Conserving Water Through Modular Planting Design: Water-Wise Templates for Ogden\u27s Residential Front Yard Landscapes

Due to the arid climate of the Wasatch front and the projected population growth in the next thirty years, water conservation is essential. Consequently, because the landscape consumes 60% of Utah residences’ purified drinking water, water-wise landscaping needs to be a priority. This thesis creates water-wise landscape templates that can be applied to the front yards of Ogden rental properties using a modular planting method. This study determines best practices by researching topics such as water-wise plants for Northern Utah, templates utilized in other areas, modular planting, and existing organizations with similar goals. This results in a user-friendly guide that includes three sections: Research and Relevance, Design, Implementation and Maintenance. Possible water and cost savings are calculated to reveal the untapped potential in converting Ogden’s rental properties to water conserving landscapes. This contributes to the available body of knowledge concerning water-wise landscape education and will help identify simple and accessible ways for application, especially targeted to real estate investors, in order to enhance ecological awareness and create beauty