It can be hard keeping the garden green in this hot, dry summer, but a new style of landscaping can help gardens withstand drought conditions.
Minnesota’s first irrigation-free landscape garden is in the Longfellow neighborhood of Minneapolis. The Longfellow Community Council along with the Mississippi Watershed Management Organization helped pay for the $4,000 project hoping to set an example of sustainability. Council member Spencer Agnew explains, “We’re hoping that by doing this demonstration project other people will see it, learn about it, and like it enough that they want to try it on their own.”
The plants remain lush and green even though most have not been watered since June 6. The secret? Underground watering basins that retain water and keep them close to plants’ roots. Landscape architect John Kamp of Prairieform Landscaping, who invented the system, explains, “It’s like a bowl except its just earth and the plant is planted in that and filled up with water.” Kamp adds, “We love water. We love our lakes, and this is a way to conserve water in a real way.”
There are 205 plants in the garden, which are being weaned off of water. They were planted this Spring. By next summer, the hope is that they will need no watering at all.
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