CYNTHIA BEE,

OUTREACH

COORDINATOR,

CONSERVATION

GARDEN PARK

Low Precipitation During Growing Season 16 inches annually

Water Supply From The Mountains Adequate so far, but limited

Drought

Population growth

Alkaline Soils High pH but nutrient rich

Sometimes missing topsoil

Cold Winters Hardiness zones ??

Picture of

Commercial

business watering

during a rainstorm-

as posted to Twitter

by consumers

(included the

business name).

• Sea of Green rests the eye between busier plantings.

• Conveys a lushness indicating abundance to our agrarian psyche.

• Visually demonstrates the power of positive/ negative space (aka:whitespace).

• Organizes the space.

Conserve water AND reduce maintenance through design.

Design + Photo Credit:

Kikuchi + Kankel Design

Group

Artichokes & Co.

Salt Lake City, Utah

Mix of ornamental grasses,

perennials, low shrubs and

groundcovers.

Plants in photo: Blue Fescue

(front), ‘Little Bunny’ Fountain

Grass (mid), Miscanthus (tall).

Various perennials and low shrub

we can’t quite ID.

“Zeroscape”- No Green Down Low Xeriscape- Green On Ground Plane

All you see

is the rock

Low green foliage

covers rock and

increases

attractiveness.

Using low-growing, waterwiseplants on the ground plane mimics the “look” of lawn and makes a waterwise landscape more lush. Some great low-maintenance plant choices include:

• Horizontal Juniper (2” tall x 6’)

• Kinikinik (Evergreen, 3” tall)

• Desert 4’O Clock (best underused perennial- needs no supplemental water once established)

• Contact our staff for more ideas

Desert 4 0’Clock

Ornamental grasses can also

organize a planting bed when

clump-forming grasses are arranged

on a grid. Recommend using

grasses with neat, formal shapes

such as:

• Feather Reed Grass (‘Karl

Forester’, ‘Avalanch’, ‘El

Dorado’)

• Blue Oat Grass

• Little Blue Stem

• Flame Grass

• Blue Fescue

• Block out lawn as larger patches

and alternate with lawn patches

or open space patches as

ordinance dictates.

• The higher speed the roadway,

the larger patches should be.

• Large flowered perennials are

more showy for beds viewed from

a distance.

Whenever possible, avoid

sprinker boxes, trees or any

obstructions in turf areas.

Lowers maintenance and

improves irrigation

efficiency.

Make alternating blocks instead of a

thinner strip of plantings + long strips of

grass. Less edging, improved irrigation

efficiency, and greater visual “green”

impact.

Reverse the common use of

islands of plantings in lawn and

instead make the LAWN the

island.

Works for both residential and

commercial applications and

turns the lawn into a focal

point.

Typical front

landscape

with Kidney

Bean Island

Future front

landscapes

with Kidney

Bean LAWN

Typical Utah

Front

Landscape with the

“Required” Kidney

Bean- Shaped

Island

Kidney bean Island makes all lawn less useful

Reverse Kidney

Bean “Island”

MUCH more attractive,

waterwise and lower

maintenance!

LAWN

Inefficient & blocks view of building Central lawn surrounded by plantings.

Two negatives don’t make a positive

• both lawn and gravel areas are “negative space”.

• Break monotony with “positive” space created with trees, shrubs, grasses etc.

Encourage gathering spaces

• Courtyards and other networked spaces foster community for employees and the public.

• Courtyard is the ‘negative’ space and plantings are the positive. There is beauty in CONTRAST.

Resist the urge to

“fill” the blank

canvas as that

increases

maintenance and is

visually

disorganized.

landscape “white space”.

Green down low

(Horizontal Juniper)

Green down low

(Fire Chalice)

Thinly planted over entire area Positive/ negative spaceVS

Even if the lawn above were gravel, it

would still appear lush and organized.

Lawn should be the ACCENT in the

landscape.

People dislike xeric landscapes because of

the “messy” look. Avoid this by creating

positive/ negative space.

Dense plantings hide

imperfect maintenance.

It’s the mix of open spaces

and abundance that make

the landscape interesting.

Unplanted areas (white

space) mixed with more

densely planted areas.

Open gravel areas require

less work to maintain as

long-lasting mechanical and

chemical means are more

easily employed.

Design + Photo Credit:

Kikuchi + Kankel Design

Group

Different example,

same concept.

Densely planted

areas mixed with

open areas.

Design & Photo by:

WaterWise Landscapes Inc,

Albuquerque, New Mexico

Green Waterwise Shrubs More Colorful Shrubs + Perennials

Both examples from USU’s “Utah House” at the Utah Botanic Garden. Kaysville, Utah

Large-Flowered Perennials Ornamental Grass

The size of the color block should be

determined by the SPEED of the

roadway.

• The higher the roadway speed,

the larger the blocks of color or

“same” plants should be.

IHC Hospital, Murray, Utah

Huge benefits to eliminating lawn in

parkstrips:

• Reduce negative impact of

overspray on asphalt &

infrastructure.

• Conserves water.

• More attractive, diverse

landscapes.

• Creates sense of separation from

roadways.

• Allows better utility access.

Overspray in parkstrips encourages weed growth between

asphalt and gutter. Also degrades roadways more quickly.

Photo Credit: Conserve Water Texas

Water-intensive monoculture Waterwise biodiversity

Parkstrips &

Planted

Landscape

Strips in

Parking increase

beauty.

Left:

UTA Parking Lot,

South Jordan, Utah

Right:

Parkstrip,

Jordan Valley Water

Conservancy District,

West Jordan, Utah

Great Harvest

Taylorsville, Utah

Limited color provided mostly by flowers.

Landscapes that rely on foliage rather than flowers are ALWAYS colorful

No matter how it’s designed and planted, water savings are achieved through the watering infrastructure and human management.

• Install “smart timers” on commercial landscapes.

• Require water-efficient spray heads (MP Rotators) on turf.

• All beds should be drip irrigated.

• Drip irrigation and overhead spray should never run on the same zone.

• Soil moisture sensors & rain sensors are key to automate water savings.

Photo credit: Conserve Water Texas

Examples of waterwise commercial landscapes that WORK!

IHC Supply Chain Center

Bingham Junction Development

Midvale, Utah

Savage Construction Headquarters,

Bingham Junction Development

Midvale, Utah

Senior Living Condos Front Landscape

West Jordan, Utah

Rocky Mountain Power Substation

West Jordan, Utah

Riverton Public Works

Riverton, Utah

(minus the lawn in the parkstrip and

this gets an A+)