Congratulations to the ten winners of our first annual Water Authority Desert Friendly Landscape Contest! Thank you for sharing your beautiful gardens with us. They will be an inspiration for others to make the switch to desert-friendly landscapes.
A Garden for the Senses
What once was a sandy empty lot in the NW has now become a garden that provides food, attracts birds and other pollinators and stimulates the five senses. “The flowers smell great through the seasons, we grow vegetables that we use on our plates,” say homeowners Adam and Meagan Henrie, who like the balance of having aesthetically pleasing and functional areas in the garden.
The Henrie’s accessed online resources, including 505Outside.com, to help decide which plants to incorporate into their garden. During trips to local garden centers, they identified plants that were thriving in their neighborhood. They chose low-maintenance, drought-tolerant plants and installed a drip and spray irrigation system using the latest technology. Local irrigation supply stores helped them choose irrigation system components and come up with a design for the irrigation system that they could follow.
When they planted new trees, they turned to the Water Authority and took advantage of the Treebate from the Water Authority. This rebate program also helps them with costs for tree maintenance.
“We love that our oasis attracts pollinators like birds, bees, butterflies, and also other wildlife like rabbits and roadrunners,” say Meagan.
100’s of Pollinators Can’t be Wrong!
The landscape around Elliott house in the NE used to be a sea of gravel, but now it is recognized by the Fish and Wildlife Backyard Refugee Program. During the past several years, Elliott has spent time transforming his yard into a habitat that attracts insects and wildlife.
“I wanted a yard that will change through the seasons and has a diversity of local drought-tolerant native plants,” he explains. “My goal was to add plants that will attract pollinators, so I started with the ones that were growing in the wild.”
Elliott learned about plants by doing lots of research, including reading information on the Albuquerque Native Plant Society’s website, accessing a list of plants from the Backyard Refugee Program, and visiting the store Plants of the Southwest. His goal was to have a lush, diverse and sustainable landscape that benefits wildlife and does not depend on supplemental water outside of rainwater.
Like the Henrie’s, Elliott has taken advantage of the Water Authority’s Treebate when planting new trees.
“I love all the pollinators, diversity of plants, and my learning journey along the way. Now I get to educate and share my experience with others,” says Elliott, who hopes his yard is an inspiration to his friends and neighbors.
Low Water Paradise
With the goal of reducing water usage, the owners of this home in the Northeast Heights first turned their attention to the property’s big, hardly-used front lawn. Once they learned about the Xeriscape rebate from the Water Authority, they immediately called to get more information and help with choosing plants that would enhance their property.
The transformation started by renting a sod cutter to remove the lawn as part of the Desert Friendly Xeriscape Conversion Rebate. They were able to save the turfgrass and transplant it to their son’s yard.
Landscape professionals were hired to create a design and install the swale, plants, and drip irrigation system. It only took one week to transform the 880-square-foot front yard from a high-water use turf lawn to a desert-friendly xeriscape with a diversity of plants that are supported by rain and drip irrigation.
Because of the transformation, the homeowners earned an $880 credit on their water bill! An extra benefit came when they participated in the Treebate program. Now, the homeowners take pride in their yard, which has attracted pollinators and interest from neighbors. They also are learning how to maintain and care for their new plants so their landscape will continue to bring enjoyment in the years ahead
In these long, hot days of summer, especially if the summer rains don’t come, many plants really suffer from a lack of water. By incorporating native and very adapted plants into the landscape, we can still have attractive landscapes that don’t require a lot of irrigation, maybe even none in a good year!
These native plants are sometimes referred to as “luxury consumers." Their evolution, in an arid climate that occasionally has wetter years, has given them the ability to subsist reasonably well on low water. When there is an abundance of water, they take advantage of it and really grow. This kind of luxury growth may happen only every few years. In really dry years, they will lose some outer canopy. This adaptability helps them survive and even thrive in our natural landscape.
