3rd Annual free Woodland Water-wise landscape tour

Join the City of Woodland's free Water-Wise Landscape Tour on Saturday, June 7, to explore attractive, water-efficient landscapes.

"Water-wise landscapes not only reduce water consumption and reduce potential of pollution discharges into the storm water system, they can also beautify a home, lower maintenance, and provide welcome habitat for beneficial insects and birds," according to Wayne Blanchard, water conservation coordinator for the city's Public Works Department.

"During warm weather months residential customers with traditional lawn landscapes allocate, sometimes unknowingly, about 50 percent of their water use to landscape irrigation," Blanchard noted. "A properly designed water-wise landscape can easily cut outdoor water consumption in half during those warm months."

The tour includes 10 sites. The example landscapes represent a wide variety of settings, approaches, and features, including an excellent before-and-after example at 829 Lewis Ave., where owner Sandra Jennings-Jones was able to work around an existing redwood tree and a birch tree grove in this medium-sized front yard.

The landscaping incorporated a dry creek bed to reduce runoff, a flagstone walkway, mounded plantings of drought-tolerant plants, and a seating area for enjoying the results. Jennings-Jones stated. "After installing a water-wise garden, I spend less time maintaining the yard and more time enjoying the view."

Blanchard said the inspiration for the tour came from residents' interest in learning first-hand about successful water-wise landscaping in Woodland, including plant selections, designs and landscaping techniques.

The tour complements the city's recent how-to workshop series on low-water landscaping, Water Wise Wednesdays.

Blanchard stated, "We plan on offering this series again in 2015. The workshop has been well received the last three years and allows those on the verge of doing this sort of transformation an opportunity to study issues in more depth."

The Water-Wise Landscape Tour activities will begin at 8:30 a.m. with a registration event at the Woodland Community and Senior Center, 2001 East St. The registration event will include an alternative grass display, relevant literature, mow-strip planting plans for water- wise home landscapes, a presentation on providing for beneficial insects in a drought year, and an overview of the tour sites. The landscape tour guide book and maps will be available at the registration event.

The self-guided tour runs from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Tour participants will have the opportunity to learn how owners removed existing plant material, prepared the sites, addressed challenges, and set up irrigation systems. Homeowners and/or Yolo County Master Gardener volunteers will be on site at the tour destinations to answer additional questions about the landscapes.

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3rd Annual free Woodland Water-wise landscape tour