Water Conservation: What Every Gardener Should Know

Episode Description

Water is a limited resource and access to clean, drinkable water is becoming increasingly critical. Erratic and drier weather patterns heighten the risk of droughts and water shortages, emphasizing the need for proactive conservation. Extension Master Garden volunteers are dedicated to promoting water conservation through education and hands-on experiences.

In part six of our Program Priority Series, guest Mason Neil goes over water conservation. In this episode, Mason covers:

What is the water conservation program priority?
What water-wise gardening is and why it is important
How water-wise gardening supports landscape resilience
How soil impacts water retention
The role of mulch in soil water retention
Key features to use in landscaping to reduce water needs
Examples of local water-efficient and drought-tolerant plants
Water-wise considerations when planning lawns
Advice for transitioning to more water-wise landscaping
Water-wise gardening myths
Water catchment systems
Spokane area programs that support gardeners in conserving water
Quick wins to save water in the garden

Mason is a Master Gardener and children’s librarian working in Spokane, Washington. They grew up on the river shores of Maine, and are passionate about community resilience in the face of a changing climate. In their downtime, they enjoy vegetable gardening in their community garden, reading, cooking, and watching birds through the window with their cat.

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Resources

Transcript

[00:00:00] Erin Hoover: Welcome to The Evergreen Thumb, your go-to podcast for up-to-date research-based horticulture and environmental stewardship knowledge to help you grow and manage your garden. Produced by Washington State University Extension Master Gardener Volunteers and brought to you by the Master Gardener Foundation of Washington State.

[00:00:16] I’m your host, Erin Hoover, a WSU Extension Master Gardener since 2015 and a certified permaculture designer and modern homesteader.

WSU Master Gardener volunteers are university-trained community educators who have been cultivating plants, people, and communities since 1973.

Are you ready to grow? Let’s dig into today’s episode.

[00:00:44] Welcome to episode 52 of The Evergreen Thumb.

WSU Extension Master Gardener Program Priority #6: Water Conservation

Today’s episode is all about water conservation. The WSU Extension Master Gardener program drives lasting environmental stewardship by equipping communities with science-based water conservation practices that safeguard public health, protect ecosystems, and ensure the sustainability of local water resources.

[00:01:06] Through education, outreach, and hands-on demonstrations, volunteers provide individuals with the knowledge and tools to reduce pollution, improve water quality, and strengthen resilience against environmental challenges. Their efforts seek to lower municipal costs, enhance local water systems, and foster a goal of sustainability, ensuring that clean, accessible water remains available for future generations.

[00:01:29] Water is a limited resource and access to clean, drinkable water is becoming increasingly critical. Erratic and drier weather patterns heighten the risk of droughts and water shortages, emphasizing the need for proactive conservation. Residential landscapes can significantly increase water usage, often tripling the average homeowner’s consumption during the growing season.

[00:01:51] According to the EPA, outdoor water use in US homes accounts for nearly 8 billion gallons per day, primarily for landscape irrigation. Employing water-efficient design principles and irrigation systems is vital to conserving this precious resource.

[00:02:11] Excessive water use has far-reaching consequences. Environmental degradation is a major concern as overuse can deplete natural water resources, harm ecosystems, and reduce biodiversity. The financial burden also rises with increased water treatment and infrastructure demands. Agricultural productivity is threatened by water scarcity, resulting in lower crop yields and higher food prices.

[00:02:31] Additionally, social impacts include conflicts over limited water resources and the displacement of communities due to shortages. Implementing sustainable water management practices is essential to addressing these challenges and ensuring long-term water security. Extension Master Garden volunteers are dedicated to promoting water conservation through education and hands-on experiences.

[00:02:53] Their efforts empower individuals to implement sustainable practices, helping protect this finite resource for the benefit of people, agriculture, and the environment.

Guest Introduction

Erin Hoover: My guest today is Mason Neil, and Mason is a children’s librarian working in Spokane, Washington. They grew up on the river shores of Maine and are passionate about community resilience in the face of a changing climate.

