Net Zero Energy Saving Mortgage Program.

			June 13, 2013 Subscribe/ Unsubscribe View Online Printer Friendly
Colorado’s ZNE Goose Lays Golden Eggs With political acrimony in Washington expected to continue, state and local governments cannot wait for the federal government to create the badly needed jobs, economic activity, and resultant revenue needed to sustain themselves; they must use the options available and undertake the task on their own – and they can. Colorado just took a giant step forward. The Centennial State is set to create more construction jobs, increase state and local government tax revenue, and move its housing market to Zero Net Energy (ZNE) – meaning homes that produce as much on-site energy as they consume! Thanks to the Colorado Energy Saving Mortgage Program, signed into law by Governor Hickenlooper on May 28, a homebuyer purchasing a new or renovated ZNE (HERS 0 rating) home is eligible for an $8,000 reduction on financing the total cost of their home mortgage. A new or renovated home that has a HERS rating greater than HERS 0, but less than HERS 50 (50% energy reduction), will also receive a mortgage reduction incentive. In addition to an $8,000 mortgage incentive, homebuyers will benefit further from lower energy bills, which can be used to offset any cost increase on a ZNE home. For example, $30,000 in improvements on a 2,200 square foot home, after the $8,000 incentive, would require an additional $94.53 in mortgage payments each month. The monthly energy savings, however, would be $154.00. That's a net savings of $59.47 a month. Bill introduced by Senator Gail Schwartz, and Representatives Max Tyler and Mike Foote. Example is based on a 30-year, 4% mortgage, and average home energy cost of $0.84/sf/year. Under this new program, a homebuyer can receive an $8,000 incentive, and purchase a zero net energy home that is worth substantially more – and at a lower annual cost than an equivalent non-ZNE home. According to the analysis conducted by Architecture 2030, each $1 million in incentives will generate: $16.22 million in direct spending, $16.49 million in indirect and induced spending, and $1.92 million in state and local government tax revenue. This program “has great support from the construction and financial sectors, as we continue to work together to keep Colorado at the forefront of renewable energy, clean tech and energy efficiency policy nationally” said Senator Gail Schwartz. With interest rates low, now is the ideal time to leverage state and local government incentives to generate local building sector jobs, increase tax revenue, and stimulate the growth of an affordable high-performance housing market. New York is following Colorado’s lead. On May 17th, Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton introduced a Zero Net Energy Tax Credit Bill in the New York State Assembly. The bill, patterned after the ZNE program developed by Architecture 2030, would give homebuyers a personal state income tax credit for purchasing a new or renovated home equal to: $5,000 for a HERS 50 home (50% energy reduction), $7,500 for a HERS 25 home (75% energy reduction), and $10,000 for a HERS 0 home (zero net energy). The tax credit would more that pay for itself – each $1 million in tax credits would create approximately $27 million in total spending, and generate over $3 million in state and local government tax revenue. And in New Mexico, a Sustainability Tax Credit bill, introduced by Senator Peter Wirth, was passed and recently signed by the Governor. The bill provides personal and corporate income tax credits, for both new and renovated high-performance commercial and residential buildings. We encourage each state to get into the golden egg business with its own ZNE goose. For more information and a customized state ZNE Plan, contact Architecture 2030.

Homeowner Associations And The Right To Solar Power

EarthTechling

Homeowner Associations And The Right To Solar Power

by Greentech Media

Homeowners’ right to solar and the solar industry’s fight to cut rooftop solar soft costs could both get a boost from a new effort to educate neighborhood associations.
“This makes the case for solar directly to homeowner association (HOA) members and their review committees,” explained author Philip Haddix of The Solar Foundation’s report, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood: Encouraging Solar Development through Community Association Policies and Processes. “It tells them how they can allow more solar while fulfilling their responsibility to protect community interests and without ceding their authority.”
This issue is a subset of the soft cost discussion, Haddix said. “It is not quantified in the studies on soft costs but it is a permitting or planning and zoning issue. If there was a way to quantify this as a cost, it would be in the time lost dealing with the HOA.”
The opportunity is big. There are over 25 million housing units in HOA-governed communities and 52 percent of them (13 million) are suitable for residential solar, according to the report. An average-size solar system on just 5 percent of them would be “3.3 gigawatts, as much solar energy as was added in the entire U.S. in 2012.”
The major HOA concerns are:

