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Utah is different. Where else do you use your car heater and air conditioner on the same flipping day? We have fry sauce, Donny Osmond, green Jello and probably more Old Navy Fourth-of-July t-shirts than the rest of the country combined! With our unique climate and culture, it only makes sense that in order to grow right, our landscapes need to be different too.
When the pioneers entered the Salt Lake Valley back in 1847, they brought many worthwhile traditions, created a grid system WAY ahead of its time, and got us an extra day off of work in July—but they also brought a European-style of landscaping that was never meant for a place like Utah.
Now the landscape style they brought with them has perpetuated for generations, and we’ve all been frustrated with sprinkler systems that don’t work, plants that fail, and Saturdays that have been sacrificed to menial yard maintenance. But landscape fails might not be our fault. It could be our landscape style—and the fact that we aren’t in England anymore.
A new movement called “Localscapes” is growing from the epiphany that rather than importing landscape styles from different climates and trying to force them to fit here, Utah needs its own style of landscaping—one that creates yards that work, not more yard work.
Here are three things to consider as you “localize” your yard:
1. Irrigation
Utah doesn’t get much rain. If we want a lawn, we need sprinkler systems. Most people go through heck to fit their sprinkler systems to their landscape (often without success). This means dry-spots, overspray and plenty of lost Saturdays.
Localscapes turns this concept on its (sprinkler) head by designing landscapes to fit irrigation systems. Keeping your lawn in a central open shape allows sprinkler systems to work as they were designed, which means not forcing them to water oddly-shaped or positioned lawn areas (think side-yards, park strips, and that weird piece of grass right behind your play-set). Plus, when the lawn is all grouped together, it contains a single edge to trim and maintain.
2. Plant choice
Some plants are not meant to grow in Utah, and if you plant them anyway, chances are they won’t survive very long. Plants that do well in Utah are like people who do well here—they tolerate extremes in temperature and don’t need more water than they can get. Choosing the right plants means you’ll save money and time because Utah-friendly plants will survive and thrive in your yard for 15, 20, 25 years! And to make it easier for you: a list of Utah-friendly plants here.
3. Maintenance
Rethinking maintenance as part of landscape design saves time, energy and more of your Saturday. For example, placing activity zones like vegetable gardens, trampolines, play sets or sheds outside of your lawn area means fewer areas to irrigate, less space to maintain and no more bars and poles to mow around! Win, win and win.
It’s often believed that having more planter beds means more maintenance, but that’s like believing everyone in Utah puts carrots in their Jello. Maintenance reduction happens when you use drip irrigation in your planting beds and apply generous amounts of mulch. Now you’re only watering the plants you want to keep, and weeds don’t grow as well. All this reduced maintenance means more time to actually enjoy your yard. Take that, European landscape!
There is no place quite like Utah—home of the “Greatest Snow on Earth” and some of the driest summers in the nation. Isn’t it time we start letting our landscapes be local too? To learn more about Localscapes and how you can start localizing visit www.localscapes.com.
