LANDSCAPE AND GARDENING

Water-Smart Landscaping Beautifies Your Yard, Saves Money

During the recent drought, we asked our customers to help us preserve drinking water supplies. Together, we exceeded the state’s 20 percent conservation goal. Thank you!

As we experience shorter days and cooler nights, we encourage you to keep conserving drinking water, and your yard is a great place to start. During the winter months, one day a week should be enough to keep your garden healthy.

Here are some additional tips for saving water outdoors:

Landscape Conservation Tips

  • Make sure your sprinkler system is functioning properly.
  • Adjust your sprinkler schedule to match the season and the weather. Use the Recommended Watering Schedule for guidance.
  • Use drip irrigation in planter areas.
  • Cover bare soil with mulch to decrease evaporation and increase beautification.
  • Water just before dawn for a healthy garden.
  • Don’t water on windy days. Wind blows water away from where it is needed.
  • Set lawn mower blades higher. Longer grass means less evaporation.
  • Remove invasive plants from your garden. They hurt our environment.
  • Reduce water-thirsty grass and replace with California-Friendly® plants.

View our Water-Wise Plants Featured in the Mesa Water Garden.

Demonstration Gardens

Mesa Water hosts two water-efficient demonstration gardens that feature California-friendly landscaping and other water saving practices such as smart timers, drip irrigation, bioswales and mulch. Visit our gardens for waterwise tips.

Mesa Water District
1965 Placentia Avenue
Costa Mesa, CA 92627

Mesa Water Reliability Facility
1350 Gisler Avenue
Costa Mesa, CA 92626

 

Be Mesa Water Wise

Sustainable Landscaping

Rainwater Harvesting

Living Soils

Carbon Cycle

Bioswales

Sample Landscape Designs

Smart From the Start Landscape Designs

These free landscape design templates can assist homeowners and developers to design and install attractive water-wise landscapes to replace existing water-thirsty landscapes. The sample designs show appropriate plantings, irrigation, and site elements to envision how water conservation can be accomplished with good design. Sample irrigation schedules and water use estimates are also included.

Desert (Back Yard)

Desert (Front Yard)

Southern Coastal
​​(Back Yard)

Southern Coastal
(Front Yard)

 

Southern Foothills
(Back Yard)

Southern Foothills
(Front Yard)

Southern Inland
(Back Yard)

Southern Inland
(Front Yard)

Resources

BeWaterWise.com - Metropolitan Water District's conservation website - a great resource for tips, rebates, and recommended California Friendly plants!

Home Water Works - The residential water calculator can estimate your daily and annual water use. Compare your estimated water use against an average home versus an efficient home in your region.

Save Our Water - Save Our Water is a statewide partnership between the Association of California Water Agencies and the California Department of Water Resources aimed at helping Californians reduce their everyday water use, the program offers ideas and inspiration for permanently reducing water use.