• Community aesthetics
• Tree preservation and planting
• Health and safety
• Array size
• Array orientation
• Array tilt
• System shading

Difficulties arise from people not knowing about HOA restrictions, deciding to ignore them, or not knowing on what basis the HOA will judge the system, Haddix said. In some cases, a dispute can result in a lawsuit.
Whether an HOA is pro-solar or flat out against it, Haddix said, rules that are clearly delineated produce a better outcome.
There are Solar Rights Provisions in twenty-two states, Haddix said. Though far from standardized, provisons help guide HOAs. “Generally, people are better off with solar rights laws because they don’t allow HOAs to prohibit solar,” Haddix said. “The homeowner automatically has the right to have a solar system.”

Solar Rights Provisions fall into four broad categories:

• Type I: No Limits on Restrictions
• Type II: Undefined “Reasonable” Restrictions
• Type III: Qualified “Reasonable” Restrictions
• Type IV: Quantified Restrictions

Type III is slightly more common. Type IV, which quantifies restrictions, is better, according to Haddix, but Arizona’s Type III Provision proved important in a recent court fight:
“In Garden Lakes Community Association vs. William Madigan, et al., the Arizona Court of Appeals found that the association’s requirement that homeowners adopt (what were ultimately considered) impractical or costly placement and screening measures ‘effectively prohibited’ the installation and use of a solar energy system, even though solar was not expressly prohibited by the community’s architectural guidelines.”
“The Court said the rule had the effect of prohibiting solar,” Haddix explained, “and the Arizona solar rights provision says an association can make ‘reasonable restrictions’ but can’t make rules that ‘effectively prohibit’ solar.”
Common elements in Solar Rights Provisions include:

• Statement of Legislative Intent
• Voiding Prohibitions Against Solar
• Allowable Restrictions
• Applicability to Structures
• Awarding of Attorney’s Fees
• Grandfathering Clause
• HOA Policy Creation Mandate
• No Avoidance or Delay
• Provisions for Ground-Mounted Systems

The paper makes three recommendations for HOAs:

1. Improved processes and rules through understanding solar and how restrictions can negatively affect system performance
2. Improved clarity, specificity, and accessibility of association solar guidelines
3. Stakeholder meetings to produce practical guidelines that reflect community needs and values

“The bottom line,” Haddix said, “is that informed, well-crafted, and clearly written guidelines for solar can allow more solar and minimize solar-related disputes between homeowners and HOAs while at the same time protecting other legitimate community interests and without requiring HOAs to cede their governance authority.”

Editor’s Note: EarthTechling is proud to repost this article courtesy of Greentech Media. Author credit goes to Herman Trabish.

World Class Supply Carries Green Building Materials

Tiny Green Houses

5 Tiny Houses With Big Green Ideas

by Laura Caseley

As Posted on www.earthtechling.com

It used to be that the sign of living well was a big house, one with lots of rooms, maybe a pool—the kind of house you might envy when you catch a glimpse of it on TV or in a magazine. But that’s changing. Due to environmental and economic pressures, builders and buyers alike are beginning to think smaller and smaller and look to more sustainable technologies and materials for homes.
This movement, known as the “tiny house movement,” is a direct response to the growing concern about environmental impact, carbon footprints, financial challenges and concerns about space and land conservation. There’s also a sense of freedom that many tiny-house dwellers talk about. Many of these houses are modular, and that means they can be packed up, shipped out and then plopped down anywhere the residents desire (within zoning limitations, of course). They can even be placed on rooftops, which means they utilize the otherwise unused space on urban skylines. The houses are also very inexpensive, which means owners seldom have to be concerned with a mortgage. This gallery showcases five little houses with pretty big eco-conscious features. Simply click a photo to learn more. Oh, and did we mention how cute they are?

