Water. One of the basic elements without which we cannot survive. Pretty much the same is true for our gardens. While the general perception is that we as residents of the North State have plenty of water – good, clean water – the actual fact is that water – specifically good clean water – is one of the world’s most rapidly diminishing resources. Photo: A fountain at the McConnell Arboretum and Gardens at Turtle Bay in Redding tells the tale of water and how it is used in the United States.

Few gardeners among us, I believe, do not think about water conservation in relation to our gardens – whether we think of it in a semi-guilty way as we set our sprinklers or increase the watering time on our irrigation clocks in the searing heat of our North State summers, or we make concerted conservation efforts with drought tolerant plants and recycled gray water for our irrigation. But generally speaking, our guilt and sometime lapses in our conservation efforts are by and large offset by the knowledge that the rains will arrive eventually.

Right?

Well, mostly right. “Several dilemmas stand in the way of getting people to conserve water in the North State.” Ken Chase Founder and Creative Director of Lifescapes, A Landscape Development and Maintenance Company in Chico, tells me as we walk around the Conservation Demonstration Garden that he helped to develop for California Water Service in the early 1990s and which is located on the corner of 1st Avenue and Sheridan in Chico. “1. It appears we have plenty of water annually and relative to lots of places we do have plenty, 2. The cost of water is relatively inexpensive here in Northern California even if you are paying for your water, and 3. Most of us feel a little like: “Why should I save water when all that I save just gets sent to people who are not asked to conserve in Southern California?”

In 2008, Paul G. Ekstrom, Cal Water’s Vice President of Customer Service announced that “Cal Water has been actively encouraging customers to conserve water for some time, and in fact will be implementing tiered rates in most of our service areas as of July 1, 2008 that will reward conservation efforts. But this marks the first time since the last official drought that we’ve asked consumers to achieve a specific conservation target.”

It was also the first time that Cal Water had provided positive financial incentive to achieve conservation efforts.

For those people currently on a flat rate with Cal Water, another change is coming. On the Cal Water website it states: “We are required by law to install water meters for all customers by 2025. Our construction schedule is to convert 1200-1400 services per year, and we will go area by area to maximize efficiency.”

2025 may seem far away, but if you are one of the first areas to be converted , you will feel this change right away, and if you want to be ahead of the game and be charged less for using less water – where do you even start?

It was during the last major drought period in California in the 1990s that Ken Chase of Lifescapes first helped to create the Conservation Garden for Cal Water. Earlier this year, with all these changes coming to water delivery and water costs, Cal Water and Ken Chase thought it was the right time to update the Conservation Garden as a model of ideas and technologies for water conservation.

Over the last 6 months, three key Lifescapes professionals – Ken Chase, Gary Walters - Maintenance Operation Manager, and Mike Thiede - Plant Specialist, as well as a Cal Water’s Kit Roggli, have worked on the renovation and updating of the Conservation Garden. The city-lot-sized garden now has mature trees, lawn areas, shrubbery and herbaceous plantings. “When we first started working on the idea of a renovation, we knew we had to start with getting overgrown and outdated plants under control,” Gary Walters explains. Photo: Gary Walters (left facing) and Ken Chase (right) in the Conservation Garden in Chico.

“We have several goals for the garden and for how we hope to see people use it,” he continues. “We want the garden to display and demonstrate a range of the many conservation styles and choices that people have when they are creating their gardens – from what plants they might choose, to different permeable materials they might lay down in their garden pathways, to which edging they use, to which mulch looks good, to which irrigation sprinkler heads are most efficient in different areas of the gardens. In this demonstration garden, different sprinkler heads ad systems will be displayed as better for lawns, or shrubbery or vegetable or flower beds. Ultimately, we hope that the garden will blow people away – will show them that a water conserving garden is lush and gorgeous and can be achieved in almost any style you might enjoy.”

Walking the garden, it is clear that water is at the heart of the conservation ideas being showcased, but so too are other resources. The mulch is all produced from chipped yard waste taken from the garden itself. The pathways are all permeable (to reduced run-off and the heat-island effect produced by reflective surfaces such as concrete) and they are all locally sourced. The edging materials are made from recycled plastic.