[00:03:16] In their downtime, they enjoy vegetable gardening in their community garden, reading, cooking, and watching birds through the window with their cat.

Mason, thanks for joining me today. Welcome to the show.

[00:03:28] Mason Neil: Hey, thank you for having me. I’m excited to be here.

About Our Guest

[00:03:30] Erin Hoover: So, tell me a little bit about yourself and the work you do with Master Gardeners.

[00:03:34] Mason Neil: My name is Mason Neil. I’m a Master Gardener volunteer with the Spokane County Extension for WSU. I’ve been in the program for; I’ve finished two years now. I’m class of 2023. In my personal life, I am a librarian. I work as a children’s librarian doing outdoor and environmental education for the Spokane Public Library.

[00:03:52] And so the Master Gardener volunteer service really dovetails nicely with my personal interests and my professional career as well. So, it’s a really enriching experience, and that’s why I’m part of it.

[00:04:05] Erin Hoover: So what got you interested in water conservation and waterwise gardening?

[00:04:10] Mason Neil: Before working in a library, I was an environmental educator with Spokane County, and I was doing aquifer education.

[00:04:16] So, um, I’ve always cared about the environment, but that has really emphasized for me the importance of water specifically for Spokane County, but really for the world. How critical water is and access to water is for our success as a civilization. So I feel strongly about it. I used to do advocacy for water, and now I get to do that through the Master Gardener program.

What is the Water Conservation Priority?

[00:04:39] Erin Hoover: Okay, so can you tell us a little bit about the Master Gardner program priority about water conservation and what the objective is on that?

[00:04:46] Mason Neil: Sure. It’s one of nine program priorities, as I’m sure you’ve gone over in some of the previous episodes, some of the other priorities. The main priority is to help educate Washington residents about the importance of conserving water, and that’s done through water-conscious landscaping design practices.

[00:05:04] So as Master Gardener volunteers, we help people learn how to design landscapes with water in mind, and we do this to promote the conservation of water, which is important to us, our health, as well as the health of our environment. Um, so this program priority is both for our wellbeing as people and as a planet, and also for just garden knowledge, the pleasure of designing landscapes and gardens that are responsive to our lived environments and the, uh, ecologies we live in.

What is Waterwise Gardening and Why is it Important?

[00:05:37] Erin Hoover: I guess we’ll just start with the basics. What is waterwise gardening, and why is it important?

[00:05:43] Mason Neil: Broad question. Well, at the core, it’s gardening that is water conscious; Um, where water needs and use are sort of the primary consideration in the approach to gardening.

[00:05:55] And it’s important because our water is a very precious commodity. It’s a precious resource and we need to use it responsibly. Um, in the context of Washington State, we’ve historically been led to believe we have a virtually unlimited source of water, and that’s not true, and as our populations shift and grow, we need to be even more conscious of our water use.

[00:06:17] So, Waterwise Gardening broadly looks like reducing the overall amount of lawn and turf. It looks like using more drought-tolerant plants, more native plants that are from the regions we live in. It looks like using water-saving habits, such as mulching and irrigating. Well, and we’ll get into that in more detail, I’m sure, but that’s in a broad stroke, what waterwise gardening is.

How Waterwise Gardening Supports Landscape Resilience

[00:06:41] Erin Hoover: Okay. So, how does Waterwise Gardening support landscape resilience in the long term?

[00:06:47] Mason Neil: There are many ways. Uh, the obvious one is conservation of water, which supports the health of our environment.

It also protects ecology, um, by supporting, uh plant diversity. Waterwise Gardening will typically push us to use plants in more variety and more types that we would typically select for a conventional garden. So, in that way it supports biodiversity. Many waterwise plants are also gonna be native plants, so they are specifically adapted to our regions and support our insects.

[00:07:19] That’s actually a pretty critical component of it because our insect biodiversity, um, is very precarious, and when we remove native plants from our landscapes, we also remove native insects that therefore remove birds, et cetera, throughout our wildlife and ecology of the regions we’re in. Um, so Waterwise Landscaping helps the whole food chain, the whole web of our biology, wherever we live.