Buy Green Building Materials For Your Tiny House From World Class Supply

Repairing Damage to Plaster Walls

By DoItYourself.com Staff

Plaster walls, especially those in older homes, usually have cracks due to the house "settling" in its foundation, or holes from where furniture or doors have struck the plaster and damaged it. Repairing plaster walls is a fairly straightforward process. While it should be done right before a paint job (as the location of the repair will be visible), you may choose to repair the damage and match the patch as best as you can to the existing wall surface.

You should get Adobe Flash Player so you can view the video.

Hairline Cracks in Plaster Walls

Hairline cracks in plaster walls cannot be patched until there is something for the patch to adhere to. In order to provide a good seat for the patch, the hairline crack should be widened a bit. For long hairline cracks, remove a bit of plaster at intervals along the crack to provide a better seat. Clean out any dust or loose plaster with a damp towel.

Fill the crack with plaster using your spackling knife. As you do so, be sure to get into the gouges that you have made along the crack and overlap the existing plaster. This will allow the patch to cling to the vertical surface of the wall, ensuring a secure patch.

Allow the patch to dry for 24 hours. If your patch seems to have receded into the crack, patch it again and allow to dry for another 24 hours. If you notice an uneven surface, sand the patch smooth to match the rest of the wall. Prime and paint if necessary.

Repairing Holes in Plaster Walls

Clear away any dust or loose plaster around the hole that will prevent the patch from adhering to the wall. Carefully carve under the edge of the broken plaster, in order to provide a good seat for the plaster patch. In other words, try to make enough space for the plaster patch to slightly ooze underneath the existing layer of plaster. It's possible to do this with a curved metal tool, such as a can opener, as long as you can get underneath the existing plaster without unnecessarily breaking out more.

Dampen the edge of the hole and fill with patching plaster using a spackling tool. Make sure the patching plaster does not fill the hole level with the existing wall. It should fill the hole to a level just below the surface of the existing plaster - you want to leave enough space for the joint compound to cover the plaster patch and still be even with the wall's surface. Score the surface of the plaster patch with your spackling tool with vertical and horizontal lines, then allow to dry for 24 hours.

The next day, apply joint compound to the surface of the patch, spreading it just over the edges of the wall. When this has dried, apply another coat of joint compound, if necessary, to make the patch even with the existing wall. Sand even with the wall, and prime and paint if desired.

Repairing Outside Corners of Plaster Walls

Measure the vertical length of the damaged area. Use a length of wood that exceeds this vertical dimension, and tack it gently to the wall - flush with one of the corners - making sure that the length of the wood extends past the hole on both the top and the bottom. This will be your guide when you patch the outside corner so that you can get an edge that blends in with the undamaged portion of the corner. In other words, this piece of wood will act as an extension of the wall, giving you a surface that is much like the one you would have if you were repairing plaster damage on a flat wall.

Remove loose plaster, and undercut the hole to provide a good seat for the plaster patch. Use a plaster trowel to smooth in patching plaster away from the wooden guide, overlapping the existing wall slightly. After one side has dried, you may switch the position of the wooden guide to the other side of the damaged corner and repeat the process.

Once the patch has dried completely, sand smooth. In addition, fill any holes used to tack up the piece of wood with joint compound.

At first, repairing plaster damage seems like a daunting task. But take your time to patch plaster properly, and you will get solid, long-lasting results.

Purchase Clay Plaster, Clay Paint, Tools and other eco-friendly products at World Class Supply.

This Old (green) House

• As Posted On www.thisoldhouse.com
  The architecture may be old at This Old House's new project in Austin, Texas, but the thinking is thoroughly modern. For the first time, the show is going totally "green"—using as many environmentally friendly building products and methods as possible—and creating a functional home for a contemporary blended family.
  
