The Garden Center
Water Wise Plants
A native plant is one that occurs naturally in a region or habitat without human intervention. Gardening with native and water wise plants from around the world, can bring beauty into your own landscape while also receiving numerous benefits.
Landscaping with native and water wise plants provides numerous benefits including requiring little-to- no fertilizer or pesticides, less water usage, and less pruning. These plants can provide a low-maintenance and budget-friendly landscape.
Did You Know?
A garden center is aplace with knowledgeable staff, where you can purchase a diversity of plants, and support products that will help you be successful with your landscape or garden.
Irreplaceable Irrigation
Every living thing needswater to survive. Since water is a natural resource, it is limited, and everyone must do their part to conserve it. Farmers are careful to conserve water when irrigating plants and crops. They want to make sure the plants get enough water to thrive and produce crops without being wasteful.
Drip irrigation – Water is delivered to plants through small tubes. Each tube has many pin-sized holes which direct the water close to the roots. This method uses less water than overhead sprinklers and less evaporation occurs.
Sub-irrigation – Used in commercial greenhouses, this method of irrigation is used for potted plants. Water is deliv- ered from below the plant and absorbed upwards. The excess water can be recycled.
Hand watering – Water travels through a hose and is sprayed from a nozzle in rain- size droplets.
Sprinkler – Large sprinklers spray water from overhead. This method covers a large area and works best in fields and orchards shaped like rectangles, squares, and circles.
Activity
Use an agriculture publication, such as Ag Alert® (
www.agalert.com) or your local newspaper, to find articles about water wise plants or local water issues. Use a separate sheet of paper and write a summary paragraph explaining how to conserve water and why it’s important.
Standards: ELA – Grade 3: Writing 1.0, Reading 1.0; Grade 4: Writing 1.0, 2.4, Reading 2.0; Grade 5: Writing 1.0, Reading 2.0; Grade 6: Reading 2.0; Grade 7: Writing 2.5, Reading 2.0
Scientific Names versus Common Names Plants have scientific and common names. The scientific name is Latin and consists of two parts: the first, which is always capitalized, indicates the genus and the second word, in lowercase, is the species. Common names are more like nicknames, and can be one word or several. Some plants may have multiple common names. Draw a line to match the scientific name to the common name. Hint: Often a variation of the common name can be found within the scientific name.
Scientific Name
1. Juniperus chinensis ‘Aurea’
2. Myrsine africana
3. Pyrus calleryana
4. Pinus canariensis
5. Hibiscus rosa-sinensis
Common Name
a. Flowering Pear
b. Chinese (Tropical) Hibiscus
c. Canary Island Pine
d. Gold Coast Juniper
e. African Boxwood
Standards: Science – Grade 5: 6a; Grade 7: 3a, 5a Sources – Arbor Day Foundation
www.arborday.org, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
plants.usda.gov 10
Activity
You decide to conserve water by installing drip irrigation in your garden. Your garden measures 20 feet by 120 feet. You plant 10 rows of plants that run the entire length of the garden. You will use one piece of irrigation tubing for each row.
1. Determine the square area (A = l x w) of your garden. __________
2. How many feet of irrigation tubing will you need to irrigate all 10 rows? _______
3. What will the total cost be if the irrigation tubing costs $0.05 per foot? ____
Standards: Mathematics – Grade 3: Measurement and Geometry 1.2; Grade 4: Measurement and Geometry 1.1; Grade 5: Measurement and Geometry 1.1
In the Know 'bout H20
Over watering or under watering can dramatically damage plants.
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