Denver changing summer plantings to conserve water

May 2003

U.S. Water News Online

DENVER -- May showers are not going to bring more flowers. The city will plant half the normal number of flowers this spring and will Xeriscape the downtown pedestrian mall to conserve water.

Watering restrictions are in place in Denver and other Front Range cities in hopes of filling reservoirs sapped by one of the state's worst-ever droughts. In Denver, officials will only plant 150,000 flowers, instead of the normal 300,000.

Parks crews still plan large floral displays at such parks as Cheesman, City,  Civic Center, Ruby Hill, Washington, Viking and Village Place, but they hope to cut water use in half. They'll save water by not planting in peripheral areas and using plants that require less water, including columbines, lavenders, penstemons and ornamental grasses.

``We've always done strictly annuals,'' said Gary Douglas, greenhouse  superintendent. ``We've never had a need to worry about having enough water  until now.''

The landscaping on the 16th Street pedestrian mall will be different, too. Landscape contractor TruGreen LandCare will switch out the pansies and junipers with Xeriscape vegetation in the 270 planters along the 16 blocks. The plants are expected to help cut the mall's water use by 30 percent.

TruGreen manager Jeff Miller said the switch to Xeriscaping is a long-term obligation to adjust to Colorado's climate.

``We have to remember that this is a semiarid climate, a desert,'' Miller  said. ``We created this little oasis called Denver. The data shows us droughts are part of the natural cycle, so it is our obligation to adjust to that, not  the other way around.''