Conservation Garden Park manager Shawn Moser discusses an area of the park where annual irrigation is measured on each of several plots of turfgrass, including this planting of Hachita blue grama grass. Photo by Darrell J. Pehr
One of the stops on the turfgrass research tour at the annual meeting of the Crop Science Society of America late last year was at the Conservation Garden Park in West Jordan, Utah.
The ideas shared at the park, a demonstration project of the Jordan Valley Water Conservation District, are similar to what is happening at more and more golf courses, except on a much smaller scale. While golf course superintendents are dealing with projects that may cover dozens of acres of landscape, the demonstration areas at the park are geared to homeowners’ yards, generally an acre or less in size. Still, the concepts of water conservation on both scales have much in common.
Park manager Shawn Moser led participants on a walking tour of the more than 8 acres of exhibits, pathways and plants. He noted that the Conservation Garden Park is Salt Lake County’s top resource for those wishing to learn about how Utah’s unique climate — harsh winters coupled with hot, dry summers — creates special challenges when protecting water resources. On our visit, we saw numerous examples of Utah-friendly plants, as well as displays of ways to create water-efficient landscapes.
The Localscapes demonstration area focused on methods of moving from an all-grass yard to a middle-ground approach that stopped short of a desert xeriscape. Calling it “a moderate approach to landscaping that works for Utah,” Moser pointed out that one key element of a Localscape is to create a central open space with lawn that would occupy about 35% of the space. A key consideration is the placement and coverage of sprinkler systems, ensuring the lawn area matches the irrigation plan for more efficient water use. Included in the landscape are gathering areas, such as gazebos and sun decks, as well as activity zones, such as playsets for kids, gardens, sheds and swings, all without turf to maintain.
Paths, the fourth element in a Localscape, are connectors between other areas. Homeowners are encouraged to use pavers, gravel or flagstone, but not grass, for the paths, which would be difficult to maintain in such narrow strips. The final elements of a Localscape are planting beds, much like a golf course native area, where local climate-appropriate plants are selected and strategically placed with shade, privacy, beauty and efficiency considered. Drip irrigation is suggested for most areas of the planting beds, and if plants that require more water are chosen, they are grouped together to make watering more efficient.
The Localscapes concept seems especially useful to golf course superintendents when dealing with out-of-play and native areas, as well as cart paths and other course-side landscapes. Visit Localscapes.com for more information.
For Utah, the need to conserve water is critical, with state leaders expecting Utah’s population to double by 2060. More than 60% of all the water delivered by the conservation district to about 700,000 water customers is used on outdoor landscaping. The need for greater water-efficient landscaping across the Wasatch Front was recognized in the late 1990s. The district opened a demonstration garden in 2000, later expanding to the Conservation Garden Park in 2011. Leaders also realized conservation and new sources of water must go hand-in-hand, and one of their most promising approaches is to educate homeowners on steps they can take to help make a difference.
Golf courses, too, face pressure to use water more efficiently and are already doing so as reported by the recent Golf Course Environmental Profile that found “total water use on U.S. golf courses continues to decline ever so slightly — 3% fewer acre-feet in 2024 than reported in 2020. Over the past two decades, water use on U.S. golf courses has been reduced 31%, signaling a broad trend toward improved water stewardship in the golf industry.”
For those of us on the tour, it was good to see that efforts to conserve water, even at the scale of yard-by-yard for homeowners in Utah, are making progress through innovation, understanding and ideas based on a moderate, sustainable approach.
Darrell J. Pehr is GCM’s science editor.