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Smart Scapes Landscape Designs (Lots 30-32)
Project Lead: Jake Powell
Fast Facts
- Year: 2019
- Client: Iron County Extension, Alex Miesmer Construction
- Outcomes: Water-wise Landscape and Planting Plan, Model Home Demonstration Landscape
- Status: Complete
- Project Size: 0.15 acres
- Project Scale: Site
- Impacts: The project has resulted in the completion of the final designs and installation of three residential water wise demonstration model homes. The project has been featured in the national CWEL Virtual field day and was presented by LAEP Extension staff at a national CWEL webinar that reached 97 participants from 10 different states. The design, construction, education, and outreach provided through showcasing water-wise landscape principles to a new audience of contractors, real estate agents, and home buyers provide an opportunity to bring Extension into their neighborhoods and home landscapes. It is anticipated that an additional 4 homes will be landscaped and tracked using the grant funding.
Project Summary
In partnership with Iron County Extension Faculty LAEP Extension designed a series of residential landscape plans that were then installed at three model homes in a new residential development in Cedar City, Utah. These three homes are the sales office for the developer and provide a tangible example for future homeowners of water wise landscape design principles.
Project Description
Rural communities are often physically distanced from the water conservation and demonstration gardens located along the Wasatch Front. These demonstration gardens provide tangible examples of how water wise landscapes can look and feel and provide an opportunity for homeowners to gather landscape ideas and inspiration. The goal of the project was to bring access to demonstration closer to rural residents and emphasize principles applicable at a residential scale, within a new suburban neighborhood.
To make this goal a reality, USU LAEP Extension worked with Iron County Extension Faculty to apply for an Extension Water Initiative grant to help design, fund, and install a water-wise demonstration street. We partnered with a local real estate developer to create a series of front yard designs showcasing water-wise landscape design principles and techniques. These designs were then installed at three model home sites and provide comparative neighborhood specific water use data for these new homes, and landscapes being built in the neighborhood. As part of the neighborhood development, front yards are installed as part of the home construction. Demonstrating water wise landscape design principles at the model homes provide immediate access to link homebuyers with water wise landscape construction ideas and principles they apply on their own properties.
These three homes are a tangible center point for a partnership that is helping to change the vernacular landscape of Cedar City. The full project will consist of a website (currently under construction) that shares water use data from the three homes and a series of associated courses and resources teaching and reinforcing the principles displayed at these homes. These projects also provided an opportunity to work with local landscape contractors and nurseries to introduce them to new principles and approaches to landscape installation. The training provided to the landscape contractor on this project will be used in the installation of the landscape of the future homes in the neighborhood.
