La Junta Xeriscape Garden Final Report

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e CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE During the summer and fall of 1994 we worked on soil preparation and weed eradication while design work continued. The site of the garden is an old construction landfill and has compacted over the years. We had to plow and disc the area several times, removing rocks and other debris as we went. Compost material was applied in some areas and the beginning contours for the trail were traced. We planted the first few trees in late fall so we could focus public attention on the site as we promoted the concept of xeriscape. The March gathering and Arbor Day celebrations began the primary planting phase of construction. However, the following weeks brought an exceptional amount of precipitation and the mud delayed continued work on the park. The rains also had the effect of dampening the public enthusiasm we had establish with our initial assemblies. It was nearly June before the mud had dried sufficiently to resume work in the park. - A sprinkler system was installed in June with large areas devoted to drip irrigation. The existing manually operated drip system was tied in with the automatic system. The system operates within six irrigation zones and is connected to a rain sensor. After some operation of the system we realized that a soil moisture sensor would have been more beneficial. Rainfall was never significant enough to make the rain sensor useful, but a soil moisture sensor could have evaluated the plants need for water and included irrigation water determinations. We used buffalo grass and blue grama as the meadow grasses. These grasses are very tolerant to the area and did well the first year with thirty minutes of water early in the morning. We did not mow the grasses until early fall and plan to allow them to grow with minimal cutting in future years. We also expect that less watering will be necessary in subsequent years. A seasonal employee was hired by the Water Department to work in the garden for maintenance and additional planting. He also provided information to interested citizens that stopped by to visit the garden. We also accepted two youths from the municipal court system who were assigned to work off community service in the park. Much of the work done during this period including spreading mulch in planted areas. In early fall, we published a public letter in the local newspaper inviting citizens to visit the new xeriscape garden. Future plans for the garden include an annual budget of $5,000 for maintenance and improvements, on-going monitoring of water consumption, and continued use of the park to promote water-saving landscapes. - FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS The ~xperience of building and planting a xeriscape garden has provided us with important information.