Among the plants that fit into this category are trees, shrubs, and native grasses: desert willow, Apache plume, three-leaf sumac, four-wing saltbush, chamisa, turpentine bush, and Mexican thread grass. There are others of a similar nature; native plants that really don’t need regular abundant water. Cactus is another type of plant that is easily over-watered. You might even end up killing it with too much water, as its roots rot away in constantly moist soil. If cacti don’t die, they may end up taking over a space.
One of the great aspects of xeric plants is that they are low maintenance. Small trees and shrubs live happily for years without needing pruning. Single stands of attractive, waving silky-looking grass seed heads don’t become a billowing menace when they quickly spread beyond the designed zone.
These plants should be irrigated regularly the year of planting but should be weaned to a lean water budget before they get too used to luxury living. A luxury level of irrigation should be saved for fruit trees and shade trees — plants that actually need that amount of water and produce fruit and shade.
To help save water, look for water harvesting opportunities in your landscape, especially when deciding where to plant. Where does water come off the roof, and where does it go on the ground? If you can redirect that roof water to a high spot that will flow into the yard — and maybe even contour the yard in shallow, subtle ways to get that water to spread out and slow down and sink in — then you can take advantage of the water by planting strategically along the flow line.
Mulches are a great water-saving step for native trees and shrubs. Rock is too hot for most things, except for ocotillo and some cacti, so use coarse chipped tree waste. Some local tree companies offer free mulch. Keep sunlight off bare ground around the plants and you will slow down evaporation from the soil while reducing the ambient air temperature enough to make a difference to the plants living out there all day, every day.
As far as shearing goes, this kind of pruning creates very tight outer canopies with lots of leaves (the resulting growth that follows previous cutting), usually in a simple geometric shape. Native plants that have less dense outer canopies end up having a higher water budget due to the excess foliage grown by shearing the canopy. A natural form could have the same overall size but with a more open, interesting branching framework supporting a more natural leaf density, and all of that on less water. It’s best to let the plant’s nature express itself through the form it grows without a lot of interference and to prune strategically to highlight well-placed branch systems and balanced mass.
Congrats to the ten winners of our first annual Water Authority Desert Friendly Landscape Contest! Thank you for sharing your beautiful gardens with us. They will be an inspiration for others to make the switch to desert-friendly landscapes.
A transformation from an unhealthy-looking, high-water use turfscape to a colorful xeriscape medley.
Before
This family was ready to change out their high-water and high-maintenance front lawn grass to a desert-friendly landscape. Their new low-water and low-maintenance yard features 94 desert-friendly xeriscape plants. They worked with a professional company on the design, to remove the sod and to install the drip system and new plants. Plants were selected from the Xeriscape Guide provided by their contractor.
After
By transforming their yard to a xeriscape, they were able to save a total of 156,000 gallons of water within the first year and get a $1,300 rebate from the Water Authority for the conversion. They saved even more money because the contractor was able to reuse existing irrigation valves to convert the spray to a drip system. The best part, they say is “the variety of colors from the plants and the birds and butterflies the landscape attracts”. They also receive many compliments from neighbors and friends, which makes them feel proud.
AfterAfter
Talk about creating a diverse and lush yard! This desert-friendly landscape has all the right elements.
As a retired landscape architect Richard Bumstead had the pleasure of designing and installing his own landscape during the beginning of the pandemic. Like many Albuquerque yards, his front yard located in the center of the city was covered with junipers and gravel. Removing them opened up a large area, creating a blank slate and the opportunity to diversify his landscape. Having spent most of his career in Chicago, Richard was not very familiar with the local plants. He read many New Mexico plant books, including Judith Phillips, “Growing the Southwest Garden” and the “Down to Earth” guide from Albuquerque Master Gardeners. The staff at Plants of the Southwest and Jericho were also a big help as he prepared his landscape plan. His visible front yard is now full of native pollinator plants along with three trees that are local favorites: Pinon Pine, Desert Willow and New Mexico Locust.
