Native and Adapted Plants for Utah Landscapes
The Intermountain
West is generally a very arid region, with rainfalls ranging
from just a few inches in the driest areas of the Great
Basin to upwards of 30 inches in the higher elevations
of the northern Rockies. This a region endowed with scares
and scattered resources, where all life (plant, animal,
and people) is attuned to water and balanced with one another.
The diversity of plants adapted to the arid conditions
in particular were at times critical for human survival.
In addition to being sources of food, medicine, and implements,
native people used plants to suppress hunger and reduce
fertility and population growth in times of extreme drought.
Water
redirection and food import now support urban numbers in
the Intermountain West far beyond that facilitated by existing
resources.The rugged arid beauty of the Intermountain West
that is attracting so many people has been squeezed dry.
Large-scale water development is a thing of the past. Future
population growth in the Intermountain West will depend
on using existing water supplies more efficiently. Through
out the West, 40 to 60% of all urban water use goes to
landscapes. Much of the water is applied in excess of plant
water needs. However, even an effectively irrigated lawn
requires substantial water ( 60 to 80% of the amount of
water that would evaporate from a pan of water).We will
continue to have lawns in the Intermountain West. A lot
of the area currently covered with turfgrass, such as front
lawns, parking stripes, and other little used or viewed
areas, could be replaced with drought-adapted plants that
yield beauty with little water.
This site provides information on plants for low water use landscapes. Most are native to the Intermountain West or shortgrass prairie, but not all. There are many delightful plants well-suited for in low water-use landscapes that originated in similar climates elsewhere in the world. However, focusing on natives for low water-use landscapes is common sense. These plants are already adapted to the summer drought characteristics of the West. Beyond that using natives also honors the environment in which we live. Which in turn diminishes the adversarial relationship with the desert that most of our existing landscapes represent.
Many of the were
used for a variety of purposes by the indigenes people
here. Where applicable, a brief description of the uses
are included. Also in the description is a note on propagation
of the plant, and management consideration.
This site is just our take on a very large body of knowledge. We want to make this knowledge as dynamic as possible. So, we encourage you to add to our site. If you have further information about any of the plants on this site, please, email us and we will try to add it to the description, or contribute it to our Water-efficient Landscaping discussion group. The discussion group can prove to be a valuable archive of information regarding drought. If you have a better picture of a plant you can send it to us as a print, or even better as a email attachment.
Enjoy
Roger Kjelgren