[00:07:44] Erin Hoover: I think it’s episode 49, so two episodes before this is all about the pollinator program priority, so we go a lot more in depth into the diversity of pollinators in native plants and things, too. So if anybody wants to get more in-depth on that, they can check out that episode.

[00:08:01] Mason Neil: I wanted to bring up Doug Tallamy because he’s someone that we talk a lot about in Spokane, and he has done so much work about that.

[00:08:08] I think he, his statistic, and this is not precise, so people should read his books if they want the precise number, but something like 90% of insects can only live off of the plants they evolved and adapted with. So, to translate that, if you remove a given native plant, you’re removing 90% of the native insects that require it for survival and that really drives home how important gardening with native plants is.

How Soil Impacts Water Retention

[00:08:39] Erin Hoover: How does soil and soil amendments, and soil preparation impact, uh, water retention and water efficiency in a garden?

[00:08:49] Mason Neil: I’m probably talking to an audience that appreciates soil, so we’re already off to a good start. Um, soil is so critical to water-efficient landscaping because the support of our soil is where it all begins.

[00:09:03] The, probably the biggest factor is using organic materials in our soil. Organic materials like compost are really efficient and effective at holding water, keeping water in the soil. Um, so I think compost holds something like 20 times its weight in water, meaning like one pound of compost dry will hold 20 pounds of water, and then that also improves the health of the soil.

[00:09:30] Water conservation emphasizes the need to hold water in the soil as opposed to letting it evaporate quickly off of the surface or infiltrate past the top of the soil below a usable point. Organic material is really helpful too in um, holding moisture in the soil.

The Role of Mulch in Soil Water Retention

[00:09:47] Erin Hoover: So, what about mulching? What kind of role does mulch play?

[00:09:50] Mason Neil: Mulch is similar to compost in the soil itself, except that it’s on the top. Often, a mulch is an organic matter like bark, and that’s going to add organic material to the soil over time. It’s also going to act like an insulating blanket over the soil, and that serves a couple of functions. It’s going to reduce erosion, um, by water runoff, like, especially if you’re using an overhead sprinkler.

[00:10:13] The mulch will help that water infiltrate into the soil, as opposed to running off, and it will also keep it from evaporating as quickly. If there’s direct sunlight on bare soil, you’re going to lose a lot of water rapidly, and so mulch kind of slows that process down.

[00:10:31] But even rock mulches will serve that same purpose. They’ll also reduce evaporation through wind. They act as a little bit of a barrier to the bare soil, so think of it as a jacket on a cold day. It’s kind of helping that heat stay in your body. Similarly, mulch is holding that water in, helping water get there, if you’re using a sprinkler and then helping it stay there.

Key Features to Use in Landscaping to Reduce Water Need

[00:10:50] Erin Hoover: What are some key features that gardeners can incorporate into their landscapes to reduce their need for water?

[00:10:57] Mason Neil: Mulch is a big one, which we just discussed. Similarly, Trees or wind breaks in the form of shrubs and larger woody plants in the area that’s going to help cut down your wind. And wind is always an evaporation source, so it removes water from our landscapes. Planting your landscape intentionally is another strategy, meaning you’re going to put plants that love heat in those really sunny spots.

[00:11:23] You’re going to put the plants that need a little bit more water probably in shadier spots. Or just think about what environmental impacts are best suited for which types of plants. I mean, that’s kind of the concept behind permaculture as well, is following the lead of the landscape you have and the environmental factors there. So that’s going to help with reducing supplemental watering.

[00:11:43] Creating irrigation zones is another strategy we heavily emphasize. This is for drip irrigation systems, especially, but it’s also possible with spray systems, which is grouping your plants by water need.

[00:12:05] So your vegetable gardens are going to be a high water need. Keeping that all in one spot where your drip irrigation can deliver that exact amount of water to the right spot, whereas your trees or your larger shrubs will need deeper but more infrequent watering. They should have their own dedicated drip system if that’s something you have, so that you’re only delivering the exact amount of water needed to the specific plants.

