COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) – When you walk through the Colorado Springs Utilities Water-Wise Demonstration Garden, it looks like any other garden.
But every plant there, down to a single blade of grass, was chosen because of how it thrives in Colorado’s climate!
This little slice of paradise is a hidden gem, tucked away off Mesa Road just north of the bustling intersection with Fillmore.
“I’ve lived here since 1978 and didn’t even know the garden existed until about nine or 10 years ago,” said Rick Midtbo, who has volunteered at the garden for years.
But it was conceived back in the late 80s, when Springs Utilities realized 50 percent of its water supply was going towards landscaping.
“We knew that wasn’t sustainable longterm, so we really wanted to showcase what you could do to use water more efficiently, as well as what plants do well in our region,” said Lisa Pace, water conservation lead for Springs Utilities.
Rather than insisting on Springs residents trading their blossoms for cacti and lawns for rocks, Springs Utilities wanted to learn what flowers and grass would actually thrive locally. And the concept for the garden was born.
“Our big message is, ‘Let’s see what can really thrive with one day a week of watering?’ So it’s not just about ‘water your Kentucky bluegrass more efficiently,’ it’s about what native grasses do we have that can replace those high-water, intense lawns with something that’s still just as beautiful and uses about a third of the water?”
Over the years, through trial and error and experimenting with various gardening and irrigation techniques, nearly every plant that is now in the garden is one that flourishes with only a day or two a week of water and is hardy enough to survive Colorado Springs’ whiplash weather: hail, windstorms, springtime snow.
The garden isn’t simply open to the public: The public is encouraged to come out and explore, to see what’s possible in their own yards. They’re also welcome to stop into the lobby to ask any questions.
“They’ve done so many experiments here to be able to guide you,” said Benjamin Sattler, who did just that after moving to the Springs from Seattle this year.
“Over the years, we’ve transitioned and updated different areas. We just try to showcase what’s most relevant to our customers,” Pace said.
The garden is located at 2855 Mesa Road and is open every day, year-round. Dogs are welcome.
“There’s no gate, there’s no locked door, so you can come and enjoy the garden at your own convenience,” Pace said. “The prime time for viewing is really from mid-May all the way to mid-to-late-October, but what’s great about the garden is you can come and see what things look like during the down season. Because we do have winter here, that’s a big part of our year.”
For questions, the lobby is open 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
COFFEE AND CONSERVATION
On the upcoming Saturdays, you can stop by and visit from 8 a.m.-12 p.m. for a special “Coffee and Conservation” event:
Saturday, Aug. 2
Saturday, Sept. 7
Saturday, Oct. 5
“Our staff is here in the garden to give tours and answer any questions,” Pace said. “It’s a great time to see the garden firsthand and if you have any questions about your landscape, we’re here to help.”
“You learn a lot about gardening and how to grow stuff,” Sattler said. “Even if garden’s not your thing but you want to learn more about energy or water for your day-to-day life, the building itself has a lot of cool stuff to check out as well. I brought my 3-year-old and 10-month-old and strolled around and learned everything.”
VOLUNTEERS
And before you start thinking this garden is something only an advanced green thumb could achieve, one of the coolest things about it is that while it was established by Springs Utilities, it’s a group of local volunteers who maintain it!
“Without our volunteers, we wouldn’t have the garden as we see it now,” Pace told me.
Some of the volunteers have been with the garden for more than 25 years, others like Sattler started a few weeks ago after learning about the opportunity during his Coffee and Conservation visit. There are no prerequisites required whatsoever — many of the people who have volunteered over the years had no gardening experience at all when they started out.
“There are people here who have a great deal of knowledge that can lead us — and then the rest of us,” 13-year volunteer Candace Rhone laughed. “It’s a great place to work.”
All the volunteers I talked to tell me it’s an easy commitment, 8:30 a.m-10:30 a.m. every Wednesday from May through October. Volunteers range in age from retirees to young parents like Sattler.
“It’s a very nice, very welcoming group. And what’s good is if you don’t show up on a Wednesday, you’re not letting anyone down. Whoever shows, shows,” Rhone said, explaining that anyone interested in volunteering is welcome every week, once a month, or just once that season — whatever works best for the volunteer! There’s about 50 volunteers in total, but usually just 20-25 at the garden week to week.