Richard waters his established plants once a month in the winter and only once a week during the irrigation season. He says the key to having a good-looking landscape is to prepare the soil and water plants to the right depth.
Since he has a more protected backyard, Richard was able to add many shade-loving plants as well as foraging plants like strawberries, rhubarb, tomatoes, an apricot tree and a variety of herbs. Find his extensive plant list here.
BeforeAfterAfter: Close up of Fleabane Daisy, with Grey Desert Spoon and Silver Mound artemisia in the background. After: Close up of Purple Flax
From Bermuda Grassland to a Desert Friendly Landscape!
Geri Martinez’s property, which is located in one of the older areas of town surrounded by large established trees, had the kind of yard that’s typically found in Albuquerque’s UNM and Ridgecrest neighborhoods. It was covered in Bermuda grass and had a large mulberry tree. Geri was ready to refresh the front yard of her 60+ year-old home. With the help of a landscape designer, she came up with a planting design plan.
After
Geri, an avid DIY’er, installed her own plants and irrigation system. To help her figure out what to plant and how to set up the irrigation system, she read local publications from nurseries, attended workshops and used a professional landscape design to determine plants locations.
Geri loves sitting outside and watching the birds and bees that are attracted to her landscape. Saving water has been her goal. She’s not only reduced her front yard water use but also the amount of water she uses indoors. She has low-flow fixtures inside the home and utilizes rain barrels to supplement her landscape’s irrigation during the rainy season. Geri is proud to have a visually-appealing landscape that conserves water.
One hundred years ago, almost every house with a yard had a vegetable garden. This was before the era of mass-produced, well-traveled foods readily available in the big grocery stores. People grew these gardens out of necessity. The whole family joined in, breathing fresh outdoor air and staying active while growing super healthy food to eat.
While we don’t have to do that now, every year more people are discovering the joys (and pains) of growing their own fresh produce. Maybe you’re one of those folks who has recently picked up a hoe and a packet of seeds.
Here are tips for starting gardens as well as suggestions for easy and tasty plants to grow.
Good soil and regular watering are keys to having a successful garden. In the dry Southwest rich soils don’t form naturally, so you’ll need to create a good soil first, and then maintain it.
Setting up wide garden beds makes the most efficient use of amended garden soil and applied irrigation (read John Jeavon’s excellent book How to Grow More Vegetables Than You Ever Thought Possible on Less Land Than You Can Imagine for more on the hows and whys of wide beds).
You may need to break up the soil before planting your first garden. Once the soil is loosened and amended, it’s better to work in new compost with hand tools and to mulch deeply with an organic mulch. Hand tools have advantages: They don’t destroy the living soil the way mechanical tillage does, they aren’t noisy, they don’t smell like exhaust and you get good exercise while using them!
Drip irrigation is ideal for vegetable beds, and there are numerous ways to set up a good system. If you are using the outdoor hose bib, be sure to include anti-siphon devices, pressure reducers and good filters to keep everything safe and functional. Timers are optional but recommended. It sounds complicated but really isn’t hard, and the results are well worth the effort.
Add organic mulch! There are a number of good choices for organic mulch.
Garden beds are in and ready. What are you going to plant?
Some vegetable species prefer warm (even hot) temperatures, while others grow best in cooler weather. At this point in the season, start with the warm weather crops.
Corn is fun to grow. In a small garden, you don’t really get a lot of food for the space that corn uses, but those tall stalks play other roles as well. The shade they cast, especially in the afternoon, helps other plants grow in our hot, sunny climate. Pole beans, which can be planted around the new corn plants when they’re about a foot tall, will climb the corn stalks. Beans can also add nitrogen to the soil in partnership with certain symbiotic bacteria living in their roots. Flat Italian pole green beans are a true fresh garden delight! Almost any green beans — bush or pole — are easy and satisfying to grow.