[00:12:25] So, strategic water use through irrigation zones is also really helpful to eliminate supplemental watering. The, uh, kind of the combination of those strategies. Mulching, trees for windbreak purposes, using large plants for those purposes, following the lead of the landscape you’re using, and selectively choosing where which plants go and then doing the same with your irrigation.

[00:12:48] Erin Hoover: We finally put a drip irrigation system in our vegetable garden. We completely redesigned it, and we put drip in and it has made a huge difference in not only, you know, are the plants getting the, you know, vegetable crops, getting the, the water they need, but I’m not watering the weeds in the path.

Mason Neil: Mm-hmm.

[00:13:05] Erin Hoover: So it’s really helped with our, you know, the weed pressure in the garden as well. By not, I bet not watering those. That’s another benefit to drip.

[00:13:14] Mason Neil: I like to say when we do, um, water conservation lectures here in Spokane County, I like to tell attendees, if a weed is growing, you have excess water.

[00:13:24] You don’t have to be so strict that you’re only giving water directly to the specific plants you’ve planted, but any weed that is growing and is green in our environment is a sign that there’s water being used that could be used in another way.

Examples of Water-Efficient and Drought-Tolerant Plants

[00:13:38] Erin Hoover: Oh. What are a couple of examples of, uh, native plants in the Spokane area that are water efficient or drought tolerant?

[00:13:46] Mason Neil: I have a couple with me that I thought of. And these are more than just Spokane County. They’re going to be, um, native to most of Eastern Washington and up to the Cascades, um, for larger plants. Serviceberry and Chokecherry are two common, um, species. We recommend Ponderosa Pine is going to be our tree of choice for most of Eastern Washington, Southeastern Washington, and Oregon Grape for our whole region.

[00:14:07] And snowberry. Those are all some useful trees and shrubs. And I mean, Oregon Grape is a little bit smaller, but those are all native to our area, so they’re going to support the ecology and be fairly water-conscious.

[00:14:30] If you still want a beautiful garden, which Waterwise Gardening is still very gorgeous, um, some of our popular native flower choices are Western Mountain Aster. That’s kind of like a purple-y daisy, like flower, Nodding Onion, Narrow Leaf Milkweed is our local native milkweed variety and Monarchs need that for their food. Oregon Sunshine, Blue Flax, one of my favorites, and Orange Honeysuckle.

[00:14:54] Shrubby Penstemon or Squirrel Tail. Squirrel Tail is not like a conventional flower, but it looks just like the name describes. It looks like a little squirrel tail sticking on the ground. And for that one specifically, it’s a keystone species for a type of moth that is currently threatened. I don’t know it’s exact status, but some of these plants are really vital to specific insects in our environment.

[00:15:20] Erin Hoover: I know a couple of those are native to my area too in Southwest Washington. So the, um, Serviceberry, Snowberry and of course Oregon Grape, I think is pretty much statewide. So yeah, those are good.

[00:15:33] Mason Neil: Nice. We have a lot of commonalities. We like to divide ourselves by west and east as the Cascades, but we have a lot in common.

Waterwise Considerations When Planning Lawns

[00:15:40] Erin Hoover: Yes, we do. What are some of the considerations gardeners, uh, should think about when considering how much lawn space they want for their landscape?

[00:15:50] Mason Neil: Well, you should never feel ashamed for having a lawn. I don’t think shame is a useful motivator in Waterwise Landscaping, and I try to be very conscientious of that when I’m helping people understand the impacts of our landscapes.

[00:16:02] We were all brought up to believe that the lawn is the ultimate goal of the home landscape, and that’s okay. It’s okay to have one. It serves a purpose, and I think that’s where you should start when you’re considering how much turf or lawn to keep. What do you need it for?

[00:16:17] Do you have a dog that really needs a lawn to use it as a restroom? Do you have children who are playing games on the lawn, or do you just want to have a nice little soft spot to rest your feet while you sit on the chair on the back patio? That’s okay. So, I think making sure you’re using your lawn strategically and as something that’s actually needed, and it can’t be replaced, and then for the rest of your landscape, finding alternatives.

