Rain-friendly gardens

Yard Smart Gardening Sunday, April 14 at 3:30 p.m.

Learn how to make your garden “smart” by using a variety of water-conservation techniques — and enjoy a beautiful yard at the same time. Calgary Horticultural Society horticulturist Kath Smyth will discuss design techniques to create and sustain a rain-friendly garden, which will protect not just the environment, but also people and the community.

Yard Smart Gardening is water-wise gardening — something that everyone needs to be doing, according to Smyth, who will offer a variety of tips and tricks that Calgarians can draw on to use water more frugally. For example, by grouping plants together in the garden and in containers, you’ll be able to water groups of plants in one go, instead of walking all over your yard.

An instructor for the Calgary Zoo’s Master Gardener program, Smyth has been gardening for more than 40 years, and appears on both radio and television to dish about gardening.

Yard Smart gardening includes practising good soil management and water use, combined with growing plants that are suitable for Calgary’s climate. Use the right plant for the right place, Smyth says — “instead of trying to play nursemaid to a bunch of exotic material that isn’t going to survive here.”

This way, you can develop a beautiful space that is a tranquil retreat for you and your family. “It’s an expression of your personality after all, and a valuable part of the real estate you own.”