River-Friendly Landscaping – One Truckee River

11Feb 2021 by Admin

Deicing Salts: Are There Pet-Safe and Eco-Friendly Options?

River-Friendly Landscaping, Uncategorized

While winter may seem like a slow time for gardening, there’s still plenty to do to keep your landscape River-Friendly. One thing to consider is deicing salts used on icy paths and driveways. While they help melt ice and make our roads and walking surfaces safer during the winter months, they also can harm our pets and the environment. Why Are Deicing Salts Bad? There are lots of different deicing and anti-icing chemicals on the market, but the most common and affordable is rock salt (sodium chloride). Salt does a good job of melting ice because when sodium and chloride dissolve, they lower the freezing point of water by disrupting water molecules’ ability to bond together and form ice. But once the sodium and chloride break apart, they persist in the…

04Feb 2021 by Admin

River-Friendly Landscaping: Planning a Pollinator Garden

River-Friendly Landscaping, Uncategorized

It’s late winter. You’ve got cabin fever. It may seem like there’s nothing to do in the garden, and you’re anxiously awaiting the warmer days of spring. Well, you can put some of that restless energy into planning your garden for the next year. It’s a great time to put some thought into making your yard River-Friendly, and what better way to start than planning a portion as a pollinator garden!One of the 6 principles of River-Friendly Landscaping is to create wildlife habitat that supports the biodiversity of our watershed. While we’re not looking to attract big wildlife like bears and mountain lions, we can share our landscapes with birds and beneficial insects in desperate need of habitat. Pollinators provide essential ecosystem functions and support society by pollinating many of…

29Jul 2019 by Admin

River-Friendly Landscaping Part 6: Don’t Trash the Truckee Meadows

River-Friendly Landscaping, Water Quality

Did you know that approximately half of what Truckee Meadows residents send to the landfill in the summer months is organic material? That’s about 2,500 tons (or 350 elephants) of yard waste and kitchen scraps going to our local landfill every day! Instead of trashing these materials, which creates transportation emissions (contributing to air pollution and climate change) and takes up landfill space (decreasing land conservation), we can reduce unnecessary waste, improve soils, save money, and keep the Truckee River clean - all at the same time! In this, the sixth of our River-Friendly Landscaping series, we’ll show you how. So what’s the magic solution to this trashy problem? Composting! And what’s composting? Composting takes organic material and decomposes it into an organic fertilizer and soil amendment. It’s pretty much…

12Jul 2019 by Admin

River-Friendly Landscaping Part 5: Firescaping

River-Friendly Landscaping, Truckee River Watershed, Water Quality, Wildlife

The summer weather is heating up, and we’ve already had several Red Flag Warnings and small brush fires. It’s officially wildfire season in Northern Nevada! Chuck Grimmett/ Flickr Want to breathe easy knowing you and your yard are prepared? In this, the fifth of our River-Friendly Landscaping series, we’ll cover how Firescaping your yard can play an important role in promoting a healthy watershed while protecting your home from fire. But before we dive into the details of Firescaping , let’s discuss the effects fire can have on our watershed. While we’re all acutely aware of the social and economic impacts when people lose homes and are displaced by wildfire, there are also long-term environmental impacts that affect watersheds that don’t get as much media attention. Water Quality Ecologist Chris…

17Jun 2019 by Admin

River-Friendly Landscaping Part 4: Creating Wildlife Habitat

River-Friendly Landscaping, Wildlife

Lions and tigers and bears - oh my! Although this may be what comes to mind when thinking of creating wildlife habitat, for obvious reasons we don’t want to attract big wildlife like black bears and mountain lions into our yards. But that doesn’t mean we can’t make room for some smaller wildlife, like beneficial insects. There’s plenty of room in your yard to share with these little guys. And, did you know that it’s National Pollinator Week? So for this, the fourth in our River-Friendly Landscaping Series, we’re talking pollinators! Why are pollinators important? Well, firstly because pollinators help feed us! Many of the foods you eat every day are made possible because of the hard work of pollinators - avocados, blueberries, tomatoes, chocolate, and bananas, just to name…

31May 2019 by Admin

River-Friendly Landscaping Part 3: Water Pollution, Be Part of the Solution

River-Friendly Landscaping

It looks like warmer weather is headed our way, and who doesn’t love to visit the Truckee River on a warm summer day? We are so lucky to have a clean river to swim in or picnic by, but we all have to do our part to keep it that way and reduce water pollution. And it starts in our yards. We’ve talked a bit about non-point source pollution before (check out our Stormwater 101 blog), but when it comes to our yards, there are a few pollutants of concern you can really help reduce: nitrogen and phosphorus. Nutrients - The Building Blocks of Life Nitrogen and phosphorus are both nutrients, i.e. the building blocks of life. They are both essential for plant growth (super important for gardeners) and naturally…

14May 2019 by Admin

Truckee River-Friendly Landscaping Part 2: Slow the Flow

River-Friendly Landscaping

Even though we live in a desert, from the Truckee River to Swan Lake, our area is no stranger to flooding. And since this year has been unusually wet, it seems fitting to talk about how everyone in our community can help alleviate flood risk while keeping our watershed healthy. A youngster makes his way across First Street in Reno on Jan. 2, 1997. That flood caused $700 million in damage. DAVID B. PARKER/RGJ So in this blog, the second in our River-Friendly Landscaping Series (here's number one!), we’re talking about how you can slow the flow and keep water onsite. But first, you need to know a bit about impermeable surfaces. Impermeable What? The Truckee Meadows is becoming an increasingly urbanized area, and with development comes impermeable surfaces (this…

01May 2019 by Admin

Why Trees Are an Asset that Deserve an Arborist

Conservation, One Truckee River Month, River-Friendly Landscaping

In honor of Arbor Day on April 26, we got to sit down with American Arborists and local tree expert Rod Haulenbeek to chat tree care and the Truckee River! Listen to our radio interview here When we need tree care, many people search for a landscaper instead of a trained and certified tree specialist. The talk is about the 6 main benefits of trees, and why they are such a great asset. This is an Arbor Day Special airing for the purpose of increasing awareness about the importance of trees and arborists. More at: PruneWithCare.com. Rod will be leading two riverside tree walks during One Truckee River Month: Saturday, May 11, at 11 a.m. at Idlewild ParkThursday, May 30, at 5:30 p.m. at Barbara Bennett Park (this walk will…

17Apr 2019 by Admin

Show Your Nevada Pride! With River-Friendly Landscapes

River-Friendly Landscaping

We think the Truckee Meadows is a beautiful place to live! If you do, too, then what better way to show it than to have a landscape that fits in with the regions's natural beauty and shows off your Nevada pride? That’s why we’re introducing a new blog series on “River-Friendly” landscaping. We’ll teach you all about how to create a gorgeous landscape you’ll love while also respecting the Truckee River watershed. The beauty of the Truckee Meadows is a breath-taking blend of sky, mountains, and high desert! Special thanks to Lee Molof for sharing this beautiful photo. So what is a River-Friendly Landscape? A River-Friendly Landscape is one that is especially designed for residents of the Truckee Meadows! It will beautify your property, conserve water, reduce yard maintenance and…