[00:16:36] For many people, removing an entire lawn is pretty overwhelming, and often means that suddenly there’s quite a large area that needs to be gardened or they think they need to fill every square foot of it with plants, that’s not the case.

[00:16:54] There are a lot of alternative ways to cover space in a water-conscious garden. So when approaching lawn removal, do it strategically and don’t feel like every piece of lawn you remove needs to be replaced by an abundance of plants. There are many ways you can replace turf.

Turf Alternatives for Lawns

[00:17:10] Erin Hoover: So what are some of the alternatives to plants or ways that you would, uh, replace turf?

[00:17:16] Mason Neil: Common, uh, things here in Spokane is like columnar basalt.

[00:17:19] Most of Eastern Washington has a lot of columnar basalt and it makes like a really lovely visual, eye-catching piece of the landscape. Art installments are a really cool option I’ve seen used in Spokane. One of the homes in my neighborhood has this brass lawn figure and it started to rest over the years and it looks really beautiful.

[00:17:39] And that’s the fun of gardening in a new way, is you can be creative and unique in how you go about it. It’s not useful to approach Waterwise Landscaping as if you’re doing a conventional garden, ‘cause it’s not. It’s a different way of doing it. So, rocks, art, and sculptures.

[00:17:59] It doesn’t even have to be fancy rocks. Maybe you just have a rock pathway that’s relatively wide that can fill up a lot of space and still be really beautiful.

Advice for Transitioning to More Waterwise Landscaping

[00:18:06] Erin Hoover: What advice do you have for gardeners who wanna transition from lawn to a more waterwise landscape?

[00:18:14] Mason Neil: Well, our goal is to be sustainable, and that includes your own energy levels. Um, don’t do it all at once if you don’t want to.

[00:18:21] You can, if that’s your best option for yourself, but do a bit at a time. Even if you were to do it all at once, a typical water-conscious landscape is gonna take three years to establish. The reason plants are drought tolerant is usually ‘cause they have very deep root systems and for their first couple of years, those plants are going to be putting a lot of energy into establishing their roots and then they won’t grow above ground quite a bit.

[00:18:45] So just like those plants take a while to pay off, um, small bits over time will have a large payoff. Take what’s most interesting to you and follow that. You’re gonna learn through the process that’s gonna make your next changes easier, hopefully, because you’ll be, become more informed, you’ll know, um, what resources you have at hand to use, which landscapers or nurseries have the things you need.

[00:19:09] So. I think small bites have a really big payoff in the long run. Don’t worry about doing it all at once.

How Modern Life Has Changed How We Think About Resources

[00:19:17] Erin Hoover: Okay. How has our modern lifestyle changed the way we think about where our water and other resources come from?

[00:19:25] Mason Neil: Well, I like to ask people where their water comes from, and you know, six times out of 10, we don’t know on an individual basis. I’m guilty of this as well.

[00:19:36] Our modern life is wonderful. It’s very easy compared to the historical trend of humanity, but the consequence of that is we don’t know where our water comes from, and we usually don’t know where it goes either when we’re done using it. That’s cool. It’s awesome that we’ve come up with these great engineering feats to bring water to our faucets so easily, but the side effect of that is we don’t know the consequences of our resource usage.

[00:20:00] You know, if we let the faucet run in the morning to heat up before we make our coffee or what have you, that feels inconsequential vs. if you were walking to the stream to grab a of water, to be a little, to exaggerate a little bit, you would really care about how much water you’re using. So a lot of our natural resource consumption is outta sight out of mind.

[00:20:25] Um, same for the produce we eat. You know, we’re not seeing the farms where our produce comes from. Anytime we remove a process from our life, it’s often because it makes our life easier, which is great. But then the side effect is we don’t know as much and maybe not care as much about those resources.

[00:20:45] So in the case of water, aquifers are underground. We don’t see aquifers, we don’t understand, many of us don’t understand what they are or how they are kept healthy, and so we don’t know, and therefore we don’t care too much.

[00:20:57] Erin Hoover: I live on a well, and so we have an aquifer, um, but we’re also about a mile from the Chehalis River. So, you know, a few hundred years ago we’d be walking to the river.

