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Landscape makeovers, rainwater harvesting, free shade trees, sustainability news, & tips.
DRAB TO FAB BACKYARD REHAB
Does your yard need a makeover? Check out our four steps to take your yard (front or back) from drab to fabulous!
Read our June Sustainability Savings Tip [PDF] It's a great time to start planning for fall planting.
Learn more! Wed. July 14, 12-1 p.m. Zoom. Attend Xeriscape: Landscaping with Style in the AZ Desert. Learn the steps to a beautiful desert landscape while creating a sense of place, attracting birds and butterflies, all while saving water.
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AZ Gardening 101: Summer in the Desert is the perfect time to delve into virtual landscape learning.
We're partnering with Mesa Red Mountain Library to bring you this Zoom series:
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June 16, 12-1 p.m. Secrets of Summer Watering and Maintenance. We’ll talk about the mysteries of landscape watering, and will provide the best tips, tricks, and advice to get your plants through our hot summer months.
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July 14, 12-1 p.m. Landscaping with Style in the AZ Desert. Learn about the seven common-sense design principles needed to help you create a sense of place, attract birds and butterflies, and be water-efficient at the same time.
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August 18, 12-1 p.m. Plants to Provide Shade, Color, and Wildlife. Are you looking for a landscape that will provide a shady retreat, year-round color, or that will attract butterflies? We'll share our list of well adapted plants for a beautiful landscape.
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Water Harvesting Summit
June 15-17: Water Harvesting Summit 2021 Includes rainwater harvesting, greywater use, subsurface irrigation and more from our friends at the Urban Farm - presenters include Greg Peterson, Brad Lancaster, Sara Aly El Sayed, Laura Ellen and more. I don't know how they do it, but the entire Summit is free to attend, and the replays of each day will be available for 24 hours.
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Summer Savings by Reducing Water and Energy Use at Home
July 28 from 12-1 p.m. This Mesa Main Library lunchtime Zoom program brings together Mesa staff from Environmental & Sustainability, and Energy Resources, along with SRP to talk about solar incentives, rebates for electric vehicles, landscape incentives, and so much more. Information will include easy tips on how to save energy, water, and money at home, while promoting greater comfort and livability. Register.
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SRP Shade Tree Workshops
July 31, August 21, & September 8: SRP Offers Free Shade Trees Three new online Shade Tree Planting workshops have just opened up. Attend any of these dates and you will receive 2 trees at SRP’s shade tree pickup events in Fall 2021. Why? To help reduce your cooling costs, improve air quality, and cool our communities!
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Mesquite Pod Harvesting
Sat. June 19, 8 a.m. Mesquite Harvest at Rio Salado Park in Tempe from the Urban Farm. Greg Peterson and Don Titmus will provide a walking tour of the mesquite trees. You will see, smell, touch, and taste mesquite trees and beans and learn how to collect and process them. Fire up the griddle for mesquite flour pancakes!
Celebrate Indie Week with Local First AZ
June 26-July 4 - Indie Week Participate in this Local First AZ program, Independents Week features a call-to-action card, and encourages Arizonans to “go local” by supporting as many locally owned businesses as possible. There are great prizes available.
Protecting Your Desert Garden From a Heatwave Summers in the desert garden are hot. That’s no surprise. However, there are periods within these hot months that temperatures climb higher than normal. Because of this,…
The Critical Impact of Wildfires on Water As temperatures begin to soar, so will the number of wildfires in our State. And with our extreme drought conditions, this year’s wildfire season is expected...
How Drought and Shortage Differ The terms drought and shortage are routinely used together when talking about Arizona's hot and arid climate. While both drought and shortage involve a lack of water...
Minimize the Impact of Pool Backwash Pools are a great way to beat the heat! However, summer weather can do a number on your pool: haboobs deposit dirt, blustery winds deliver shed flowers and leaves...
Celebrate AZ Water with Americans Wetlands Month You might be surprised that we have wetlands in the Arizona desert. Some are natural and some are manmade. Find six featured wetlands/restoration projects that are great destinations for observing nature.
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Building Industry Experts Express Concern for the Future of Water While the home building industry as a whole hasn’t promoted water efficiency to the same degree as energy in recent decades, that is beginning to change...
ASU's 'maker campus' located in Mesa charges into the future ASU's Polytechnic campus is sometimes called the maker campus as it’s a hive of robots, student pilots, 3D printers, gardeners and algae farmers. There are four new programs coming to the campus including healthy lifestyle coaching and a sustainable food degree...
Beliefs about the afterlife affect sustainability practices What people believe happens after death guides how they think about the Earth and how they behave, including whether they choose to recycle or buy energy-efficient appliances, a new study shows...
Library Service and Hours Update Effective June 14, all Mesa Library locations will resume evening hours. Hours at all three locations will be: Monday - Thursday, 10am-8pm, Friday - Saturday, 10am-5pm.
Check out all these great summertime activities now ready for you and your kids:
June Landscape Watering Guidelines & Tips We're going from pretty hot to excessively hot - so make sure your plants are getting enough water. You'll also find our monsoon tips.
Welcome to Compost Guide The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality recently created this great site all about composting. It covers not only static composting, but also vermicomposting (with worms) and Bokashi (fermenting).
Can it be RECYCLED? How about paper retail store bags? While clean brown paper grocery bags can be recycled in the blue barrel, retail store bags are not allowed because they typically have non-recyclable items such as plastic or rope handles.
SRP Marketplace. It’s that time of year for high utility bills. DYK that SRP offers a marketplace with energy- and water-saving products? Find discounts (instant rebates) on smart thermostats, smart controllers, lighting, smart power strips, and more.
July 6 - Aug. 5: Smartscape – Tuesdays and Thursdays, 3-6 p.m. is designed for professionals in the landscape industry. Instruction from local green industry experts include topics on design, pruning, water management, plant selection and more. Attendees can earn continuing education units for the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA), or the Arizona chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects (AzASLA) certification.
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August 5: SHADE (Southwest Horticulture Annual Day of Education) is a conference for landscape and nursery professionals. This year, the conference will be presented in a LIVE, virtual format! Topics include design, tree health, water management, and pest management. There will be a live in-person MARKETPLACE event on Sept. 9. CEU's available.
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 Plan a Day at the Lake with SRP's Watershed Connection Website
Before you begin your next Arizona adventure check out WatershedConnection.com to see hydrology and weather data about your favorite outdoor places. SRP's website provides near real-time data for stream flows, lake levels, boat ramp elevations, and other data to help you plan your next trip. Photo: Bartlett Lake on June 10, by Cassi Bruner
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