by A. Luminium

Created on: October 14, 2008   Last Updated: November 07, 2008

To establish a new landscape with the goal of water conservation, you need to use native and adapted plants as much as possible and install an efficient irrigation system.

Before doing anything else, put some serious thought into the benefits you want your landscape to provide. Do you want an outdoor living area? Do you want a grassy play area? Do you want privacy and security? Do you want your home to blend in with the neighborhood or stand out from the crowd? What kinds of maintenance are you willing to perform? Will you want water features? Amazingly, a small pond will actually use less water than many water-thirsty landscape plants. Learn about the best plants for your soil and climate. Get a good idea of how much sunlight will be available in the areas to be landscaped.

Once you have an idea of what you want your landscape to provide for you, then you need to design planting areas and select plants. If you have an extensive area, it could be worthwhile to hire a landscape architect to help you design your landscape. As much as possible, select native and/or adapted shrubs, ornamental grasses, perennials, vines, and trees. Once established, these plants will need less maintenance and use less water than many annuals and some lawn grasses.

To be water efficient, group plants with similar watering requirements. This is called hydro-zoning. If you have an automatic irrigation system, you will want to be able to separately water areas with different water needs. For example, if you have a cactus in the middle of a cool-season fescue lawn, you will either overwater the cactus or underwater the grass.

Most people will want to have some lawn area, but this is up to you. A lawn doesn't necessarily have to waste water, if established with the right grass for the area and watered properly with a good-quality sprinkler system. Drip irrigation is a good choice for planting beds.

Proper irrigation is important in a new landscape. Unless you are planning to hand water everything, be sure to have a properly designed and installed irrigation system in place prior to planting your landscape. Most landscapes will need some irrigation to look their best. Be careful not to overwater, as overwatering is unhealthy for your plants. If you have a lawn, remember you are not trying to grow hay or produce a bumper crop of grass clippings. You can cut back on the amount of water and the lawn will still be healthy, look good, and need fewer mowings. There are now new Smart ET (evapotranspiration) controllers available that automatically adjust the watering time according to the weather. There are also soil moisture, rain, and freeze sensors available to shut off the system when these conditions occur. Devices like these make efficient watering easier than ever.

Rainwater harvesting is another option. You can install decorative barrels or containers that capture rainfall from the roof, to be stored and used later, or you can install a passive "rain garden" collection area with plants that enjoy a good soaking now and then.

With a little forethought and proper planning, you can have a beautiful, low-maintenance, water conserving landscape that you will enjoy for years to come.

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