  The subject of the renovation is a 1926 Craftsman bungalow that owners Michael Klug, 38, co-founder of a hologram company, and Michele Grieshaber, 41, a marketing executive, are turning from a two-bedroom, one-bathroom house into one with four bedrooms and two baths. Michele has owned the house for the past decade, but the couple married this past April and need more room to accommodate their new family, which includes Michael's two sons, Sam, 13, and David, 11. Add in the possibility of another child in the future, and it becomes clear that a house built for the lifestyle of a 1920s family won't cut it for this 21st-century clan.
  
  That said, there are many things about the house's original design that the couple plans to preserve and honor. Built before the days of hulking McMansions with 24/7 air-conditioning, the compact house was built to use natural air flow, high rooflines, and deep overhanging eaves to keep the heat at bay. It was efficient and green, and Michael and Michele have no intention of turning it into a oversized, over-cooled monstrosity devoid of its original Arts and Crafts details. In fact, their second-floor addition will only bump up the roofline by 6 feet. "We don't want a big house; we're not going to gold-plate everything," says Michele. "We don't need fancy—we need functional."
  Along with the added bedrooms, the couple's other wish-list item is an updated kitchen that opens up onto an entertaining area. Walls will move or come down entirely to allow the couple to interact with friends and family while preparing food. "I love to cook, and I'm at the stove while I'm socializing," says Michael. They also plan to spend as much time outside in the mild weather, so they'll create a screened-in porch and make sure that the entertaining areas connect easily to the outdoors. "We like to live outside more than the average Texan," explains Michael. "We're fine not having the AC on."
  
  That energy-saving mentality is one reason for their desire for a green renovation, but it may be the local way of life that truly influenced them. Austin, a young, tech-company town and one of the fastest growing cities in America, is at the forefront of the green movement. The Austin Green Building Program, one of the oldest in the country, will rate the project for its use of eco-friendly materials. Photovoltaic cells on the roof, rainwater collection for irrigation, spray-foam insulation, recycled-glass tile and countertops, and formaldehyde-free wood composites are just some of the resource-saving strategies and eco-friendly materials planned for the project.
  
  Overseeing it all will be architect David Webber and veteran green builder Bill Moore. With a budget of $250,000, they'll be working hard to incorporate the right materials and still accomplish the changes the couple need. The project will take less than five months overall, but when it's finished, Michael and Michele will have an updated version of their classic house, which they loved so much they couldn't part with it. "We did look at other, renovated houses in the neighborhood," says Michele. "But I feel responsible for this house. Houses have souls, and I need to take care of this one."
  
  
  Find Eco-Friendly Building Materials and Grass Seed at World Class Supply

How to make a nursery eco-baby friendly

Conventional paint contains benzene, formaldehyde, mercury, solvents and petrochemicals, and it sends a cloud of VOCs into your baby’s bedroom. Investing in nontoxic, VOC-free paint is a wise choice that will keep nasty chemicals out of your nursery.

Find eco-friendly products at World Class Supply

A few things to keep in mind when you're selecting paint:

• Some paints carry a circular Green Wise logo on their label, which would seem like a good indication that the paint is environmentally safe. Sadly, Green Wise is green wash. The logo means only that the paint meets standards set by paint manufacturers. It doesn’t mean the paint is chemical free.
• “Low odor” doesn’t mean that the paint is free of chemicals.
• Zero-VOC paint is practically VOC free, but no independent standard exists to verify that.
• Natural paint, made from food-safe ingredients from plants and minerals, and milk paint, made from milk protein, pigments, lime, clay and water, are safe, chemical-free choices.

All-natural, nontoxic American Clay wall coverings bring a soft look to any nursery.

