Archive for “Outdoors” Category

News & Events

CELEBRATE AZ WATER WITH US AT SLIDE ROCK STATE PARK

July 13, 2015

A. Woods shared this photo where snow melt from the mountains creates a slippery slope of water fun! If you’re looking for a great place to cool off, have fun, and learn about some fascinating Arizona history, you need to plan a summer trip to Slide Rock State Park! Slide Rock is just a small segment of the beautiful Oak …

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GARDENS: WHY YOUR CITY WANTS TO INSPIRE YOU

June 22, 2015

Etched on the wall at the entrance of the City of Scottsdale’s Xeriscape Garden is this: “Demonstrating the Beauty of Saving Water.” That is a lovely explanation of why some cities plant and nurture free public demonstration gardens. These gardens are thriving examples of how homeowners, businesses, and HOAs can create lush and colorful gardens and landscapes using very little …

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5 Reasons to Put Your Landscape on a Diet

May 15, 2015

Swimsuit season is all but here, but there’s still time to put your plants on a diet. Plants use sunlight, CO2, and water* to make food, a process called photosynthesis. As plants make food for themselves, they also make our homes more pleasant for us by releasing oxygen and water into the air through pores in the leaves called stomata. *Plants …

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CELEBRATE AZ WATER WITH US AT WATSON LAKE!

May 11, 2015

S. James shared this photo where water and granite meet!  Watson Lake, located outside of Prescott, AZ was created as a man-made lake and reservoir in the early 1900s when the Arizona Land and Irrigation Company built a dam on Granite Creek. The reservoir was purchased by the city of Prescott in 1997 to not only preserve it as a …

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PLANT OF THE MONTH: PALO VERDE

April 20, 2015

Palo Verdes are native to the arroyos and foothills of the southwestern deserts and Mexico. Their unique green to blue-green bark and branches carry on photosynthesis, even when their small leaves are not present. This is a great strategy by the plant to conserve water during dry seasons. In the spring, these trees are covered with masses of bright yellow …

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Hybrid Palo Verde

CELEBRATE AZ WATER WITH US AT VENTANA CANYON

April 14, 2015

T. Sansom shared a photo where water and saguaros meet!  Ventana Canyon is located in the lower range of the stunning Catalina Mountains in the Tucson area. Snowmelt from the Catalina’s or summer rains feed into creeks, pools, waterfalls, and even a delightful destination called the Maiden Pools. Although the creeks are dry much of the year, much of the snowmelt …

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SIX REASONS TO VISIT THE GLENDALE XERISCAPE DEMONSTRATION GARDEN THIS SPRING!

March 20, 2015

Spring is here, and the wildflowers are already blooming! What better way to usher in a new season than to wander through nature and take a look at some of the best ways to enjoy it, especially with a visit to the Glendale Xeriscape (Low-Water-Use) Demonstration Garden! 1) Bountiful Blooms – See a spectrum of color among the flowers and …

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IS IT TIME TO TURN YOUR YARD INTO A WILDLIFE HABITAT?

March 18, 2015

Tired of winter guests? How about inviting some colorful visitors to your backyard who can entertain you instead. It could be time to turn that bit of grass and gravel, with its smattering of sheared shrubs, into a Sonoran Desert wildlife habitat. Sure, the birds and butterflies you attract will need a little food and shelter, but they’re pretty low …

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plant that attracts butterflies

IS YOUR TOILET RUNNING?

February 25, 2015

Grab a wrench and fix that leak! Water leaks in a home can waste up to 10,000 gallons of water per year. That’s enough to fill a backyard swimming pool! The most common types of leaks found in the home include leaking toilets, dripping faucets and showerheads, and other seeping valves. Fixing water leaks is simple and easy to do …

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ARE YOU CURIOUS?

February 13, 2015

“I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.” – Albert Einstein Eyes alert, hands touching, and “why” bouncing off the tip of his diving board tongue, my nephew is a ball of inquisitive, non-stop energy. Traveling around Arizona as a water educator, I encountered youth in diverse circumstances – all with the same drive to see, touch, and …

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RAINWATER GARDEN WINS 2014 “CATCH THE RAIN” PHOTO CONTEST

January 27, 2015

Community Invited to See Best-in-Show Garden at Glendale’s Main Library The City of Glendale’s Water Services Department, Conservation and Sustainability Division, known for its award-winning programs, took home another honor. Glendale received top ranking in the 2014 Water Resources Research Center’s “Catch the Rain” photo contest and captured the Best-in-Show prize for a picture of the Glendale Rain Garden in action …

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Tree Care – Understanding the Language of Tree Service Contracts

December 11, 2014

When people ask for help pruning their trees, many aren’t sure what to ask for. They know their trees need work but they don’t how to describe it. Tree service ads don’t help. They use terms such as trimming, cutting, topping, rounding, crowning, heading, shearing, lacing, sculpting, wind-sailing and the list goes on. The words attempt to describe pruning operations …

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