Water-Smart

Helping our customers with water conservation is an essential part of what we do at the Soquel Creek Water District. A lot of water savings can be achieved through changes inside our homes, but a significant amount of residential water consumption is related to outdoor water use.  Big landscaping changes, however, can be both time consuming and expensive, so we are constantly working to provide our customers with rebates, information, and technical assistance that will help them make the transition to more water efficient landscaping. Did you know that there is incredibly useful and inspirational website for choosing “water-smart” plants and getting inspired to garden with water in mind?

The “Water-Smart Gardening in Santa Cruz County” website, located at www.santacruz.watersavingplants.com, was customized in partnership with the Master Gardeners of Monterey Bay and the Water Conservation Coalition of Santa Cruz County (of which Soquel Creek Water District is a member). This tool is custom-built to provide information about plants, watering and resources for the Santa Cruz County environment.

This mobile friendly website has several key features:

1. Plant keyword search: You can type ‘salvia’ in the search box in the top menu and get a listing of all the salvias on the site.
2. Helpful Plant Lists: There are 30 popular plants lists including deer tolerant plants, lawn substitutes, California natives, low water perennials, and erosion control.
3. Guided Search:  The guided search asks a series of questions about your desired plant to focus your list. The questions include plant type, height, color, bloom season, sun exposure, and soil type. At the end of the questions you will be provided with a focused photo list of plants that meet your garden’s needs. Clicking on each photo reveals the plant’s details. Plants that are California Natives are denoted with a California poppy icon over the photo.
4. My List: Use this tool to add your favorite plants and gardens to a saved list. You can print out the list and take it to a nursery, share it on social media, or email it to your gardener.
5. Resources: In this section you will find information on how to design and install a water-wise garden, irrigation methods and equipment that will help you to water your landscape more efficiently, and suggestions on how to easily and effectively maintain your garden.
6. Watering Guide: The watering guide has tips and information on what time to water, how much you should water during a particular time of year as well as information on water devices and irrigation challenges and schedules.

The website also features “Garden Tours” and “Garden Gallery” photos that show plant ‘tags’ over the photo to identify the plants in the garden. You can hover over or click on the plant tag to get more information and add it to your customized list.  Give it a try and get inspired at www.santacruz.watersavingplants.com.
Check green-gardener.org/ for more tips, workshop schedules and finding a green gardener. Don’t forget to check our website for rebates to replace your turf at soquelcreekwater.org/190/Rebates.