Removing wall-to-wall carpet, which off-gases chemicals and harbors toxins and pollutants, is the healthiest thing you can do in your nursery. If this isn’t possible, seal existing carpet using AFM Safecoat’s SafeChoice Lock Out, which keeps chemicals from off-gassing and repels dirt and stains. Cork or colorful natural linoleum, such as the kind shown here from Eco-Friendly Flooring, are also good bets.

Keep in mind when you're choosing flooring:

• If you choose bamboo, shop carefully. Prefinished bamboo flooring can off-gas formaldehyde and other harmful chemicals.
• If you choose carpet, opt for untreated 100 percent wool carpet and have it installed using a tack-down method rather than glue.
• Don’t pull up carpet yourself if you are pregnant. Pulling up the padding could expose you to a cloud of PBDEs. After the carpet is removed, have someone clean up the small particles with a HEPA-filter vacuum and mop.

by Cusano Construction Company Inc. »

Natural wood floors finished with nontoxic oils are one of the smartest choices you can make in the nursery.

by Carousel Designs »

Whether you use new furnishings or hand-me-downs, a little maintenance will go a long way toward creating the healthiest room for your baby.

How to change your life - change your lawn!

The Case for Change

An organic organic approach to lawn care is over-due for so many reasons:

• Lawns are depleting our groundwater supplies:  Some estimates indicate that lawn care uses 50% of our county’s potable water. Lawn irrigation, particularly in-ground watering systems, increase summer water use to levels three to five times higher than winter water use. Use of nitrogen-rich chemical fertilizers and fast-growing shallow-rooted grasses exacerbates the problem. Water shortages from your neighbors lawn care lead to increased water prices for everyone, water bans and enforced conservation.  Many of the non-native lawn seeds from Europe or Kentucky, with very shallow roots, are naturally adapted to environments that are wetter than ours.  In New England, and most of North America, these foreign, shallow root, high maintenance grasses leads to a pattern of frequent watering and frequent mowing, particularly if chemical fertilizer is used.
• Wasting energy and adding to greenhouse gases:  Watering lawns with water that is filtered for human consumption and pumped to our homes wastes huge amounts of energy. Producing commercial fertilizers from petroleum is energy intensive, and costs are rising as oil prices rise. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, running a typical lawn mower for an hour is eleven times more polluting than running a mid-size car full of people and luggage for an hour. So, the energy-intensive fertilizer, water from the town and lawn mower pollution in a standard lawn greatly increases your family's carbon foot print.

• Run off and unnecessary health risks: A stagering amount of chemicals are used every year on lawns. Between 50% and 80% of lawn care chemicals run off lawns with the rain and into storm drains, ending up in the watershed or local ponds, causing algal blooms and feeding the invasive weeds out of control. Again, the majority of lawn chemicals is feeding the invasive weeds in our ponds, not on your lawn! Then, local communities use expensive herbicides to get rid of the invasive weeds in the ponds and low levels of both the fertilizer, pesticides and the herbicide may end up in your drinking water.  Use of pesticides and fertilizer in urban and suburban communities contributes significantly to contamination of our drinking water and other surface water supplies.  This also increases health risks to children, pets and the elderly and increases school department budgets from learning and behavioral disorders caused by the lawn care chemicals. So, chemicals put on your lawn impact the whole community in many ways, including finances, clean up, invasive weeds and health.  
• What ends up in our homes affects children, animals and others: Lawn care chemicals and pesticides get carried indoors into homes on shoes, paws and air currents. Once inside, pesticides linger in carpets, dust, on toys and in the air we breathe. These chemicals normally break down outside over time with sunlight. However, away from sunlight and water, pesticides persist for many months, resulting in longer exposure to these chemicals indoors. According to health experts at the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection prolonged exposure to the pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers in lawn care chemicals is responsible for an alarming increase in the risk of learning and behavioral disorders in children and increased risk in adults for asthma, Parkinsons's disease, cancer and a number of other ailments. The increased health risks are much higher for children, the elderly and our pets. According to Dr. Margo Roman, a veterinary expert, "50 years ago, only 5% of dogs got cancer. Today, over 46% of dogs get cancer, and there is evidence suggesting this alarming rate is caused by the widespread use of lawn care fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides." In response to these concerns, "a new era in pesticide use has begun in Quebec with the banning of many domestic products that have chemicals considered toxic to humans and the environment." Read the report from the Organic Consumers Association.

