Roseville Joint Union Unified High School District
Replaced Lawn, Created a Teaching Moment
Save water and reduce maintenance. Those were the two main goals in mind when staff at the Roseville Joint Union Unified High School District launched a landscape makeover at their district office on Cirby Way.
With rebate funding from the City of Roseville’s Cash for Grass program to help defray costs, the district replaced nearly 4,000 square feet of lawn with water-wise landscaping over the course of two months, according to Joe Landon, , Assistant Superintendent of Business Services for the Roseville Joint Unified High School District.
“This project allowed us to kill two birds with one stone,” Joe said. “Now that the project is complete, we can expect to save a lot water and also lower the maintenance required to maintain a lush landscape.”
And, even on a limited budget, Joe said the district was able to hire a landscape professional and achieve the project’s goals.
“I was excited to help update their landscape,” said Kate Bowers of Kate Bowers Landscape Design who provided the landscape design plan, hands-on advice and identified plants approved under Roseville’s rebate guidelines. “The landscape was a very typical example of 20- to 30-year-old landscaping that both uses a lot of water and also requires a lot more maintenance than a more natural, lower-water design.”
The new landscape includes Rosemary, Loropetalum/Fringeflower, Manzanita, Salvia, Redbud and grasses, as well as a new drip irrigation system.
The school district received a $2,500 rebate from the City of Roseville to remove the lawn. And, Joe said the rebate process was seamless. “Our maintenance staff contacted the city, and they helped us with the application and provided assistance and recommendations along the way. They definitely wanted a project that saved water and helped get us there.”
The district says that they are looking at other ways to save water and meet their water efficiency goals, including water-wise landscape makeovers at other sites as funding becomes available.
