Desert to Oasis: Back to Basics

Posted by Robert Dailey Mar 31, 2007

What kind of landscaping is environmentally sound? This is one of the prime questions that was asked (and answered) at the 12th annual Xeriscape Conference.

According to George Radnovich, president of the Xeriscape Council of New Mexico, the sponsor of the event, this year’s conference centered around the idea of land use zones.

In addition to experts on methods and processes of creating natural landscapes, using minimum irrigation, the conference also featured world-renowned specialists on land use throughout the U.S. and the world, and the interaction between open spaces and developed land.

The conference also covered how architecture and landscaping can work together to develop sounder practices to protect the environment.

The interdependency of landscape and water, the efficiencies of irrigated landscapes, and the roles that architecture of buildings and urban landscapes play in the conservation of water and resources.

The three-day conference included speakers like Sandra Postel, Allan Savory, Sid Goodloe, Matt Schmader, Judith Phillips, Rone Pate, Jim Knopf, Eileen Clausen, Ed Mazria and a number of other well-known writers and public figures in the area of land and water conservation, architecture, and agriculture.