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4. PLANT SELECTION RIGHT PLANT. RIGHT PLACE. Once you’ve planned out your landscape, you can start picking the best plants for each of your zones. Tape another sheet of tracing paper over your base plan and add your plants, considering site characteristics, use areas, water-use zones and shade needs. PUT LIKE WITH LIKE. To reduce watering and maintenance, group plants with greater water needs together, and place them in a spot that is naturally moist, such as a low-lying area or at the bottom of a hill. Keeping plants with similar needs together allows you to provide just enough water to keep them healthy. Low-water-use plants should be used: In dry spots In windy areas In exposed areas Against sunny south of west walls of buildings 2549 Washington Boulevard Ogden City, Utah 84401 Planning Department [PHONE REDACTED] Water Department [PHONE REDACTED] ---PAGE BREAK--- GETTING THE LAY OF THE LAND Whether you’re developing a new landscape, renovating an existing one or just looking for ways to conserve water, proper planning and design are essential to creating a landscape that is water-wise. Here are some helpful steps. 1. MAP IT OUT IDENTIFY PERMANENT FEATURES On a piece of graph paper, draw to approximate scale any permanent features of your property, including the location of your house, other buildings, large rocks, slopes, existing vegetation you plan to keep. IDENTIFY CHARACTERISTICS Tape tracing paper over your base plan and sketch different qualities and characteristics of your property, including sun exposure, existing shade, direction of summer breezes, slopes, street noise, soil types, drainage problems and views. IDENTIFY USE AREAS AND WISHES Tape on another piece of tracing paper and identify use areas such as gathering, private and access areas. Then identify areas you’d like to add. 2. SHADE IS VERY COOL Shade cast by trees or structures can cool the landscape by as much as 20 degrees, reducing heat buildup and water evaporation from the soil. Shade also reduces heat buildup from hard surfaces, such as driveways, walks and walls. Plan to shade these areas with trees and large shrubs, whenever possible. Trellises, arbors, walls or fences also can provide shade or scatter light. 3. ZOOM IN ON YOUR WATERING ZONES. The next step in planning your landscape is to identify the climate of small specific places within a larger area. Moisture, sun, shade, wind and heat – as well as the physical characteristics of your landscape – create different zones that require different amounts of water. Once you have identified these areas, you can plant “with nature” by selecting plants that can survive and thrive within these zones without much watering. 1. Identify very low water-use zones 2. Low water use zones 3. Moderate water use zones