Water restrictions have eased in North Texas, but water
bills are soaring. What’s a beleaguered homeowner to do about his yard?
Cooling
fall temperatures may bring a temporary respite, especially if an El Nino
weather pattern serves up a rainy winter.
Not a prediction, but we can hope.
For
the long term, the savvy homeowner should become wiser about water usage in their
household and also adapt their landscaping to employ more drought-tolerant turf
and plants. Fortunately, a number of great
resources are available to help the water-worried find relief.
Always
check the design guidelines and modifications process for your community association
before making changes to your landscape.
Here’s
What Homeowners Can Do
The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension
offers a number of programs to educate homeowners about best practices in
conserving water.
- Tour the WaterSense Labeled Home and Multi-Family Apartments at the Extension Center on Coit Road in Dallas.
- Programs and demos are available for schools and community events.
- Speakers are available to make presentations to you annual meeting or other community gathering for a nominal fee of $100.
- Manyeducational materials, such as this, are available on the website.
- Ask an Expert or read more about Earth Kind Landscaping
- Contact Karen Sanders at karen.sanders@tamu.edu or 972.952.9671 to arrange programs, tours, and speakers.
McKinney’s
Myers Park hosts Earth-Kind GardenTours as well as an annual Garden Show featuring native plants and
water saving landscape ideas. Visit the
websites to learn details or contact Earth Kind Garden Tours at 972-548-4219.
The city of Plano hosts periodic Water-Wise
Landscape Tours. Sign up to be notified for the spring tour.
The CMA
Blog posts articles: Running out of Water features
Water-Wise tips from Dr. Dottie Woodson of the Texas A& M Agricultural
Extension
