WaterWise Gardening

Waterwise gardening

Gaillardia and hebe

WaterWise Gardening is a style of gardening that uses little or no water in a landscape, resulting in financial and natural resource savings.

Oregon WaterWise Gardening is a statewide program of OSU Extension to assist homeowners in designing and planting water efficient gardens. Nationwide, irrigating landscapes uses about 1/3 of our water supply. This water is not available for drinking, for wildlife, or for agriculture.

Resources

Find plant lists, plant profiles, photographs, case studies and links that provide information about reasons to save water, but also many practical examples and tips.

WaterWise gardens rely heavily on plant choices from nearby native areas, from US prairie plants, and for milder climates, plants from Mediterranean areas of the world. As with all gardens, appropriate irrigation and soil preparation are also important.

Online Courses

Teaches participants how to design and plant a water-efficient garden that is both economical and environmentally friendly. Linda McMahan leads the WaterWise Gardening: Choosing the Right Plants course.

Publications

• List of Waterwise Plants (Word doc)
• Water Efficient Landscape Plants (EC 1546)
• Water Efficient Plants for the Willamette Valley (MSC 1)
• Sustainable Landscape Checklist (PDF)
  For homeowners (certificates available only in Douglas County)
• Newberg WaterWise Gardening video

WaterWise Plants

View plant profiles of some WaterWise plants:

• Cascara (PDF)
• Ceanothus (California Lilac) (PDF)
• Cosmos (PDF)
• Coreopsis (PDF)
• Crocus (PDF)
• Douglas Iris (PDF)
• Dusty Miller (PDF)
• Echinacea (Cone flower) (PDF)
• English Lavender (PDF)
• Grasses (PDF)
• Gingko (PDF)
• Golden Currant (PDF)
• Hebes (PDF)
• Helianthus (Sunflowers) (PDF)
• Hen & Chicks (PDF)
• Herbs (PDF)
• Incense Cedar (PDF)
• Juniper (PDF)
• Lemon Queen Helianthus (PDF)
• Mexican Hat (PDF)
• Nasturtium (PDF)
• Pearly Everlasting (PDF)
• Penstemons (PDF)
• Philadelphus (Mock Orange) (PDF)
• Polystichum (Sword Fern) (PDF)
• Ponderosa pine (PDF)
• Purple leaf grape (PDF)
• Rose Lady Banks (PDF)
• Santolina (PDF)
• Serviceberry (PDF)
• Spanish Lavender (PDF)
• Species Tulips (PDF)
• Strawberry Tree (Arbutus unedo) (PDF)
• Stonecrop (Sedum) (PDF)
• Triteliea (PDF)

WaterWise Team

Members of the statewide team are Linda McMahan (McMinnville), Amy Jo Detweiler (Redmond), Neil Bell (Salem), Chip Bubl (St. Helens), Gail Langellotto (Corvallis), Weston Miller (Oregon City), Steve Renquist (Roseburg) and Robert Emanuel (Tillamook).

Some of the resources provided through these individuals are demonstration gardens, Xeriscaping for the High Desert, Native Plants Recommended for the High Desert and Growing Native Plants West of the Cascades.