Living in our high desert climate in Santa Fe, factored with an ongoing drought, high water costs, and increasing concern over environmental impact of human existence, the need to emphasize sustainable landscaping is more important than ever.

Sustainable landscaping is defined as a landscape management program that has developed in response to environmental issues that focuses on reducing waste and environmental impact.

As any commercial property owner or manager knows, maintaining landscaping is a considerable expense. However, costs can easily be minimized by converting to a more xeric, sustainable landscape, without sacrificing aesthetic appeal.

 Sustainable landscaping solutions include:

1. Emphasis on native plants or drought tolerant plants

2. Water reuse, such as storm water via rain water catchment systems, bioswales or green roofs.

3. Irrigation audits to identify areas where water could be saved or areas of inefficient water use.

4. Grey water reuse systems

5. Recycling of green waste and composting for reuse to fertilize

6.  Solar powered landscape lighting

7. Reduction of turf areas and/or conversion to hardscaping and gravel.  

We love these traditional cottage garden flowers for Santa Fe gardens! These tall, beautiful flowers look great against fences, gates or the side of your home. The ygrow easily from a seed and do very well in our unique Santa Fe climate. The red and pink varieties are attractive to hummingbirds and butterflies.

Although Hollyhocks are considered short lived perennials, living only 2 or 3 years, they continually reseed themselves, allowing you to enjoy them for many years. In the late fall, it is best to cut them back. These flowers also benefit from mulching.

We are the commercial landscaping experts in Santa Fe. Our specialty is large commercial properties, office buildings, hotels, banks, malls and other retail establishments. Our clients often ask us what particular items they should consider when enhancing a current landscape, or creating a new one.

1. Focus on the front entrance. This is the first place your customers see when they arrive. Try using brightly colored flowers and unique landscape features, such as water fountain or decorative boulder, to make the front entrance attractive and inviting.

2. Consider a comprehensive theme. It is a good idea to have a theme that will carry on to other current or future commercial locations. This will help brand your business and increase your visibility and ease of recognition. You could also consider a color theme that complements the business logo.

3. Safety as a priority. Low voltage or solar lighting should be used in the front entrance and walk way areas to ensure visibility for customers during those darker afternoons in the winter months.

4. Keep it low maintenance. We always recommend focusing on planting low-water, drought resistance plants for commercial properties. It is also a good idea to avoid overplanting in general. As the plants mature, you may find you didn't need as many installed and things can become crowded.

5. Hardscaping. Using gravel or crusherfine, combined with drought resistant shrubs or perennials is ideal for commercial landscaping in our high desert environment. Lawns are high-maintenance and require lots of water and care to keep them looking nice.

The Yucca, a member of the lily family, was designated as the state flower of New Mexico in 1927. You can find these striking flowers in abundance in the deserts of New Mexico. The genus Yucca includes 40-50 different species. They are noted for their large fibrous stalk of ivory white blooms. These blooms are most fragrant at night.

Yuccas are an excellent choice for your home garden. They are very low maintenance and enhance a southwestern landscape themed yard. They are a very hardy perennial, and do well without much water or special attention. They bloom from mid summer to fall. An interesting tidbit on Yuccas is that they have a mutualistic relationship with the Yucca moth, which both pollinates the Yucca and lays its eggs in the flower.

Proper care for Yuccas should include ensuring they are planted in an area with full sun, and not overwatering, as this can cause the roots to rot. Yuccas do not handle transplanting well.  A once per year fertilization is all that is needed. Regular pruning is necessary.

Choosing the right plants suited for our high desert climate in Santa Fe can be a challenge. Vines are a great way to add easy appeal to your landscape, offering colorful blooms and many purposes, including: shade for an arbor, an addition to hanging baskets, enhancing lampposts or mailboxes, or trailing for stone walls.

Trumpet Vine: Beautiful red/orange blooms in the spring/summer. This vine needs a stable structure, such as a wall, trellis or fence to grow on. Prune in the early spring to avoid effecting flowering.

Wisteria: Offers stunning cascading clusters of fragrant blooms in the spring/summer. This vine exhibits robust growth and pruning is often necessary to keep it within desired boundaries.

Hardscaping is an attractive and cost-effective landscaping option for commercial properties. Hardscaping includes possibilities such as gravel, river rock, decorative boulders, rock retention walls, and stone steps.

Lawns are a high maintenance and impractical  landscaping choice for commercial properties in our high desert climate. A gravel conversion project can transform your commercial property with a fresh look. Gravel comes in a variety of colors and sizes, from 3/4" Santa Fe Brown to 1-2" river rock.

Gravel landscapes can be enhanced with colorful xeric perennials and other drought tolerant shrubs or trees. Some good options include Red Flowering Yuccas, Russian Sage, Agave, Butterfly Bush, Catmint and New Mexico Privet.

Gravel and river rock can also be used to create designs and drainage solutions, as well as add to the aesthetic appeal of your commercial property.

This spring, tent caterpillars seem to be a more prevalent than usual issue in Santa Fe. We have been receiving many phone calls and emails from concerned property managers and homeowners about tent caterpillars causing rapid defoliation of their aspen trees. The damage is mostly unappealing, but repeated years of infestation can cause tree death. Trees are a valuable asset that are not only expensive to replace, but also important to the landscape and our environment.  

Tent caterpillars form a silken tent or nest in trees. They hatch in the spring and emerge to feed on the nearby leaves. In our area, the Western tent caterpillar is most often seen infesting trees in May and early June.

Luckily, tent caterpillars are fairly easy to treat. Proscape recommends cutting out by hand any visible nests. There are also insect sprays that can be used to treat the problem. Contact us for assistance with diagnosis and treatment of your trees.