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Join us for another interview on “Your Life A to Z” on Arizona’s local Channel 3 to learn more about the Paradise Valley Xeriscape Demonstration Garden. Jake Lenderking and Sally Ceccerelli-Wolf from our Regional Partner, Arizona American Water, tell us about how a demonstration garden can help someone who is planting in their yard choose low water-use plants to beautify their landscaping. The demonstration garden has all sorts of different native plants that will grow and blossom with the seasons, and people can come take a look and get an idea of what their yard will look like if they chose a specific plant.

Furthermore, since up to 70% of your water use is outdoors, choosing a xeriscape landscape for your yard can help you conserve water and save on your utility bills.

Watch the interview on “Your Life A to Z” on local Channel 3 here:

As the weather changes in November, Arizonans get out and enjoy the cooler temperatures. Why not take advantage of the weather and give container gardening a try this season? We have some great suggestions about how to select a plant, choose a pot, get the best soil, and water your plants appropriately. Add color to your patios or out in your landscape.

Check out our Water – Use It Wisely “Landscape Care” page for details not only on container gardening, but we also offer information on how to plant, how to program your timer, how to Xeriscape and more! Visit our “Landscape Care” page for knowledge that’ll make you water-wise!

The fall planting season has arrived! Temperatures are cooler, and it’s a great time to renovate your landscape or replace plants you may have lost during the hot, dry summer.

Desert Willow Trees are native to the Sonoran Desert.

There are hundreds of beautiful desert plants to choose from but one of the biggest challenges of purchasing desert plants (especially since many are Sonoran Desert natives) is that some don’t look great in the pot at the nursery. You really have to have faith and know that the wispy stems in the container will be like the ‘ugly duckling that turns into a swan’ once planted in your landscape.

That’s why we suggest visiting a Xeriscape Demonstration Garden for plant selection ideas. It’s amazing how different plants look when they’re established in the landscape. Best of all, demonstration gardens give you a good idea of how large a plant can get so that you’re sure to put the right plant in the right place. You’ll also find design ideas and great examples of plant combinations.

Brand new xeriscape demonstration garden in Paradise Valley

One of our Water – Use It Wisely Partners, Arizona American Water, is pleased to showcase a new Xeriscape Demonstration Garden in Paradise Valley located at 6229 N. Mockingbird Lane. The Company planned the garden with neighbors, town council members, and Master Gardeners and turned an unused site into a fabulous demonstration for low-water use plants, Xeriscape principals and how to save water and money.

Arizona American Water is one of fifteen Water – Use It Wisely regional partners and many of them sponsor beautiful demonstration gardens. Get inspired. Find a Xeriscape Demonstration Garden near you!

Over half of household water – in some cases up to 70% is used outdoors. That means saving water in your landscape is one of the best and easiest ways to reduce your outdoor water use. We’ve got three great resources to make you the top water miser in the neighborhood:

Photos and plant charts help you with plant selection.

1. Xeriscape is defined as water efficient, creative landscaping that guides you with seven landscape principles to create a beautiful, healthy and water efficient yard. And, no! It’s not just rocks and cactus. Details can be found in Xeriscape: Landscaping with Style in the Arizona Desert.
2. Use Water Thrifty Plants like the bold, armored agaves or like the fragrant-flowered acacias. There are hundreds of beautiful low-water-use plants that are available for our region of the Sonoran Desert. Learn more from Landscape Plants for the Arizona Desert.
3. Water Efficiently to reduce your water use by 30-50%. If you’ve used the Xeriscape principles and planted low-water-use plants, it’s even more important to make sure you are watering properly. It is very common by residents and even commercial landscapers to over water desert landscapes. Check out our Landscape Watering by the Numbers: A Guide for the Arizona Desert.

Proper watering techniques are provided for all types of Arizona landscapes.

These resources are all available online, but free booklets are also available. All fifteen Water – Use It Wisely regional partners, offer these guides to their water customers. Contact information is available on our partner page.

Our three must-have guides.