Pearl's Premium provides a compelling value proposition for residential, commercial and municipal property managers:

• Cut mowing costs by up to 75%
• Cut chemical use
• Reduce or eliminate irrigation/watering

Selected Pearl's Premium commercial and municipal installations and their primary benefit:

• Park - reducing mowing and maintenance costs in low traffic areas
• Traffic Circle / Median - minimizing mowing in dangerous area
• Public Service Building - reducing mowing and maintenance costs
• Assisted Living Facility - avoiding investment in irrigation, creating healthy environment for seniors
• Utility Sub-station - reducing mowing and maintenance costs
• Swim & Tennis Club - elminating chemicals around pool and play areas
• Cemetery - reducing mowing time

Purchase Pearl's at World Class Supply

How to mow once a month, not water and save the planet

An organic organic approach to lawn care is over-due for so many reasons:

• Lawns are depleting our groundwater supplies:  Some estimates indicate that lawn care uses 50% of our county’s potable water. Lawn irrigation, particularly in-ground watering systems, increase summer water use to levels three to five times higher than winter water use. Use of nitrogen-rich chemical fertilizers and fast-growing shallow-rooted grasses exacerbates the problem. Water shortages from your neighbors lawn care lead to increased water prices for everyone, water bans and enforced conservation.  Many of the non-native lawn seeds from Europe or Kentucky, with very shallow roots, are naturally adapted to environments that are wetter than ours.  In New England, and most of North America, these foreign, shallow root, high maintenance grasses leads to a pattern of frequent watering and frequent mowing, particularly if chemical fertilizer is used.
• Wasting energy and adding to greenhouse gases:  Watering lawns with water that is filtered for human consumption and pumped to our homes wastes huge amounts of energy. Producing commercial fertilizers from petroleum is energy intensive, and costs are rising as oil prices rise. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, running a typical lawn mower for an hour is eleven times more polluting than running a mid-size car full of people and luggage for an hour. So, the energy-intensive fertilizer, water from the town and lawn mower pollution in a standard lawn greatly increases your family's carbon foot print.

• Run off and unnecessary health risks: A stagering amount of chemicals are used every year on lawns. Between 50% and 80% of lawn care chemicals run off lawns with the rain and into storm drains, ending up in the watershed or local ponds, causing algal blooms and feeding the invasive weeds out of control. Again, the majority of lawn chemicals is feeding the invasive weeds in our ponds, not on your lawn! Then, local communities use expensive herbicides to get rid of the invasive weeds in the ponds and low levels of both the fertilizer, pesticides and the herbicide may end up in your drinking water.  Use of pesticides and fertilizer in urban and suburban communities contributes significantly to contamination of our drinking water and other surface water supplies.  This also increases health risks to children, pets and the elderly and increases school department budgets from learning and behavioral disorders caused by the lawn care chemicals. So, chemicals put on your lawn impact the whole community in many ways, including finances, clean up, invasive weeds and health.  
• What ends up in our homes affects children, animals and others: Lawn care chemicals and pesticides get carried indoors into homes on shoes, paws and air currents. Once inside, pesticides linger in carpets, dust, on toys and in the air we breathe. These chemicals normally break down outside over time with sunlight. However, away from sunlight and water, pesticides persist for many months, resulting in longer exposure to these chemicals indoors. According to health experts at the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection prolonged exposure to the pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers in lawn care chemicals is responsible for an alarming increase in the risk of learning and behavioral disorders in children and increased risk in adults for asthma, Parkinsons's disease, cancer and a number of other ailments. The increased health risks are much higher for children, the elderly and our pets. According to Dr. Margo Roman, a veterinary expert, "50 years ago, only 5% of dogs got cancer. Today, over 46% of dogs get cancer, and there is evidence suggesting this alarming rate is caused by the widespread use of lawn care fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides." In response to these concerns, "a new era in pesticide use has begun in Quebec with the banning of many domestic products that have chemicals considered toxic to humans and the environment." Read the report from the Organic Consumers Association.