[00:21:07] Mason Neil: Mm-hmm.

Erin Hoover: So, living on a well is a new experience for me. And because we, we always lived on city water, and so when I hear stories about neighbors’ wells drying up because they’re overwatering or whatever, it’s kind of scary. Think we could not have water if, you know, if we’re on that same aquifer.

[00:21:29] It could affect our ability to get water. So, I never thought of that before.

[00:21:34] Mason Neil: And I mean, for many of us living in cities, we’re all pulling from the same well, so to speak. So, what Mr. Smith does in Northern County Spokane and Mr. Joe does in Southern County Spokane affects both of them and we don’t consider that.

[00:21:54] That’s cool that being on a well has changed your perspective a little bit. You’re experiencing it directly.

Waterwise Gardening Myths

[00:22:00] Erin Hoover: Yeah. So, what is one myth about watering or Waterwise Gardening that you often hear, and what would you say is the reality?

[00:22:08] Mason Neil: Um, the two myths that I think are most prominent are that it’s ugly and that it’s difficult.

[00:22:14] Um, I’ll answer them in reverse order. Yes. It’s difficult at first, especially learning, there’s going to be a little bit of a curve, growth curve as you just understand the concept of what Waterwise Gardening is. Long term, it will be easier. A waterwise landscape is lower maintenance in the long term, but like I said earlier about like perennials, establishing deep root systems, it’s going to take a little while to get to that payoff.

[00:22:43] Then to the first myth of it being ugly. I think that’s just usually a lack of information. The more you begin to understand the effect of like monocultures and turf landscapes, the more ugly it will begin to appear to you, ‘cause you, you will have to understand that a lawn that is one species of grass, um, is a pretty, um, inhospitable place.

[00:23:05] It’s pretty antithetical to life and the thriving of a, a diverse ecosystem. And when you understand that it will affect the way it feels to you aesthetically. That’s not to say it loses all value, but it, it’s just not gonna be the lovely place you might have thought it would be. And then conversely, a Waterwise Landscape, when you have the information of how it impacts your environment, I think they are beautiful, even to a conventional eye.

[00:23:33] But when you understand the impact of it, it’s even more lovely because you’re understanding its role in the environment, which is a beneficial one.

Water Catchment Systems and Waterwise Gardening

[00:23:43] Erin Hoover: Okay, so I’m gonna throw one at you that I just thought of. Um, so what about water, water catchment? How does that play into waterwise gardening?

[00:23:53] Mason Neil: Yeah, that’s a, I mean, it’s legal to catch rainwater here.

[00:23:55] Some places there are restrictions on it, and that’s a really useful practice. Rain barrels, um, are a really useful way to gather water. Also having water catchment spaces in the garden itself, like, um a rock with a natural basin in it are gonna impact, um, insect life and other forms of life besides plants in our landscapes.

[00:24:18] And then, like we have snow in our area a lot, and so people talk about shoveling snow strategically. Meaning like if you’re clearing a driveway that hasn’t been treated with salt or there’s no oil spills on it, um, shoveling that snow over your lawn or your garden is essentially putting a deposit of water there that when that snow melts later in the year will pay off.

[00:24:42] So those are several ways we can strategically leverage, um, otherwise wasted water.

Spokane’s Water Conservation Demonstration Garden

[00:24:49] Erin Hoover: All right. So, um, I understand that there is a water conservation demonstration garden in Spokane. Can you tell us a little bit about that garden?

[00:24:57] Mason Neil: Yeah. We have one at our extension, which is off of Havana for those who are Spokane locals.

[00:25:02] And, uh, it demonstrates many of the plants we’ve discussed today as well as different mulch types. We use a rock mulch in it, and it’s been worked on for several years. So you can see the best part of that is you can see what some of these drought-tolerant plants look like when they’ve had several years to establish ‘cause they’re gonna look pretty different from what they look like in a native plant nursery.

[00:25:19] So there’s a wide variety of plants like the Penstemon and I’m sure almost every other plant I mentioned is probably there and different types of mulches. So it’s not necessarily the most cohesive garden because it has so much variety in it.

