Xeriscaping: Landscape of the future
Wandering along the walkways on Whittier College’s campus, it’s easy to notice the towering pine and palm trees, historic lecture buildings, luscious green turf and even the colorful collage of rose bushes that line the Science and Learning Center. All this charismatic flora can obscure the real shinning star — the newly developed xeriscape gardens popping up at strategic locations around campus. These gardens are cutting down on the amount of water the campus consumes and also saving money. Xeriscaping can turn your current garden or unused outdoor space into an environmentally friendly zone that will definitely make your next-door neighbors head turn.
According to National Geographic, xeriscaping is an approach to landscape design that dramatically reduces or elimates the need to irrigate (water) the yard or garden to sustain it. Xeriscaping emphasizes using plants the climate can readily support, especially native plants that don’t need extra care or attention to survive. It’s a landscape design philosophy that has grown popular in arid and drought-prone Western states. Denver was one of the first cities to publicly support xeriscaping in an urban environment. Melissa Hincha-Ownby in a post on S.C Johnson’s website cites these as the four primary reasons people and institutions are embracing xeriscaping: beauty, water conservation, money conservation, and low maintenance.
Whittier’s embrace of xeriscaping not only saves money and water, it signals a a more conscious approach to how we regard our environment — an indication that we as a college community are starting to put more thought into how to maintain a beautiful campus while embracing conservation.
When most students envision the new gardens on campus, they tend to think of the renovation directly in front of our Science and Learning Center. The former fountain has now been converted into a sophisticated arrangements of drought-resistant plants. According to David Williams, head grounds worker here at Whittier, who has extensive knowledge of plants, each variety has a medicinal use and purpose. Their medicinal purposes is the main reason behind their location directly in the front of our Science and Learning Center. Take for example, Lantana which can be used as a remedy for heart disease and the Agaves for Aloe Vera sunblock.
David Williams and his hands-on crew of skilled laborers, some with up to 12 years of experience, have planted several varieties of native plants. Lamandra Grass, Coastal Roseberry, Salvia clevelandii, and Fox-Tail Agaves are just a few of the plants that now call our campus home.
The office of finance and the environmental service company, Sequoia, are the main players when talking about the new sophisticated agriculture. According to Dorthy Gonzales, the administrative assitant for Whittier’s financial office since 2013, the school “started to think” about why the water bill had been steadily increasing. She explained that most of the costs were being directed into maintaining the campus’s lush grounds, resulting in overwatering, broken sprinklers and even increasing labor costs from having to continually exterminate unwanted plant infestations.
Other costs were also stemming from the use of our two water fountains, even though both the Nixon and James and Patricia Memorial fountains were in use only for a few days each year. Simultaneously, the Southern California Edison Company introduced a incentive program that included a twenty percent discount on water bills for certain institutions that cut back consumption. Gonzales says the college has been eligible for the 20-percent discount for several years now due to the new landscaping and implementation of low flowing toilets and shower heads.
The college’s move toward water conservation came also from the recent drought period which dried up hundreds of natural bodies of water in California. According to the United States Geological Survey, “On January 17, 2014, California State Governor Jerry Brown declared a drought state of emergency. On April 2, 2017, Governor Brown lifted the drought emergency, but declared that California must continue water conservation efforts.”
The Los Angeles County Water Works District currently has a rebate program entitled “Cash for Grass”, which provides incentives for people to convert their landscapes from water-guzzling lawns to more conservationist approaches such as xeriscaping. The main purpose of the incentive is to drive water consumption down in the county and help residents recognize their land ethic.
Accordong to the county, “The Cash for Grass program has removed over 2,000,000 square feet of inefficient turf and replaced it with drought-tolerant, efficient landscaping.”
Once the main problems where identified, Whittier’s Office of Finance contacted Danny McNamara, president/CEO of Sequoia Environmental Services, who addressed the problem with a rather simple landscaping solution. McNanamra developed a new landscaping plan for the college which targeted underutilized spaces on campus. These areas needed to evolve into something visually appealing and cost effective in the long run. The plan designed and developed by Sequoia transformed the natural areas that surround Johnson Hall, Hoover Hall, Campus Inn, Viallobos Pathway, Wardman Hall, and most of the upper campus. Safe to say that a majority of the landscape on campus now is either green grass or Xeriscaped.
When asked how much water and money has been saved since the new landscaping plan had been implemented, head grounds works David Williams said the school has “cut the water roughly down in half, forty to fifty percent.”
Fixing the damaged water sprinklers around campus has been a major contributor to saving water. In order to fix the problem, Williams and his crew replaced the sprinkler nozzles and corrected the routers. Now, most sprinklers rotate in fully vegetated areas and the water hits its, though some sprinklers in the lower lawn and near the Harris Halls are still spraying onto concrete.
The new xeriscape gardens are on a slow-drip irrigation system. These plants need good soil, which can be acquired through the use of mulch and also a sporadic watering in order to thrive. Sequoia’s master landscaping plan includes these requirements and also plans to keep most of the grass for activity space for the neighboring Broad Oaks Elementary school. Although the lawn outside Hoover Hall been converted into a low-maintenance garden.
Xeriscaping has its critics. According to Firewise Landscapes Incorporated, the costs of installing a xeriscape garden can be prohibitive for many. Not to mention it’s not as inviting for recreational use or just relaxing in— it’s hard kick a soccer ball around or spread a blanket out on a xeriscaped yard. Another criticism is that it just doesn’t look as good as lush lawn.
Some students question the new garden’s aesthetics. “They could improve the gardens by focusing more beforehand on the look of the plants, and arrangements, rather than their purpose,” says Hans Zdolsek, a sophomore. “I don’t get any real satisfaction from looking at the plants.”
Los Angeles, however, is in a Coastal Sage Scrub environment, which includes many of the varieties of plants David William’s and crew planted here on campus. As a college community, we are now placing a higher emphasis on what works naturally while at the same time conserving water and money.
If you are wondering what plants near you are native, the following sources will be helpful.
If you are wondering what soil type you have, this link will aid.