 Purchase Pearl's Premium Grass Seed Here

Overview:

Pearl's Premium Saves Time, Money & Water

• Saves hundreds of dollars in lawn watering, fertilizer and mowing each season
• Never / seldom needs watering once established (drought tolerant grass seed)*
• Grass grows so slowly, only needs cutting once a month
• Thrives without chemicals and pesticides
• Eliminates hours of lawn mowing and lawn maintenance each month
• Cuts your carbon footprint
• Stands up to heat (sunny mix); grows in deep shade (shady mix)
• Creates a lush beautiful organic lawn
• Eco friendly lawn stays green all year long

Pearl's Premium also provides a compelling value proposition for commercial and municipal property managers:

• Cut mowing costs by up to 75%
• Cut chemical use
• Reduce or eliminate irrigation/watering
• Park - reducing mowing and maintenance costs in low traffic areas
• Traffic Circle / Median - minimizing mowing in dangerous area
• Public Service Building - reducing mowing and maintenance costs
• Assisted Living Facility - avoiding investment in irrigation, creating healthy environment for seniors
• Utility Sub-station - reducing mowing and maintenance costs
• Swim & Tennis Club - elminating chemicals around pool and play areas
• Cemetery - reducing mowing time

Save Water via Xeriscaping

How to Xeriscape

Edited by MA, Paul D, Cipher_nemo, Webster and 9 others

Posted on WikiHow.com

Xeriscaping is a conceptual form of gardening that uses drought-tolerant plants and grasses to beautify a home or business. Xeriscaping may become the method all future gardeners will use to develop their gardens as water becomes an increasingly precious asset to the world, especially in arid climates such as the desert. The term Xeriscape was coined by the Front Range Xeriscape Task Force of Denver Department in 1978 as a way to promote water efficient landscaping. The name Xeriscape is a registered trademark of Denver Water. The root word Xeros is from the Greek language and means dry. Xeros was combined with the term landscape (which means to modify land). ^[1] Xeriscape gardening is as varied and beautiful no matter the location. It does not mean gardening with only cacti, succulents and rock. It means to landscape a garden with plants that use lesser amounts of water to help people lower their water bill and reduce maintenance.

STEPS:

1. Analyze the site: The key to xeriscaping is to understand which plants' needs are satisfied easily by the site, and the only way to know this is to determine what the site provides naturally, with minimal effort. Draw a map of your yard (try to keep it to scale, if you can) and gather the following information:
   
   
   Make a sun chart. Find out which are the sunniest and which are the darkest parts of your site. Every few hours, record where the sun is shining on your map. Keep in mind that the site's exposure to sunlight will also vary at different times of the year, as well as different parts of the world (the sunniest part in one person's garden may still get much less sunlight than the darkest part of someone else's yard).
   • Perform a soil analysis. Which nutrients are readily available (or deficient) in the soil? What is the pH? What kind of soil are you working with--clay? silt? loam? gravel? All of this will affect which plants can thrive on the site. You might consider amending or tilling the soil to "jump start" the soil processes that create healthy soil, but don't try to dramatically alter the nature of the soil you're working with or else it's becoming a time-consuming, high-maintenance effort (the opposite of xeriscaping).
   • Study the rainfall patterns for your site. How many inches or centimeters of rain does the site get per year? Is it spread out through the year, or is it concentrated in a short, "monsoon" period?
2. Classify the zones: There should be three ways to classify every zone in your site:
   
   
   • Oasis - Close to a large structure; can benefit from rain runoff and shade (which reduces evaporation, keeping more water in the soil); can also exist surrounding a large tree or at the edge of a forest/orchard
   • Transition - A "buffer" area between oasis and arid zones
   • Arid - Farthest from structures, low-traffic, receives the most sunlight
3. 
   