[00:25:36] It’s meant to demonstrate like different rock mulches, different organic mulches. Um, so it’s a great way to just see that represented. For those not in Spokane, um, there’s also an online magazine from the SpokaneScape program that has a bunch of images in it of homes before and after doing a Waterwise renovation and several of the photos show like two to three years later, and those are the best ‘cause you really get a sense for how a Waterwise Landscape takes off after establishment.

Spokane Area Programs that Support Gardeners in Conserving Water

[00:26:07] Erin Hoover: Are there some local or regional programs in your area that support gardeners in conserving water in their landscapes?

[00:26:15] Mason Neil: We have a program called SpokaneScape. It’s Waterwise, specifically adapted to the Spokane region for city residents. They’re eligible for up to $500 in rebate for removing turf. It’s based on how many square feet of turf you remove.

[00:26:28] But in addition to the rebate program, there are landscape consultants who are available, who are familiar with the program, and those services are free. It’s not unlimited, but I think city residents are eligible for a consultation. Um, and then there’s also resources on where to get plants, what types of plants to select, um, and design help as well.

[00:26:50] And then we as Master Gardeners, offer training as well as some city educators offer training in the SpokaneScape Program, and many other municipalities have programs similar to that. I would suggest if you’re interested in something like that, talking to your water provider or the city that you live in to see if something like that is possible or maybe already exists.

[00:27:07] And I, even if you’re not in the Spokane area, going to spokanescape.com I think, will take you there. It’s on the city’s website, but there’s a shortened link, spokanescape.com. Um, you can see photos on the website, but then the digital version of the magazine they update annually is there.

[00:27:29] That magazine is a gold mine of information. I wanna point out a couple of things in it. There’s the images, of course, of some garden examples, but in the back there are charts and charts and charts of turfs, grasses, shrubs, annuals, perennials of different shapes and sizes, and there’s all these images that tell you what those plants are good for.

[00:27:52] Like is it a food source for humans? Is it a keystone species for insects? Is it from Spokane? Is it native to our area, or is it just drought tolerant? Meaning it’s not from this area but adapted to similar conditions and, um, it is the best place to start. There’s so much information there and anyone can look at it for free.

[00:28:10] Erin Hoover: All right, well, we’ll definitely put a link in the show notes so listeners can access that. Conservation Districts might also be a good resource for um, additional information if there’s programs available, um, in your area.

[00:28:23] Mason Neil: Our Conservation also does a free, uh, water barrel class and there have been times when some of the supplies were provided for free. I think that’s funding dependent.

[00:28:32] I dunno what that’s like today. But, um, more than just gardening. They do all sorts of education.

[00:28:39] Erin Hoover: Our rain barrels were through a similar program in Skagit County when we lived in Skagit County, but it was actually put on by the PUD.

[00:28:48] Mason Neil: Oh, interesting.

[00:28:49] Erin Hoover: Yeah, so very cool. It was very cool. So yeah, you came home with one barrel, but they showed you how to put it all together and everything, and all the hardware you needed and so now we have three of them.

[00:29:01] Mason Neil: I have a plug for the library here. Um, this wasn’t our library, but someone I know, their spigot broke on their water barrel and their local library was able to 3D print a replacement for them.

[00:29:13] Erin Hoover: Oh, wow.

Mason Neil: Um, and I just thought that was the coolest.

[00:29:16] Erin Hoover: That is cool.

Quick Wins to Save Water in the Garden

[00:29:18] Erin Hoover: So what are some quick wins that gardeners can uh, implement to save water in their gardens?

[00:29:24] Mason Neil: Um, I think mulch is the obvious quick win of just throwing some mulch on your landscape will do wonders for you and it can be free. Get chipdrop.com as a free service where you can sign up to receive arborist chips.

[00:29:36] So these have come from trees or branches that have been removed and arborists need a place to put the wood chips and they can be really great for your garden. I’ve received Ponderosa pine chips from this service and they were really helpful. I actually let it sit. I’m part of a community garden and our whole garden received a large drop from Chipdrop and we let it sit for a year and it kind of began to compost a bit and heat up, and then I applied it to my garden.

