North Texas Cities Adapt Landscaping to Drought

With reservoirs low, watering still restricted and Mother Nature stingy with rainfall, several North Texas cities are trying to make their landscaping rules more drought-tolerant.

Corinth, in Denton County, tweaked its weed ordinance in October to exempt well-groomed ornamental and native grasses from the 6-inch height limit. Cities including Rockwall and McKinney are considering broader rules, aimed at encouraging developers to design landscapes and irrigation systems with conservation in mind. And Frisco gave final approval to a far-reaching new landscaping ordinance last month, capping a research and planning effort that began nearly three years ago.

"We were doing this even without the drought," said Scott Ingalls, Frisco's zoning and subdivision administrator. "We started taking a look at how Western states do things. They typically have water issues and have been dealing with this for a while."

Though cities would like to see conservation improvements on existing landscapes, the regulatory efforts are aimed largely at new developments, where changes can be required before a certificate of occupancy is issued.

Frisco officials say their goal is to conserve water while preserving landscaping benefits such as cooler air and reduced pollution, flooding and erosion. Landscapes created and tended under the new rules may use up to 50 percent less water than under the old ones, they say.

Among other changes for new developments, Frisco:

• Allows more plant species that are native to North Texas or adapted to its climate.
• Requires 3 inches of mulch in shrub beds and around trees.
• Requires evapotranspiration controllers, which turn irrigation systems on only when water is needed and adjust the amount depending on the time of year.
• Requires plants installed by homebuilders to be able to survive Stage 3 water restrictions, which in most cities means one watering a week. Builders may use Bermuda grass but must offer options such as buffalo grass that can remain green on half as much water.

(Mr. Ingalls said Frisco doesn't encourage the use of St. Augustine, another popular grass, because "it's a water pig. ... Where Bermuda will go dormant, St. Augustine will just turn brown and die.")

• Sets water allowances, mostly for commercial developments, based on the amount of landscaped area and requires owners to adhere to them. As a carrot, Mr. Ingalls said, the city offers the use of irrigation auditors who can show property owners where their water is going and how to avoid wasting it.

To keep water use within the allowances, Frisco's ordinance recommends designing landscapes to include natural areas, where irrigation shouldn't be needed except during severe drought; and rainwater harvest areas, designed to channel rainwater to plants that need it or to collect it for use in irrigation systems. Oasis zones, with plants that require moderate to high amounts of irrigation, are limited mainly to building entrances.

Most of Frisco's provisions – especially auditing, mulching and high-tech irrigation controllers – could save significant amounts of water, said Dotty Woodson, an extension agent for horticulture in Tarrant County who helped write regional drought-tolerant landscaping guidelines in 2003.

She said it's as important for cities to educate people about proper watering, mulching, mowing and other techniques as it is for them to regulate types of plants used.

"They need to start an education process to the homeowners, to the landscapers, to the developers," said Ms. Woodson, who was one of several speakers at a North Central Texas Council of Governments workshop on landscaping ordinances in September. "It's also a water quality issue – native and adapted plants need no pesticides."

Developers in Frisco, for the most part, are already using plants allowed under the new ordinance, Mr. Ingalls said.

"Our guys looked at what builders have been putting in – most of what they were putting in would meet a Stage 3 [water conservation] situation," he said. "It was how it was being put in that uses more water."

He said Frisco isn't trying to tell people exactly what to plant.

"We're saying, 'Spend a little more time and do it well,' " Mr. Ingalls said. "Choose what you plant wisely. You also won't be dumping a lot of money into the ground through water."

In Rockwall, city leaders are considering using less thirsty landscaping at municipal buildings to show the public what is possible. The city plans to build two new fire stations in the next few years, which some City Council members see as a perfect opportunity to try out new landscaping ideas.

No firm plans have been put together, but Mayor Pro Tem Matt Scott and other council members said they wanted to use landscaping experts to help change the city's rules.

"We said we needed to look at changing the way we do things," Mr. Scott said. "What are the plants that are more appropriate for the area? We want to use less water, but at the same time we don't want to compromise the look of the city."

Ms. Woodson said that was one of the goals of the writers of the Texas SmartScape guidelines. Texas SmartScape is a program of the North Central Texas Council of Governments and several other groups to reduce water use and pollution but to keep yards green. Frisco officials used the guidelines, among other resources, as they wrote their new landscaping rules.

"I don't think our landscape needs to look like a prairie," Ms. Woodson said. "But the problem with those emerald green lawns people have is that they're over-watered. Education really needs to be part of any program a city does."

As McKinney officials look to redraw their city's rules, they're considering a partnership with the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, a state agency with an office in Dallas. McKinney City Council members plan to discuss the potential partnership this month, Mayor Bill Whitfield said.

Under the partnership, he said, the experiment station's researchers would help the city draw up plans for water conservation, for example putting together a list of drought-resistant plants for developers in the rapidly growing city.

"We could pass ordinances that would require them to use it," Mr. Whitfield said. "We're trying to be conscious of our water and the plants we use. We've got to make this a better place."

Some species of grass can survive 60 days without rain or irrigation, said Allan Jones, the experiment station's associate director. They could replace the popular St. Augustine and Bermuda.

"McKinney is really interesting because it is in a major growth spurt," Dr. Jones said. "Now's the time to do something."