   A lush desert garden
   Select plants: Obtain a list of plants appropriate for your region. Use the USDA guidelines or the Sunset Western Garden book for zone information. From that list, choose a variety of plants that will tolerate drought conditions. Consult the list below for suggestions. Another way to approach it is to find out which plants are native to your area.
   
   Remember that your site should be planted in receding "layers". Think of each structure (the house, a large tree) as a focal point. At each focal point, you add a few bright, eye-catching species that are still well-suited to local conditions. As you get further away from the focal point, the plants become more subtle and also more drought-tolerant. As you're browsing lists of plants that are suitable for your area, keep these design guidelines in mind, as well as the sunniness, rainfall, and soil type of your site.
4. 
   

   A bluebonnet lawn.
   Fill large areas with a lawn substitute. The typical green lawn is a thirsty and high-maintenance "carpet". You can replace that carpet by restoring a native prairie or planting ground cover (such as a clover lawn), or you can use ornamental grasses which grow in clumps, surrounded by mulch (the idea being to only use grasses as an accent, rather than make them the major focus of the garden). The area that would normally be the lawn is usually classified as arid, so covering that area with low-maintenance plant species makes a big difference.
   
   
   • If the "lawn" area is so expansive that the low-maintenance plants draw too much attention, consider creating a focal point at the center. This can involve planting a drought-resistant tree or shrub, a raised bed, or a decorative structure (such as a wheelbarrow overflowing with flowers). It may require a little additional watering (try to minimize this) but at least it'll keep the site aesthetically pleasing while the surrounding area "rests" with low-maintenance species.
5. 
   

   Group water-needy plants together near structures.
   Group water-needy plants together near structures. Preferably, plant them in containers so the roots will get more water (rather than it seeping into the surrounding soil, where it can encourage the growth of weeds); you may even consider using self-watering pots. The pots themselves can be decorative accents.
   • 
     

     Notice the plant groups based on water needs.
     An alternative to using containers would be to create a retaining wall (essentially a very large container), which has the added benefit of making your oasis plants stand out more.
     
     
   • Arrange plants based on the amount of sunshine available. Some sides of the structure will get a lot more sunlight than others. Since some plants can take more sun and heat than others, plant the more sun-friendly, drought-tolerant plants where most of the afternoon sun will be located.
   • Develop a water thrifty irrigation system if necessary. Install drip irrigation to water plants. Water evaporation is minimized thereby saving precious water for other uses. Also, the slower you water, the less run-off there is.
6. 
   

   Petunias mediate between the tall bustling plants and the walkway
   Soften the boundaries. Fill the transition areas between arid and oasis zones with plants that fall in the middle of the spectrum in terms of water and sunlight needs and aesthetics. One way to do this is to create a "cascade" effect from the oasis plants (tall and bright) to the transition zone (a little shorter, catching attention by texture rather than color, such as shrubs, bushes, or ornamental grass clumps) to the arid zone (low-lying, subtle and very drought-resistant). If there is a retaining wall, however, a transition zone may not be necessary. Ultimately, see what looks best to you.
7. Another type of Xeriscaped lawn based on location. Notice the retaining wall for soil retention.
8. Mulch.

Choose an appropriate mulch to help reduce erosion and suppress weeds. Organic, wood-based mulch will also retain moisture. As it decomposes, it'll improve the soil over time, but it needs to be replaced regularly. A stone or gravel mulch, on the other hand, does not need to be replaced, but it should be lined with landscape fabric in order to keep weeds from growing through the mulch, and it will retain a good deal of heat (which can damage delicate plants). It also attracts fewer insects.

Purchase eco-friendly materials and supplies for your building, lawn and garden needs at World Class Supply.