normally trigger that.
Yellowing of leaves can be a sign of stress.
How about those few trees getting too much water? In some ways, symptoms can mimic too little water. When the soil is very wet, roots stop functioning due to lack of oxygen. This is of most concern for dryland conifers like juniper and pine. Usually, it is linked to an irrigation system that only has emitters at the base of the tree that run often. The tree doesn’t have the fine root mass near the trunk to take up the water, so the soil remains wet. Fungal diseases are likely to pop up, leading to root death and then tree death. Another symptom of overly wet soils shows up in leaves on deciduous trees like cottonwood — oedema. These are corky scars on the surface of the leaf.
You can reduce tree stress with proper irrigation. Trees seem to do well when irrigation is deep, broad and not too frequent. Watering every day is actually not helpful, especially when right at the base of the tree. Cover the soil with an organic mulch to keep the soil cool and the moisture available to your trees.
Drought stressed sycamore tree, insufficient irrigation and small growing area.
Compost is defined in the dictionary as “a mixture that consists largely of decayed organic matter and is used for fertilizing and conditioning land.” Some people call it black gold because adding to your garden can produce dark, crumbly soil that is like gold for your plants.
Courtesy of EPA.gov
Composting requires three ingredients. The first is brown material from your yard like leaves, twigs and pinecones as well as newspapers, paper egg cartons, straw and so on. Green material, or food waste, is the second. For example, vegetable and fruit scraps, coffee grounds, crushed eggshells, or tea bags. The third is moisture — water goes a long way.
A new type of composter has hit the market: electric composters. These are simple indoor recycling machines that are plugged into the wall. The heat, grind and aerate food scraps to speed up the process, creating compost in a very short period. There are many types, some that sit on the counter and some that look like trash bins in your kitchen. One downside is that these machines can be pricey, ranging from $300 to $700.
Photo by Tomsguide.com
Composting Service
The last and perhaps the easiest method may be to drop all your food items into a bucket that you leave on your front porch. A service provider picks up the bucket and composts the material. You pay a monthly fee and after a bit you get compost delivered to your door. Prices are $22 a month for biweekly pickups.
The City of Albuquerque’s Sustainability Office is taking on Food Waste.Are you interested in diverting food scraps from the trash and turning it into compost to feed local soils? Please consider joining one of our community compost co-op sites.
Below are workshop options in April and early May.
Option 1: Take the compost science and hands-on learning classes.
Hands-on learning: Friday, April 25, 2-4pm at Barelas Senior Center’s community compost site. Note: We will plan more hands-on opportunities this summer.
Option 2: Learning Series at Barelas Senior Center.
Tuesday, April 22, 10:30-11:30am, Introduction to compost science and hands-on learning. Participants can choose a free plant!
AND
Tuesday, April 29, 10:30am-noon, Compost science, indoors. Register here.
AND
Tuesday, May 6, 10:30-11:30am, Hands-on learning.
Please help us spread the word about this opportunity to get involved in building healthy soils and community resilience. If you have questions, please email swest@cabq.gov.
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, it is time to give your irrigation system a rest. To avoid damage to your irrigation system we recommend setting it to the OFF position. Your next step will be to wait for a warm day to water deeply one more time and then take steps to winterize your irrigation system.
Follow this advice to ensure landscape success:
Turn off your irrigation system.
If your irrigation system is attached to an outdoor spigot, you should disconnect it and cover your hose bib using a faucet cover.
If you have a below-ground irrigation system, locate your shut-off valve (often hidden in a 3” PVC pipe; often with a white or yellow cap, as shown in the photo). Turn it to the right to shut it off. Be careful when turning so you do not break the valve.
Drain the water from all pipes, valves, and sprinkler heads. Learn more about protecting your irrigation system here.
It’s important to make sure your landscape stays healthy in the winter during times of drought. If we don’t get snow or rain, find a warm day once a month and deeply water your plants. After watering, set your system to the OFF position again.
How much should I water this November?
1-2 more times this month
Skip watering if it rains or snows
Give individual trees 100 gallons to a depth of 24 inches at least one time this month
Water turf for 7-10 minutes, to a depth of ½ inch”
Your outdoor water usage should be 80% less than in the summer season
How can I keep my landscape healthy this winter?
Turf
Mow your lawn to 2-2.5 inches tall. Grass left too long over the winter can develop brown patches.
Aerate next time it is warm. Aerating your lawn will give it a chance to breathe before the grass goes completely dormant. This also provides relief from any compaction that has built up during the warmer months.
Rake or blow off the leaves that have fallen on your lawn. Leaves that are left on the lawn could become moldy, which invites disease.
Top dress with compost. Compost acts as a fertilizer, adds moisture retention capacity and improves overall turf health.
Trees
Apply a thin layer of compost, about ½ inch, to provide nutrients.
Add mulch away from the trunk base, about 2 inches thick. Mulch helps maintain your ground at a constant temperature and helps retain moisture.
Water your trees thoroughly once a month, if needed, to support winter hardiness. Withholding water will not help the tree acclimate to winter.
Shrubs
Leave your leaves. Every autumn, leaves fall to the ground, sheltering the soil and beneficial organisms, returning organic matter back to the ground, and perpetuating the nutrient cycling essential for good plant health. This year, think about leaving those leaves in your garden by tucking them in around your shrubs. When we allow leaves to follow their natural life cycle, we can enjoy a colorful tapestry on our landscape as well as all the benefits provided by an organic mulch.
How do I avoid irrigation and other plumbing system damage? To avoid costly repairs, we recommend that homeowners take the following steps:
Find the master shutoff valve The master shutoff valve turns off the water to the entire house. If you have one, learn its location. This could be critical if a pipe bursts. Need an emergency turn-off? Call 842-WATR and select Option 1.
Insulate pipes and faucets in unheated areas Wrap exposed water pipes in unheated areas (such as a garage, basement, crawl space or space beneath your mobile home) with insulation or heat tape. Be sure to follow the manufacturer’s instructions carefully.
Seal off access doors, air vents and cracks Winter winds whistling through overlooked openings can quickly freeze exposed water pipes. DO NOT plug air vents used by your furnace or water heater.