[00:30:04] With any free service, you have to be careful of what you get. You can’t control when you get your wood chips, you can’t control the quality. I’ve heard of trees being shipped that have had wires around them from holiday lights, or perhaps the tree was sprayed with a herbicide um, and that’s still lingering on it.

[00:30:22] So that’s just something to consider, but it’s free. And, um, if you’re just wanting to get started and don’t have a lot to invest in it, that’s a great way to go. So that’s a, a quick, relatively easy. Nothing is totally labor-free in the gardening world, but that’s a good place to start.

[00:30:37] Erin Hoover: Yeah. If I see like a tree trimming, like municipal, um, or a contractor just stop and, you know, write my house number down on a piece of paper and hand it to ‘em and two or three days later they show up with a load of chips.

[00:30:50] I’ve tried Chipdrop and it, uh, just, there just aren’t enough arborists that are active in our area, so that’s, that’s another way to do it if you haven’t gotten a Chipdrop.

[00:30:59] Mason Neil: That’s smart. I like that. It’s you know, connect with your community.

[00:31:03] Erin Hoover: and they love it because they don’t have to pay to dispose of the chips.

[00:31:06] Mason Neil: Mm-hmm.

[00:31:06] Erin Hoover: So it’s a win-win.

[00:31:08] Mason Neil: There may also be an organics exchange group in your area to anyone listening, like Spokane has a Facebook group called, um, I think it’s Spokane Free Organic Exchange, and has people who have leaves or manure from horses or stuff like that, um, they’re trying to get rid of.

Mason’s Favorite Part About Being a Master Gardener

[00:31:27] Erin Hoover: Oh, interesting. All right, so kind of wrapping things up, what do you love most about being a Master Gardener?

[00:31:35] Mason Neil: I love the community of it. It just, it’s so fun to connect with people in my area who I probably wouldn’t run into otherwise. I love the other volunteers are always so uplifting and engaged and energetic, and it feeds my soul a lot.

[00:31:52] I love being in a, we have a great planning plant clinic here in Spokane. You know, people talk about, “oh, I don’t want to become a Master Gardener. I don’t have 40 hours a year to give to it”, and it’s actually not much. And it goes by very quickly. Most of the time it’s very fun. I love the social community-building side of it the most.

[00:32:12] Erin Hoover: Thanks for joining me today. This was a great talk.

[00:32:15] Mason Neil: Thank you, Erin, for having me. I appreciate what you’re doing to help spread this great information around our state.

[00:32:21] Erin Hoover: Thank you for joining us on this episode of The Evergreen Thumb, brought to you by the WSU Extension Master Gardener Program volunteers and sponsored by the Master Gardener Foundation of Washington State.

[00:32:32] We hope that today’s discussion has inspired and equipped you with valuable insights to nurture your garden.

The Master Gardener Foundation of Washington State is a nonprofit organization whose primary purpose is to provide unifying support and advocacy for WSU Extension Master Gardener programs throughout Washington State.

[00:32:51] To support the Master Gardener Foundation of Washington State, visit www.mastergardenerfoundation.org/donate.

Whether you’re an experienced Master Gardener or just starting out, the WSU Extension Master Gardener program is here to support you every step of the way. WSU Extension Master Gardeners empower and sustain diverse communities with relevant, unbiased, research-based horticulture education.

[00:33:16] Reach out to your local WSU Extension office to connect with master gardeners and tap into a wealth of resources that can help you achieve gardening success. To learn more about the program or how to become a Master Gardener, visit www.mastergardener.wsu.edu/get-involved.

If you enjoyed today’s episode and want to stay connected with us, be sure to subscribe to future episodes filled with expert tips, fascinating stories, and practical advice.

[00:33:43] Don’t forget to leave a review and share it with fellow gardeners to spread the joy of gardening.

Questions or comments to be addressed in future episodes can be sent to hello@theevergreenthumb.org.

The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed by guests of this podcast are their own and do not imply endorsement by Washington State University or the Master Gardener Foundation of Washington State.