How landscaping plays a key role in the fight against climate change - Rocky Mountain PBS
How landscaping plays a key role in the fight against climate change
Coneflower adds pops of color to the Claus' yard in Lakewood.
“I love looking out and seeing how many animals, in one moment, can be enjoying the yard. I think that is what we wanted. We wanted that richness, and there’s so much more life that happens,” Sarah said. “Not only are we not having to deal with gas or the emissions from the lawnmower, but [the yard] is a habitat instead. It’s not supposed to just be ornamental.”
Xeriscaping’s Colorado roots
Denver Water coined the phrase xeriscaping in 1981, combining “landscaping” with “xeros,” the Greek word for dry. Xeriscaping is based on seven principles: plan and design; soil amendment; efficient irrigation; mulch; plant zones; alternative turf grasses; and maintenance.
[NewsHour: What is xeriscaping? How you can turn your lawn into a sustainable oasis]
Xeriscaping looks different depending on the climate. No matter where you are, though, the commonality will be that the landscaping prioritizes using as little water as possible. That doesn’t mean it’s all just rocks and cacti, and as local governments incentivize homeowners to conserve water, people like Anna Hoover are prepared to show Coloradans how beautiful — and easy — a xeric landscape can be.
Sunflowers are on full display at the Majestic View Nature Center's demonstration garden.
Hoover is the director of the Majestic View Nature Center, the environmental education hub for the City of Arvada. Prior to 2008, the nature center was a private residence with exclusively turf grass. Now, the area showcases a sprawling demonstration garden with sunflowers, coneflowers, milkweed, succulents and many more species.
The garden exists to show Arvada residents the possibilities of xeriscaping. At 25,000 square feet, the space can be overwhelming to prospective gardeners and landscapers who don’t know what to plant first.
“A great way to start is to find out what you want to do in your garden,” Hoover said. If you want birds, butterflies, bees or small mammals in your yard, for example, “that can help direct you to what plant species to select.”
Anna Hoover is the director of the Majestic View Nature Center in Arvada.
This year marks the 20th birthday for “ garden in a box,” a plant-by-numbers kit of waterwise plants and flowers distributed by Resource Central, a Boulder-based conservation nonprofit.
The nonprofit’s direct-to-consumer gardens are one of the most popular ways that individuals and municipalities transition to xeric landscapes. When the program started in 2003, Resource Central delivered 100 gardens. In 2023? Eleven thousand.
Ali Colbert, senior program coordinator for garden in a box, said people can purchase gardens from Resource Central twice a year — in the spring and again in the fall. Spring, she continued, is when they get most of their business, because customers are a bit stir crazy after the winter months. Because they sell out in a matter of weeks, Resource Central is encouraging more people to plant in the fall.
“Right around now is a great time to plant,” Colbert said. “The soil is warmer and the plants are also not focused on producing a bloom; they’re more so focused on growing their roots down.”
Phebe Taylor, program manager for garden in a box and Resource Central’s waterwise yard seminars, said fall is the ideal time to plant.
“We’re definitely working on greater supply and educating the public a bit more about fall,” she said. “It’s the least water-intensive time to start a garden.”
Taylor said recent research found that a 100-square foot waterwise garden saves 1,000 gallons/year compared to Kentucky bluegrass, but she believes it could be even more.
“Perennial gardens are estimated to thrive seven to ten years on average, and many go much longer than that,” Taylor said. “So that is about 7,000 to 10,000 gallons over the course of their lifetime and I think that’s quite conservative.”
Taylor and Colbert met with Rocky Mountain PBS outside Lafayette Fire Station No. 1. Just two years ago, the lawn was made of turf. Now, it’s a colorful demonstration garden filled with waterwise plants, much like the garden at the Majestic View Nature Center. We have Pete Bradshaw to thank for that.
When Bradshaw was namedLafayette fire chief in the spring of 2021, he got word that the firefighters were tired of mowing and watering the station’s lawn, which nobody used. He teamed up with Elizabeth Szorad, the sustainability manager with the City of Lafayette, to come up with a solution.
Szorad had been receiving a lot of calls from Lafayette residents who wanted to convert their yards to a xeric landscape but didn’t know how to start or what it could look like. She and Bradshaw decided to use a garden in a box from Resource Central to create a demonstration garden.
Related Knowledge Center: Climate economics
Climate change is now a driver of the world’s economy. The impact is profound:
- Catastrophic weather events — hurricanes, floods, droughts, high temperatures — are more frequent and more extreme. The cost can be measured in both the initial damage caused and the longer-term impact on the economy.
- Vulnerable communities are increasing climate-related investments, hardening infrastructure and taking other protective measures.
- Investment in carbon capture and storage technologies is increasingly rapidly.
- Governments are making investments and crafting regulations to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
On top of all of this is the cost of uncertainty. As the Fourth National Climate Assessment, released in 2018 by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, says, “The assumption that current and future climate conditions will resemble the recent past is no longer valid.”