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Water-Smart Garden Contest |
Enter the Monterey Bay Area Water-Smart Garden Contest
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Win prizes and share your water saving ideas with other gardeners.
The Monterey Bay Master Gardeners, local water agencies and other water-smart
gardening minded companies are seeking beautiful gardens that save water through
plant selection, efficient irrigation and other “water-smart” methods.
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What could I win?
Winning gardeners get cash, prizes, recognition at the Smart Gardening Faire on June 21st at Scotts Valley's Skypark and the opportunity to show their gardens in the Water-Smart Garden Tour on August 9-10!
Regional Awards
There are awards for Water-Smart Plant Selection and Water-Smart Irrigation in three regions of the Monterey
Bay Area: Santa Cruz County, Pajaro Valley area and Monterey County. Separate awards will be given for
amateur home gardeners and professional landscape architects/designers/contractors.
Four Theme Garden Awards
One of each will be given to an outstanding garden in the Monterey Bay area.
- Water-Smart Garden of California Native Plants
- Water-Smart Garden of Succulent Plants
- Water-Smart Garden of Mediterranean Plants
- Water-Smart Garden of Creative Lawn Alternatives
A “Water-Smart” garden could include some or all of these elements.
- Plants that thrive with minimal supplementary water, e.g., California native plants, Mediterranean plants,
and succulents without invasive species.
- The use of mulches or groundcover to minimize water loss due to evaporation.
- An irrigation system that uses drip emitters, micro-sprayers, weather based irrigation controllers, and other water efficient irrigation components. Rainwater catchment could be a feature of the irrigation system.
- The use of ground covers and lawn alternatives, rather than conventional turf lawns that use a lot of water. Some examples could be synthetic turf or low water use grasses.
- Plants that are grouped together according to their water needs. Plantings that are appropriate for the microclimate of the garden.
