Desert communities offer a variety of conditions. Extreme temperatures as well as the lack of precipitation can create difficulties for any landscape contractor looking to tame the native land.

One commonly overlooked problem is the wind,which can create many hurdles when landscaping a yard, not to mention health hazards winds can pose. You don't have to suffer from asthma to feel the effects of the wind.

The Owens Valley in central California is a prime example. This desert region is home to Owens Lake located just south of Lone Pine, Calif. Diverted to supply water to the City of Los Angeles in the early 1900s, the lake had been dry for several years. Winds whipped across the dry lake bed, creating clouds of dust termed "Keeler fog," which contained unhealthy levels of arsenic and drastically reduced visibility in some areas.

Often people look to hydroseeding for the answer, but in a desert environment most seeds won't grow without constant irrigation, which leads to another problem. Water is a valuable resource in desert regions and constantly spraying down dirt areas can be wasteful.

Due to these reasons, many landscapers have adopted techniques to curb the effects of gusting winds. Many steps are taken from the initial groundbreaking of a project to the completion of wind resistant landscaping.

High Desert Community

A rendering of a landscape plan depicts a buried reservoir and how the planners proposed to re-vegetate the area with native plants.

At the base of the Sandia Mountains in Albuquerque, N.M., a 1,000-acre residential community is being developed. The guidelines for the community include strict provisions for water conservation and harvesting, native plant use and wildlife habitat enhancement. The main theme surrounding this project is preservation of the native landscape.

The city of Albuquerque has adopted a surface disturbance permit, issued by the Environmental Health Department, Air Pollution Control Division, to ensure that "disturbance or removal of soil from an area larger than three quarters of an acre or placement of soil on an area larger than three quarters of an acre is accomplished using reasonable precautions within a reasonable time frame to prevent particulate matter from becoming airborne and transported off-site." The permit must be obtained prior to construction plan approval during the building permit process.

"During construction, the method of choice is to water down the site using water trucks," said Dave Daniels, Vice President of Heads Up Landscaping Contractors. In addition to the water trucks, the crew disturbs as little land as possible.

"The crew will not mass grade a subdivision," Daniels said. "They go in and will typically put in streets and disturb about a 10-foot section on either side of the road and that is it. Everything else is left natural, keeping any kind of blowing dust down."

Dust around houses is reduced by similar means. Each lot in the community must adhere to an "envelope" concept of building. This concept only allows about one-third of the lot to be disturbed, leaving the remainder in its natural state. "Inside the envelope you can grade it and do anything you want. Outside of the envelope you are supposed to leave undisturbed," Daniel said.

Within the envelope, some landscaping is allowed. Certain restrictions do apply to the plant materials being used and how they are presented. "No turfgrass is allowed where you can see it," Daniel said. "Typically people have enclosed backyards." Only enclosed areas are allowed to have turfgrass.

The streetscapes provide bedding areas for native plantings of grasses and wildflowers which proved very successful.

The native landscape consists of wild flowers, grasses and shrubs including some junipers and conifers. Though the grasses are not tall or heavy enough to act as a shield from the wind, the root system helps keep the soil from becoming airborne.

As construction expands and portions of the native landscape are disturbed, the areas have to be re-vegetated. To prepare for re-vegetation, the soil is scored with discs before any seeds are introduced. A seed mix, specially formulated for the High Desert community, is then applied. A normal mix is applied at a rate of 10 to 12 pounds per acre, while at this project site, the mix is applied at 34 pounds per acre and drilled into the soil to speed up the rate of regrowing, Daniels said.

Using a mulch blower, the seed mix is covered with a native grass hay. Shortly after, crimping discs are run over the soil to "poke" the mulch into the soil, holding it in place.

The crew relies on simplicity to get the job done. "We don't use any fancy polymers and we don't really put any fertilizers down," Daniel said. "We just depend on doing it at the right time of year and doing it the right way, and we've gotten some fairly amazing results."

High Desert Landscape and Design

For many people, it is hard to think about controlling dust in Las Vegas. Eyes are drawn to the flashing lights on the strip and seldom notice the subtle methods used to abate dust in an arid environment.

Tony Cuglietta of High Desert Landscape and Design in Las Vegas, incorporates a method of dust control that uses natural elements.

"What we use a lot is rock, like decomposed granite," Cuglietta said. "If it's three-quarter-inch or half-inch minus, it sort of packs down and holds or tightens up the ground." Cuglietta often chooses three-quarter-inch minus because it is a bigger rock. After laying the rock bed, the crew hoses down the area to seal the rocks.

Decomposed granite is not used alone. In many cases, the plans call for groundcover to be planted under the rock bed. The rock acts as a cover which keeps the soil in place while the groundcover grows. Rosemary, one of the groundcovers used, not only seals the rock bed once it is established, but also tends to cover up the rock, giving it a more appealing look.

The benefit of installing this style of landscape in a desert area is that it is very drought tolerant. Groundcovers require less water than shrubs or turfgrasses. Furthermore, the rocks act like a sealant for moisture. "In the desert, when you pull a rock up there is moisture underneath," Cuglietta said. "With the groundcover, it also holds the water and moisture down and it still can breathe."

The reservoir site was revegetated in less than two years. Boulders, quarried on site, and surface scrapings were set aside and then used or re-applied.

Besides limiting the need for irrigation, the landscape becomes resistant to weeds. "It seals down like concrete, even after a year it really sits down and keeps weeds from growing back," Cuglietta said. In addition to using rock and groundcover, the crew will create wind screens with various trees and shrubs.

There are many other methods of controlling dust. One suggestion calls for the use of polymers to effectively protect the soil from any erosive factors. If the need is for access roads and not landscaping, some companies offer sealants that can be applied to cover roads to meet with strict dust-control mandates.

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power have taken steps to reduce and control the airborne dust coming from Owens Lake. This historic agreement commits the city to reducing the particulate matter (dust) from the lake bed to comply with particulate matter standards of the Federal Clean Air Act by the 2006 deadline. It also allows greater flexibility in designing or adapting control strategies to increase efficiency and to reduce