Aurora water-wise program helps resident gardens flourish despite ongoing drought conditions

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Aurora water-wise program helps resident gardens flourish despite ongoing drought conditions

The heat Colorado has experienced this weekend will affect many plants and lawns, which is tough because Colorado is also in a drought, with many areas having water restrictions. That means residents can’t overwater in an attempt to save them, but that doesn’t mean all of Colorado’s gardens are doomed.

CBS

Aurora resident Nancy Griffin is a good gardener. She’s already harvesting, and she’s doing it with minimal water use because, even though she’s the president of the Dig and Dream Garden Club in Aurora and Centennial, she isn’t exempt from the unusual weather and water restrictions we’ve had this year.

“I mean, this year is the primary example of the craziness that we get,” said Griffin.

But even in good years, Colorado isn’t exactly a typical grower’s paradise like the Eastern United States or the Midwest.

“We only get 15 inches of precipitation over the course of the entire year,” said Diana Denwood, the Water Conservation Supervisor for the City of Aurora.

CBS

That’s why the City of Aurora holds Water Wise Day every year at its Water-wise Garden. It’s an event designed to teach people that they can have beautiful landscaping in our climate.

“It’s not just rocks and cactus. That’s a big misconception that we’re still up against and constantly educating people that you can have a lush, really colorful, really vibrant landscape using low to almost no water,” said Denwood.

She says this year the program is even more important and bigger than ever.

“Because the drought is affecting all of us, we wanted to open up to our neighboring cities and utilities,” said Denwood.

They had experts on hand to answer questions, give advice and teach the community how to garden successfully in Colorado.

CBS

Griffin’s advice: gardeners have to think about where they plant and how to optimize their watering, plus pick plants that are drought-resistant and sturdy, like native plants.

“Don’t get all starry eyed about what you see. Be practical about what you’re bringing home,” said Griffin.

The City of Aurora offers a variety of programs to help lawns and gardens become more drought-tolerant, like a Grass Replacement Incentive Program and a Landscape Design Program. Griffin says it also helps to join a gardening club to learn more about how to garden here. Many of them are free, like Dig and Dream, which meets every Monday at the Smoky Hill Library.