 The following is a production of New Mexico State University. The Xeriscape demonstration garden in Colorado Springs provides an extensive resource for water-wise gardeners. Visitors quickly discover that Xeriscape is more than just rocks and cacti. This garden is lush and colorful, with dramatic views of the famous Garden of the Gods and Pike's Peak. Valerie, this is just the most outstanding garden, but in a spectacular setting. How did it come to be here? Well, since we are a utility, one of our major concerns is that people do conserve the water that we have. So it was designed to show homeowners how they can cut down on the water use in our landscapes. Xeriscape, the way we define it, is a water-wise, attractive and sustainable landscape that is based on horticulture, good horticultural practices and research. And there are really seven principles. If you follow that, you've done that. Absolutely. They're not necessarily steps. They are principles. The first one is the planning and design. If you don't plan well, you're not going to have an effective landscape. Amending the soil, especially in our areas, is so important. Practical turf areas, everybody needs a little turf for some reason or another, but we just ask that they have the right kind of turf for their needs. And then water it efficiently as another principle. Very important. Plant selection is important. There are a lot of natives that will do well in the landscape. Mulching, if they have an existing landscape, mulching is so important. That's the one thing they can do to be more water-wise. And then, of course, maintenance is very important. I can't leave that one out because maintenance is part of any garden. Absolutely. And if you follow those steps, you've got a Xeriscape probably. Absolutely. If you plan properly. Yes, and it's water-wise. And we can walk through this garden, see all of those principles applied. Absolutely. And that favorite one of mine, the appropriate plant material. That's my favorite, too. Let's take a look at those. Okay. This garden really illustrates planning and design. What are the things you consider here? There's a lot of things to consider when you start planning your landscape. And one of them is what's already existing, and also the way you want to use your landscape. See, you've got existing things here at Lilacs. Yes, the Lilacs are part of the original garden. When we designed it, we did design it so that there would be some shade with the trees that we've planted. We wanted to give homeowners an option for the high-water use bluegrass. So we planted a time lawn. And as you can see, we planted it in a pea-graveled mulch. We found that the drainage was a lot better and that the Mediterranean-type plants were a lot happier with that kind of mulch. And mulching is one of the principles we have to consider. Absolutely. And so this is an inorganic mulch, which works better for them. That's correct. Some plants require it. And here we've got a bark mulch, so an organic mulch right next to it. Yes, the organic mulch is really the preference that we use in the garden. And my favorite is just what we call a generic tree mulch. There's a lot of different shapes and sizes, so it kind of knits together to keep it from blowing away. Better than throwing it away. Oh, absolutely. And it decomposes and enriches the soil at the same time. And in planning design, we also plan our hydro zones or our water zones. Yes, yes. This particular zone is a low zone right now because it's still undergoing the establishment period. But hopefully we'll be able to wean it so that we're only watering it maybe once every two weeks. Here in the lilac garden, we've seen planning a design, mulches, and appropriate irrigation. Now in another garden, you've got some turf grass. So let's go see if practical or appropriate turf. In a zero-escape, if you use turf, you want to make sure that you have a use for it and you want to make sure that you have the right kind of grass for your use. And the right-sized area. Absolutely. You want to make sure that it's easy to irrigate. That's why I like the word appropriate. All of these are appropriate applications. You've got blue gram of grass over here. Yes, it's a warm-season grass. It's a little tender here. It's dormant quite often. Further south and lower elevation, it's an excellent grass. Excellent, yes. Up here we prefer the cool-season grasses like the fescue. And another important aspect is soil preparation. Absolutely, because you only get that chance once. Maintenance is very important in the zero-escape. And here in the fescue, how often do you have to mow? We mow this two times a week. Now over in the blue grama, which grows a little bit slower, it has a lower water need. We mow that about four times during the growing season. In this area that's longer, we just mow that one time a year. Just to take the brown off so it looks green when it comes out. Well, here in the garden now, we've seen the seven zero-escape principle. My favorite part is the selection of plants, because I like the plants. But all seven principles are important. Yes, very. Thank you. You're very welcome. Thank you for coming. For more information on zero-escaping or the demonstration garden, contact Colorado Springs Utilities at www.csu.org.