As people try to plan landscapes that will use less water, there are a few tips they can start with:

• Use as many natives and Mediterranean-type plants as possible.

• Consider alternatives to traditional lawn grasses. Bentgrass (Agrostis pallens), for example, is fine-bladed and soft to walk on, and will stay green with bimonthly irrigation. One midseason mowing will keep it looking turflike. Buffalograss (Buchloe dactyloides) takes little water and is low-growing.

• Mulching conserves water and protects the soil. A 3- or 4-inch layer of mulch insulates and also helps to improve soil structure.

• Take a self-guided tour of a drought-resistant demonstration garden for ideas worth copying. Two such gardens:

Sacramento County's Donna M. Dean Water Conservation Garden adjacent to the Waterman Road Water Treatment Facility on Waterman Road (between Calvine and Vintage Park roads). It is open from sunrise to sunset. For more information: (916) 875-4217.

San Juan Water District's Water Efficient Landscape Garden is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information: (916) 791-0115.

• Switch to a drip or soaker irrigation system wherever you can. Most plants do not like overhead sprinklers, and an overhead sprinkler system wastes more water than drip systems.

• Develop a water landscape budget to determine how much water a particular landscape needs over a specific period, to avoid overwatering.

• Make use of online resources like these:

www.h2ouse.org: A Web site of the California Urban Water Conservation Council has water-wise plants for Northern California.

ceplacernevada.ucdavis.edu: A Web site of the University of California Cooperative Extension and the UC Master Gardeners of Placer and Nevada counties.

Source: Sustainable Urban Gardener; University of California Cooperative Extension; Sacramento County Municipal Services Agency Department of Water Resources