Wildflowers announce the arrival of spring in Arizona’s deserts. You might be surprised to learn that wildflowers aren’t technically a low-water using plant. They are drought evaders, completing their life cycle during the rainy seasons in the desert. Most wildflowers are grown from seeds sown in the fall, although some species can be found as plants in containers at the nurseries in the spring. Learn more about wildflowers in the book, Landscape Plants for the Arizona Desert. Find out how to order a copy of the book on the Water – Use It Wisely “Links and Resources” page. Just look for the details under Landscaping Practices and Xeriscape.

If you’ve been considering converting your grass into a colorful low-water-use landscape, a local class will show you the easy step-by-step methods. And, you may even be eligible for a rebate!

The City of Chandler is presenting a free workshop, Basic Yard Makeovers on Tuesday, September 1, from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Call 480-782-3580 to register for the program.

Many of the partners in the Arizona Water – Use It Wisely coalition offer FREE workshops or classes with expert speakers willing to share their knowledge. You can learn about designing a colorful water-saving, low maintenance landscape, programming an irrigation controller, attracting wildlife to your yard, selecting low-water-use plants, pruning, watering your landscape, making compost, or herb and vegetable gardening in the low desert.  There are even walking tours of local Xeriscape gardens.

Explore the new on-line calendar on the Water – Use It Wisely home page and find out more about conservation events scheduled in the metropolitan Phoenix area. See for yourself.  Click on the calendar on the left navigation bar ‘Learn about local events & classes’ to see what’s happening in your city or town.

December is typically the time to shop for others.  So, while you’re at it, why not consider a gift for your home and/or for the environment?  Water-efficient devices and appliances give back all year not only in terms of the amount of water saved, but also money saved on your water bill, wastewater bill and often even your energy bill.

With climate change being discussed by the media daily, these gift ideas are perfect to help reduce your carbon footprint.

• Front loading washers may cost a bit more, but they are more water and energy efficient.  The increased capacity means fewer loads of laundry.  Less water is used, so there is less water to heat.  And, the higher speed spin cycle removes more water, easing the dryer’s work load, as well.  A family of four can save 1,000 gallons a month.
• Water efficient dishwashers can also save you both water and energy. If your dishwasher is more than a decade old, newer dishwashers are now using one-third to  one-half less water. Save 1,200 gallons a year with a new water-efficient model.
• Low-flow showerheads provide amazing savings. Cut your water use dramatically by replacing a 4 gallon per minute (gpm) head with a model that uses 2.5 gpm or less and save up to 12 gallons or more for each eight minute shower. Multiply that out for a family of four and you’ll save up to 1,400 gallons of water monthly.
• High efficiency toilets are the latest and greatest water savers you can get for your home. This certainly has an impact – easily saving you up to 1,200 gallons a month. Think about  pairing it up with new flooring for the bathroom, since that’s the best time to replace a toilet.
• Landscape renovations can turn a thirsty landscape to a low water-using Xeriscape and can cut your outdoor water use in half. Since 50-70 percent of household water is commonly used outdoors, the savings can add up to as much as 50,000 gallons a year for an average sized yard.

If you’ve great a an idea for a holiday gift that can save water, please share it with the water world below in the comments section.  For 100+ other ways to save, click here.

The weather outside is far from frightful – in fact, it’s downright delightful.  But that doesn’t mean you can’t create your own “Winter Wonderland” in the Arizona desert.  The winter months provide a perfect opportunity to experiment with container gardening, which can add some amazingly colorful – and even flavorful – variety to your landscape and garden.  Landscaping with containers is also a great option for winter visitors who may be looking for ways to quickly and inexpensively add some Arizona beauty to their patios and entryways.