Tomatoes are an annual favorite for many gardeners. There are so many varieties of tomato plants, from short patio container plants and wild rambling cherry tomatoes to dense San Marzano paste tomatoes and Cherokee Purple slicers. The curly top virus can be a problem, but plants growing in light shade are less likely to contract the illness. Blossom end rot sometimes crops up and is most easily controlled with good mulching and regular irrigation. Adding some bone meal to the garden bed may help a bit, too.
If you have room for them to roam, consider planting watermelons! The smaller icebox varieties are a great size, and when planted in our area they tend to have few if any, pest and disease problems. They do, however, need an ample amount of water. Diversify your landscape by planting them in border flower beds where the vines can grow across the yard. They can take over small garden beds, so be careful where you plant them.
As the cooler fall temperatures arrive, lots of other veggies can be planted. Many of them should be seeded in August for fall harvest. Be sure to keep the seed beds moist and shaded a bit so the soil is cooler. Alternatively, you can start them in trays or little pots indoors. If they start to get long and thin, it’s a sign that they need more light!
Lettuce is a great fall crop. Romaine and butterhead varieties do well here and are distinct enough to add culinary variety. Other great greens for fall include spinach, kale and Swiss chard. Greens are high nitrogen users, so amend the beds again for fall planting, and periodically give them a light fertilizing with something like fish emulsion (smells awful, grows great plants!) or another soluble plant fertilizer.
Fall is also a great time to plant root crops. Both beets (botanically, the same plant as Swiss chard) and carrots do well in the autumn. Don’t try to start these in pots or trays. Root crops do much better when directly seeded into the ground. There are many gourmet varieties of both beets and carrots, even carrots that come in a mix of orange, yellow, white and purple colors. Shorter varieties are better for most home gardens, as the long ones require deep loose soil to form well.
All the cool season crops can be grown right through the winter if they are harvest-size by the time very cold weather hits. Keep them well mulched. As far as greens go, buy some spun-bound row cover material to drape over them. It’s amazing how well they will do with just a little protection. These crops can be started again in early spring for the spring, cool-season garden.
Learn more by checking out these other useful drip irrigation articles:
It’s irrigation season. If you have a grass lawn with spray heads, it’s time to check out your system to make sure it is running smoothly. Run a one-minute test program on the controller and visually examine each zone. Look for broken, leaning, or clogged sprinkler heads. Check and adjust for irrigation spraying on sidewalks, driveways, patios, or streets. Look for uneven coverage and sprays that may be blocked by new landscape growth.
If any of the above issues are happening, you’ll want to go through each spray head and perform the following maintenance tasks:
Flush the sprinkler system by turning on the sprinklers for a few seconds without the nozzle.
Adjust the arc by turning the sprinkler on. While the sprinkler is watering, look at the right side and see if it is aligned. If it isn’t, you will need to align it by turning the entire riser to the correct position (to the right) as this is the fixed side of the arc. While turning the riser you will hear a noise. This is a ratcheting system that allows you to make an adjustment. Turn it clockwise to reduce the arc and counterclockwise to increase the arc.
Adjust the radius by turning the screw in the middle of the nozzle with a flathead screwdriver, turning clockwise position to reduce, and to reach farther turn opposite direction or counterclockwise.
Clean the filter by pulling the riser up and holding it with one hand, while your other hand unthreads the nozzle and pulls the filter out. Clean the filter by dipping it into a bucket of water.
If your spray heads are putting out a very fine mist or fogging, your system may be operating over its design pressure. You’ll need to install a pressure regulator to reduce the water pressure at the irrigation system’s water connection, which is before the backflow and after the meter.
Learn more by checking out these other useful irrigation articles:
Author: Jill Brown, ASLA, is a Landscape Architect and owner of My Landscape Coach in Albuquerque, NM. Contributor: Greg at Sisco Irrigation, Albuquerque, NM. Have A question about the article? AskAnExpert@abcwua.org
