Waterwise Plantings for the Palouse

Before completing my very first landscape planting design four years ago for a class at the University of Idaho, I figured the process would be fairly straight forward: group plants in an attractive manner to achieve a desired effect. What I didn't realize at the time and what I've come to realize since is that it takes a considerable amount of analysis of the site and the attributes of the selected plants to make sure they thrive once they are put in the ground. Though selection of plants for their color, texture, size or form is the first step, additional steps must be taken to ensure the sustained beauty of the landscape you are creating.

I've recently been involved in a landscape project for the City of Moscow's Water Department where all this has come back to me. This project entailed designing a planting display for the Water Department building on the corner of A Street and Main that follows Moscow's Waterwise landscaping principles:

• Appropriate plant selection
• Planning and design
• Soil preparation
• Practical turf areas
• Efficient irrigation
• Use of mulches
• Appropriate maintenance

Our hope was that residents of the Palouse would see the display and recognise that efficient use of water in residential settings doesn't mean you have to plant yucca and Utah junipers around your house. Instead, this project demonstrates that outdoor water use can be reduced dramatically without sacrificing the beauty of landscape.

More on this later.