La Junta Xeriscape Garden Final Report

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e aspects and concepts of planting. For example, many naturally occurring prairie plants have a special beauty all their own and are well adapted to naturally occurring precipitation in the region; but these types of plants and landscapes are rarely considered for home landscaping. We wanted people to first view the park as something that relates to home landscaping and, once that was accomplished we could begin demonstrating that more indigenous landscapes could be used with the same effect. With the help of a professional landscape architect we drew up two conceptual plans (Appendix A). Plan A was more of a traditional park construction and would be easier to build. Plan B provided opportunity to demonstrate home landscaping in an arbor garden setting, but would be more difficult to construct. Police and traffic control officials would not approve the parking as designed in Plan A. We opted to combine the features of the two plans and came up roughly with Plan C. Final design, plant palette and construction specifications were assigned to our architect. The details of that design can be found in Appendix B. e After meetings with local landscaping people and local Tree Board officials we determined that the design we had would work as a good base, but there were a few obstacles to build as designed. It would be to expensive to install as designed. We believed that many of the plants included in the design would be to difficult for local home owners to obtain and therefore the garden would be seen as an oddity and not something that homeowners would use as a model for their own lawns. EDUCATION AND PROMOTIONAL While the designing was in progress we spent our time promoting the park and xeriscape techniques. We arranged speaking engagements at the local schools, the Lions Club and the Rotary Club. The Denver Water Department slide show on xeriscape was purchased and modified to fit local needs. Progress was reported at the monthly Utility Board meeting with many of the reports making the local newspaper. In March, 1995 we had had only minimal commitment from local groups to assist with the construction of the garden. We decided to promote a special Saturday to get people out for the planting. The outing was publicized through the paper, radio, and by phone to special groups. The one-hundred-plus people that showed up to work on the park that Saturday included representation from several community organizations (Cub Scouts, churches, senior citizens, Chamber of Commerce, etc.). The volunteers planted trees throughout the morning, and many of them stayed the day planting trees, working on the trail, and cleaning up rocks and weeds. A short presentation was made on the water saving advantages of xeriscape. - On Arbor Day, ninety people attended a dedication at the xeriscape garden where a presentation on the goals and objectives of water conservation was made. Three families donated 12 trees to the park and the trees were set out that morning. Low impact, low water trees and shrubs were given away at the ceremony with a local arboriculturalist demonstrating proper planting techniques.