And according to Pace, the volunteers’ value to this decades-long project goes beyond the garden’s upkeep.
“Our volunteers are a really wonderful group, and not only do they come in service here at the garden, but they become ambassadors out in the community for water-wise landscaping. They often times bring their family, friends, or even their HOA boards to the garden to show them what they’re doing and to help them get educated about what options they have to reduce their outdoor water use. … We’ve found that their reach is more than 1,000 contacts locally!”
One thousand more people learning about water conservation in their own backyard!
If you’re interested in volunteering, stop by 2855 Mesa Road for more information — or even just show up on Wednesday morning!
I talked to a few volunteers, and here’s what they had to say:
RICK MIDTBO
“I really enjoy it. We take a lot of pride in it, bringing it back from winter’s rest to the beauty that you see around you now. We are almost like a family. Some of us have been volunteering for as much as almost 20 years.”
“We’re dedicated to maintaining the garden and the beauty of the garden, not only for everybody to enjoy … but to educate people about the local plants that grow here.”
“I didn’t even know the garden existed until about nine years ago, came up here to ask a question, and the volunteer coordinator at the time said, ‘You need to learn a whole lot more. [Laughs] You should come in on Wednesday mornings and work in the garden and learn.”
Walk me through a typical Wednesday.
“My routine job is mowing the yards as needed. Some we mow every week, some we mow every other week, some I mow at the beginning of the growing season and the end of the season, and in between we let it grow naturally so people can see what that looks like. After I mow, I trim, I prune trees — I do whatever they need me to do. There’s always something to do.”
BENJAMIN SATTLER
“I generally kind of like these types of spaces, so brought the family out, got a little tour at the [Coffee and Conservation] event and they happen to mention at the end that there’s a group that does volunteer gardening on Wednesdays, and I showed up and asked what to do!”
“We recently moved here and don’t know the climate at all, so learning what plants do well at various altitudes; that was a big thing that I learned, that the altitude variation in Colorado Springs is quite a bit. … I moved here from Seattle, so very, very different in both altitude and rainfall.”
Walk me through a typical Wednesday as a novice.
“I’m only week three, but it kind of seems like a little bit of everything. I’ve done harvesting, which is a lot of fun, because you kind of get to see what the end product looks like, and kind of generally maintenance, so deadheading things, keeping things looking clean, making sure things don’t seed where you don’t want them to, that sort of thing. General maintenance and weeding.”
CANDACE RHONE
“I’m at 13 years. We moved here from Phoenix … I knew nothing about this altitude and what grows here. I did cactus well!”
“This is a great place to learn, but I just work. … Like I take care of the wood sign out front that has to be repainted. There’s all kinds of ways to add value.”
Walk me through a typical Wednesday.
“We get here between 8:30 and 9 generally. You can bring your own equipment, or we have a tremendous amount of supplies. There’s a list of action or things that they want us to accomplish. So you check, ‘Where do they want me, where do I fit in?’ And you go out, you maybe chat with your friends, you maybe go to your favorite part of the garden.
“… They recognize my skills, and I recognize my skills — or lack there of! — so generally Lisa will let me go off a trim hedges. I have a favorite walkway I like to keep clear.”
PETER ALEXANDER
“I started by really wanting to understand and learn how to do my own garden at home, and I just didn’t know what the best plants would be or what plants would work or how to do anything, really, so I came here as a complete beginner. I just wanted to ask some questions and learn.”
Walk me through a typical Wednesday.
“We go inside, get our badges and sort of get prepped on what’s happening today. Then there’s usually a sheet with a map of the garden with all the instructions on what volunteers need to do for that day, so we just go and read the list, and we can pick anything we want to do. There’s a lot of freedom in what we choose.
“… I like doing different things every time I come because I like to learn about different kinds of things. … I like learning how the gardens are designed, to look at a specific area of the garden from and kind of angle and see how it was designed and how the elements are coming together is really interesting to me.”
SNACK TIME:
Every volunteer’s favorite part!
Lisa tells me, “We always say our volunteers keep coming back for snack time. At the end of every workday, a few people bring snacks for that day, and we have some amazing chefs on this crew is they’ll bring homemade jam they make from berries in the garden or we will actually throw together a vegetable salad from produce that’s already outside. Snack time has really proved crucial at creating this network and family that we have as kind of our own little community here at the garden.”
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