Many types of low-water use plants lend themselves to container planting, especially cacti and succulents.  There are a number of possibilities that look great during the winter months. For container gardening success, check out the following ideas:

Plant Selection

• Consider cacti, agaves, and a great selection of other succulents such as aloes, which will provide spikes of winter blooms that attract hummingbirds.
• Desert annuals and perennials will provide lots of showy color.  Try early blooming Mexican poppy and penstemons, or long blooming angelita daisy, blackfoot daisy, and moss verbena.  Combine flower types and colors for added visual interest.  Mix and match colors to find the combination that’s most pleasing to you.
• Small, colorful shrubs are good performers. Look for plumbago, bush morning glory, purple hop bush, and dwarf bottlebrush.
• Herbs also do well in containers and provide the benefit of fragrance and for spicing up your cooking. Tough performers include trailing rosemary, lavender, oregano, thyme, and lemon grass. Many will cascade nicely over hanging baskets.
• Don’t hesitate to combine plants together in pots. Just don’t mix cacti and succulents with plants that will need more water.

Choosing the Right Pot

• Plants don’t like to be crowded, so buy the bigger pot, as opposed to the smaller one. Plant roots will stay cooler during warmer months and will also dry out less quickly.
• No matter what pot you choose, allow for drainage.  Arizona’s water is highly
• alkaline and the salts can harm plant roots.  Make sure there are holes in the bottom of the pot; place screens over the holes so you’re draining water, not    soil; and, place pots on pot feet, bricks or iron stands, rather than saucers.
• Clay pots are most popular, but they don’t always hold up well to the moisture.  To preserve them, line the inside with plastic before putting in soil and plants.  Punch a hole through the plastic in the bottom of the pot to allow water to drain. Inserting a plastic pot inside a clay planter is also an option.
• Pots made of light-weight Styrofoam-type materials are great for making it easier to move plants to a protected location on colder nights.  They also allow you to move your plants in and out of the shade as the seasons change.

Maximize Your Soil

• A good quality soil mix is probably the most important ingredient to successful container gardening.  Choose a cactus/succulent mix for those varieties. For everything else use a lightweight packaged potting soil or a blend of 1/3 potting soil, 1/3 vermiculite and 1/3 pre-moistened peat moss.
• Use a timed-release fertilizer.  Typically, a three- or four-month release fertilizer is sufficient for container gardening.

Water Appropriately

• Container plants have restricted root systems and less soil compared to plants established in the ground, so will typically need more frequent watering than your landscape plants.
• Be sure to water thoroughly each time, then allow the soil to dry moderately in between.
• Keep in mind that weather and plant growth over time will change water needs.

Visit www.wateruseitwisely.com for more tips on plant selection, outdoor water use, and landscaping.  If you have an idea you’d like to share about container gardening, please write us in the comments box below.  We’d love to hear from you.

Valley Cities Join Forces

Ten cities have one message for you: low-water-use plants save water. The municipalities of Avondale, Chandler, Gilbert, Glendale, Goodyear, Mesa, Peoria, Phoenix, Scottsdale, and Tempe have banded together to provide an online guide to water conserving plants. The guide depicts plants that defy conventional expectations for drought tolerant plants.

The new, interactive resource is an extension of the popular booklet Landscape Plants for
the Arizona Desert, now in its third printing. Both the printed and online publications catalog
over 200 plants that are inviting and sustainable. All plants listed are on the Arizona Department
of Water Resources “Low Water Use Plant List,” devised to address water conservation needs in
Arizona.

The new, online guide displays plant specifics, full-color photos, and the ability to search
for plants for a variety of landscape situations; sun exposure, flower color, flower season, and
bird, butterfly or hummingbird attractors. “Many of these plants may not be familiar to home or
business owners,” recounts Steve Olson, Arizona Municipal Water Users Association Water
Executive Director. “The water conservation benefits of low-water-use plants are well-know.
Their beauty can come as a surprise.”

The guide features plants that thrive while creating a rich planting palette, colorful
displays, pest and disease resistance, minimal care, and convey a unique sense of place. These
desert hardy plants are well-suited to the salty water, sandy-clay soils, and temperature range that
define the Valley of the Sun.

Written by local experts, the publication offers low-water-use plants that are relevant to
the life style, aesthetic and water conservation considerations for our valley. The new online
guide and a listing of sources for the free printed booklet are available at www.amwua.org.