Landscape classes for water conservation

Tehachapi-Cummings County Water District Water Conservation Coordinator Liz Block created classes on water-efficient gardening and climate-appropriate plants to accompany the anticipated receipt of a Bureau of Reclamation grant for turf removal rebates. The grant did not come through but the classes are still on.

“There are so many emergency water needs right now,” she said, “we decided to give the classes anyway.”

The classes promise to show the way to “a more interesting landscape that changes with the seasons and shows the character of the homeowner,” said Block, who advocates “a kinder, softer landscape that offers less air pollution, less chemicals in the form of fertilizer and pesticides, less water and more beauty.”

The traditional residential landscape is an ecological monoculture, she said, that provides little habitat for other living creatures like birds, butterflies and the native black bumblebees.

“Unless you’re a creature that lives on lawn, you’re out of luck,” she said.

The one-hour classes – on five consecutive Saturday mornings in July and August – cover how to care for a dormant lawn, how to kill a lawn, how to choose what to put in a water-saving garden and how to install a micro-irrigation system and basic ecological concepts. Block, a native of Ventura, Calif., holds a Masters in Environmental Science from Western Washington University and is a Master Gardner in Florida and New Mexico. She has worked in the field of water conservation for 15 years, specializing in landscaping and irrigation. 661-822-5504.