The renovation of the garden is moving in phases, with old plants having been pruned or removed and new themed areas, plant selections with preliminary signage, display hardscape materials and irrigation technologies for the most part put in place this past spring and summer. By early 2010, a brand new smart clock will be displayed on the side of the mall garden shed that sits just off center in the garden, along with a site map and educational materials for people to pick up. By spring of 2010, all of the trial and demonstration plant beds will be fully planted so that people can see how a variety of different plants in a variety of different areas (such as full dry sun, dry shade, moist shade, under a tree, etc.) are doing with a variety of different watering systems and rates. Photo: It was particularly important to the Lifescapes team that the garden look lush and appropriate for all garden styles.

“So much research and development has gone on in the area of irrigation alone in the past 20 years,” says Gary Walters. “After extensive trials by a whole range of groups, we understand a lot more about run-off and effective water delivery and schedules. And the technology has started to catch up with the knowledge. Smart irrigation systems now have match precipitation style settings, low and slow precipitation settings that help to reduce run-off which allows you to water more deeply and thus support the growth of stronger more disease and stress resistant plants and trees. And, finally, cycle and soak settings wherein you water an area for 10 minutes, wait 10 minutes and then water another 10 minutes - which, especially in lawns, waters more deeply and thus more effectively.”

Plant selection is another area that has come a long way since the 1990s and Mike Thiede, the former owner of Chico Creek Gardens and on the cutting edge of new plant selections, is instrumental in working with Ken and Gary on the themed plantings and the specific plant selections. Currently the new plantings include a shaded fern garden, a camellia walk, an Oak row, a succulent and iris area, a butterfly and hummingbird bed and an ornamental grass display. “About 15% of the plantings are native to Northern California,” Ken points out. “We wanted to include all kinds of plants as long as they were drought tolerant, hardy and attractive so that the garden will speak to all kinds of gardeners.” Photo: Grasses and Carex at the Conservation Garden in Chico.

Confession: I have lawn around a good portion of my house. I have kids and I have dogs and so lawn is useful to me. Do I need as much as I have? No. Using a 10-year old automatic irrigation clock, I water my lawn and flower beds (at night) 3 times a week in summer, and if it is very hot I will manually run a zone as needed. I have discovered multiple leaks in the system throughout this year, but we have gotten those all repaired. Is my irrigation clock the most efficient? No. Could I do better? Yes. Photo: The dry shade fern bed at the Conservation Garden in Chico.

But the thought of revamping my irrigation or re-placing those too-thirsty or poorly-sited plants in my landscaping sends me over the edge emotionally and I worry that it would send me over the edge financially, as well. Where are the benefits beyond being a better person and doing the right thing, I sometimes grudgingly wonder.

But being a better person and doing the right thing ARE mighty incentives and the fact is that we have to start changing our habits sometime. All of us can attest after the last two years that profligate waste and a general lack of conservation of any resource will eventually come back to haunt you. Or your kids. Photo: Educational materials currently at the Cal Water Conservation Garden in Chico.

Furthermore, some additional slightly more painful incentives are coming down the line. This tough love for wasteful water users is approaching in the form of the implementation by the California Urban Water Conservation Council of at least a part of Assembly Bill 1881 “The Water Conservation and Landscaping Act of 2006.”

A 2008 Reuters article summarizes the situation well: “According to the American Water Works Association research, 58
percent of urban water goes to landscapes which are typically
overwatered from 30 - 300 percent. To address widespread outdoor water waste, the California lawmakers passed legislation, Assembly Bill 1881, targeting cities, homeowners and water agencies. AB 1881 requires local agencies to adopt water efficient landscape ordinances no later than January 2010. The legislation also mandates performance standards for
landscape irrigation equipment, including Smart Water Management
controllers to reduce the wasteful, inefficient consumption of water.” Photo: A fountain at the McConnell Arboretum and Gardens at Turtle Bay in Redding tells the tale of water and how it is used in the United States.

Now these mandates will fall hardest and fastest on commercial landscapers in their development or building of new residential and commercial landscapes, and with these mandates right around the corner, the California Landscape Contractors Association has a statewide campaign underway to educate home and landowners about improved water and irrigation technologies and better planting and placement techniques.

