by Jan Tubiolo

The $3 million, 4.2 acres project--which includes cactus, wildlife gardens, turf areas, and a resource center--will aid in educating the community about the urgent need to save water in the landscape and will also teach homeowners how to preserve and enhance landscapes in order to reduce environmental decline.

The garden will be a state-of-the-art facility that will allow for research, monitoring and data gathering to support studies on water use through a creative and sustainable landscaping. The garden has been designed to be a "hands-on," "backyard" example of how Xeriscape concepts can be directly applied in Southern California.

A series of educational exhibits will be placed along three pedestrian paths and loops located off a central outdoor entry plaza which displays the California Water Story and graphically demonstrates our position at the extreme southern "End of the Pipeline." Three loops organize the exhibits incorporating the seven Xeriscape principals (planning and design, soil analysis, appropriate plant selection, practical turf areas, efficient irrigation, use of mulches, and appropriate maintenance) into three primary categories: design, maintenance and irrigation.

Features on design elements; fragrance and wildlife garden exhibits; different types of turfgrasses and hardscape alternatives; cactus and succulents; various examples of home landscapes; special irrigation features; mulching and composting displays; and several whimsical touches to delight and entertain while educating the visitors. Landscape Architect Jon Powell of landscape architectural and environmental graphics firm Deneen Powell Atelier, Inc. believes, "The Xeriscape Demonstration Garden is important to people in Southern California because it is intended to show homeowners how very easily they could save water in the landscape, either through landscape design or efficient irrigation."