The newly renovated Cal Water Conservation Garden in Chico is an educational and timely resource that is available for free 24/7 to landscapers, homeowners, developers and do-it-yourselfers to get ahead of this eight ball. Plans are also underway for classes, workshops and tours of the garden beginning in early 2010. Photo: White Salvia in the Cal Water/Lifescape’s Conservation Garden in Chico.

Change will start with education: educating ourselves about the true cost to our gardens, ourselves and our planet of using more water than we need and educating ourselves about the steps we can take to improve our water usage habits. The Conservation Garden designed and renovated by Lifscapes Landscaping as a collaborative effort with Cal Water at the corner of Sheridan and 1st Avenue in Chico aims to help us educate ourselves.

As with all education, however, it’s up to us to put it to good use.

For further reading on designing a water conserving but beautiful garden, you might try these following selections. All of my reading recommendations are available in stock or by special order for the more expensive ones) at Lyon Books in Chico. You can order on-line and they are happy to ship. Photo: A fountain at the McConnell Arboretum and Gardens at Turtle Bay in Redding tells the tale of water and how it is used in the United States.

Xeriscape Handbook: A How-To Guide to natural, Resource-Wise Gardening, by Gayle Weinstein (Fulcrum 1999)

Xeriscape Plant Guide: 100 Water-Wise Plants for Gardens and Lanscapes by Denver Water (Fulcrum 1996)

Durable Plants for the Garden: A Plant Select guide by Colorado State University (Fulcrum 2009)

In the coming months, several outstanding classes and workshops on using drought tolerant plants and related topics are taking place in our region:

September 17 – Redding: McConnell Arboretum & Gardens at Turtle Bay Turtle U 400: 7:00 PM Lecture, Visitor Center Theater: Environmental Gardening and the UC Davis Arboretum All-Star program Speaker: Ellen Zagory, Director of Horticulture at UC Davis Arboretum. More Info: Call 530-242-3108 or www.turtlebay.org.

September 19 – Redding: McConnell Arboretum & Gardens at Turtle Bay Gardening with California Natives. 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM Join Shasta College instructor Susan Libonati for a slideshow presentation of Garden Worthy Natives, which are compatible with our climate and also easy to grow. Includes live plant examples, take-home lists of appropriate species, and a short tour of the native plants displayed in the Gardens. Members $6, nonmembers $8, Turtle Bay volunteers $3 Meet at the Arboretum & Botanical Gardens Office at 1135 Arboretum Drive (Next to Greenhouse in Nursery) More Info: Call 530-242-3108 or www.turtlebay.org.

October 3 – Chico: Mt. Lassen Chapter Cal Native Plant Society WORKSHOP: Gardening with Drought Tolerant Natives! 10 am - 3 pm, Chico Creek Nature Center. Admission $20. Learn the what, why, when, where, and how of incorporating drought tolerant native plants into your garden. Featuring regional native plant experts, including landscape designers Paula Shapiro of Chico, John Whittlesey of Canyon Creek Nursery and Design in Oroville, Bernadette Balics of Ecological Landscape Design in Davis, and Jim Dempsey of Cal State Parks, speaking on ornamental native grasses. Pre-register by mailing a check to Mt. Lassen Chapter CNPS, P.O. Box 3212, Chico,Ca., 95927-3212. More Info: Paula Shapiro: paulashapiro@wildblue.net, or call: 530-343-7440.

November 14 – Chico: Friends of the Chico State Herbarium 9 am – 5 pm. GENERAL INTEREST/TECHNICAL Workshop: Growing and Propagating Native Plants for the Garden with Germaine Boivin and John Whittlesey. Chico State Herbarium, Holt Hall Room 129. More Details coming soon. Please register in advance with the Gateway Science Museum office at (530) 898-3511 or gateway@csuchico.edu.

In a North State Garden is a radio- and web-based outreach program of the Gateway Science Museum - Exploring the Natural History of the North State, based in Chico, CA. In a North State Garden celebrates the art, craft and science of home gardening in California’s North State region, and is conceived, written, photographed and hosted by Jennifer Jewell - all rights reserved jewellgarden.com. In A North State Garden airs on Northstate Public Radio KCHO/KFPR radio, Saturday mornings at 7:34 AM Pacific time and Sunday morning at 8:34 AM Pacific time. Podcasts of past shows are available here.

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