nifty 50 Archives

National Arbor Day on Friday, April 25, reminds us of the many benefits that trees have to offer. Photo: Pixabay/Creative Commons

Celebrate Arbor Day: Discover How Planting More Trees in San Diego Supports Climate Resiliency

April 21, 2025/in WaterSmart Living /by Gayle Falkenthal

Trees are among the most valuable investments in San Diego County’s landscape, including in your landscaping. No other plant plays a more significant role in fighting climate change, supporting sustainability, and maintaining a healthy watershed than trees.

National Arbor Day on Friday, April 25, reminds us of the many benefits that trees have to offer, with tree planting events planned throughout San Diego County.

Arbor Day 2025 Events

San Diego County residents can volunteer at several tree planting events on Arbor Day. Photo: City of San Diego

The City of San Diego celebrates Arbor Day on Friday with an official Arbor Day Ceremony at 9 a.m., followed by a tree planting event at Colina Del Sol Park in City Heights in partnership with Tree San Diego. Members of the public are invited to volunteer. For information and to register, go to the City of San Diego Arbor Day webpage.

Tree San Diego and the City of Chula Vista will host a tree-planting event for Arbor Day at Horizon Park from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Volunteers can register here.

The City of Lemon Grove hosts an Earth Day and Arbor Day Fair on Saturday, April 26, starting at 9 a.m. at 3200 Main Street.

Forever Balboa Park is also hosting an Arbor Day Event on Friday, April 25 with a morning tree planting event. Volunteers are asked to register and will be provided with the specific event location at its website here.

Tree Support Throughout The Year

Numerous nonprofit organizations offer support and tips on planting and caring for trees. Photo: Gabriel/Pixabay

Work with trees year-round by getting involved with the San Diego nonprofit Kate Sessions Trees. Its website provides information about the fundamentals of planting trees, environmental stewardship, and to ongoing watering and maintenance.

Throughout the year, City of San Diego residents can request a new street tree through Free Tree SD. This program allows residents and the City to work together by increasing San Diego’s tree canopy cover. Residents need to identify a space in the public right-of-way and agree to water the tree for three years. City arborists will evaluate the space and determine an appropriate tree selection.

To get started, fill out the Free Tree SD application form on the City’s website.

Tree San Diego works with all 18 incorporated cities, unincorporated areas of San Diego County, and tribal communities to support and monitor tree planting throughout the year. Urban Corps San Diego and volunteer groups also support tree planting projects throughout the year. Learn more at Tree San Diego.

Tips On Tree Health and Care

Trees provide numerous health benefits. Infographic: The Nature Conservancy

Depending on the tree type and size, water every three to six weeks.
The amount of water your tree needs depends. A general rule of thumb is to use approximately 10 gallons of water per inch of trunk diameter for each watering.
Focus on deep, infrequent watering, rather than frequent shallow watering. Aim to saturate the soil around the root zone to encourage deep root growth.
Young trees, even drought-tolerant ones, need routine watering. Most mature drought-tolerant trees can survive on rainwater plus infrequent, deep watering.
If rainfall is scarce, be sure to hydrate the trees with irrigation water.
Young trees are particularly susceptible to competition from turf grass. Remove grass from the trunk out to a foot beyond the drip line (the outer canopy of the leaves).

To help residents and businesses choose trees that will thrive in our climate and conditions, check out the San Diego County Water Authority’s recently updated “Nifty 50” and “Happy 100” plant lists. Learn more about the lists in this recent Water News Network article.

The Western Redbud tree (Cercis Occidentalis) is a favorite choice from the Nifty 50 plant list. Photo: Pixabay/Creative Commons

To learn more about trees, visit the Arbor Day Foundation.

San Diego forestry and landscaping professionals work with the San Diego County Water Authority and its 22 member agencies to help protect our region’s trees.

The Water Authority created updated Nifty 50 and Happy 100 plant lists to help homeowners and builders select plants for their projects. Photo: Water Authority plant list

New Plant Lists Help Homeowners Create A Beautiful, Sustainable Garden

March 25, 2025/in Features, WaterSmart Living /by Gayle Falkenthal

Deciding to undertake a landscape makeover involves many choices. Choosing your new landscape plants is one of your most enjoyable tasks. But walking into your local nursery can present so many choices that it’s overwhelming. What plants work best in the San Diego climate regions, and which ones use water efficiently?

San Diego County Water Authority Senior Water Resources Specialist Debby Dunn created two convenient plant lists homeowners can use to help them choose plants that will thrive and look beautiful in your new landscape with minimal irrigation.

Nifty 50 Plant List Gets A Makeover

The Nifty 50 is all new with update plant choices and helpful information. Photo: Water Authority

The Nifty 50 Plant list has helped San Diegans pick good plants for our climate for many years. It was recently updated with new choices. “Not only do the style of plants change over time, like many things do, but some plants become less hearty due to pests and disease,” said Dunn.

“Feedback from local nurseries and state mandates regarding non-functional turf led Water Authority staff to update the list. We focused on low- and very low-water plants. Half of the plants on the new list are native, and 98% invite pollinators.”

The Nifty 50 list offers care tips and a checklist to help you make the right choices for your project. Photo: Water Authority

The Nifty 50 list includes a 10-step checklist for plant selection and care tips to help your new plants thrive.

Happy 100 Plant List Addresses Commercial Designs

Superb Grevillea is featured on the Happy 100 list. It’s a great choice for year-round, eye-catching flowers with lush, evergreen foliage. It grows quickly in well-draining soils. Good for cut flowers, and attracts birds, bees and hummingbirds. Photo: Water Authority

The State of California has new regulations banning commercial turf grass in areas where it is ornamental or “nonfunctional.” To help commercial landscapers adhere to the new guidelines, Dunn and the Water Authority staff created a new, more comprehensive plant list called the Happy 100 Plant List.

The list actually contains 103 low and very low-water using plants, with specific information about each plant. These plant choices are well suited to landscapes for homeowner association common areas, public parks, and commercial buildings.

Bonus List For Black Thumbs: The Sturdy 30

Beautiful Cleveland Sage (Salvia clevelandii) is a “Sturdy 30” list choice. The evergreen shrub has soft green/gray to silvery fragrant foliage with spring flowers. Its flowers and seeds attract birds, bees,
butterflies, and hummingbirds. Photo: Water Authority

To help gardeners who need easygoing plants that will tolerate a little neglect, Dunn created a special list from the Happy 100 named the “Sturdy 30.” By sorting the online Happy 100 database, the 30 suggested plants sort into their own list.

The Happy 100 plant database can be sorted by plant common name, plant botanic name, light requirements, size at maturity, bloom color and bloom season, and which plants are native to California. Pruning and maintenance information helps homeowners care for their plants as they mature.

Prioritizing Pollinators In Your Landscaping

Prioritizing pollinators with your plant choise such as Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) provides healthy habitat. Photo: Water Authority

Prioritizing pollinators with your plant choices, such as Yarrow (Achillea millefolium), provides healthy habitat. Photo: Water Authority

Numerous plants support the life cycle of butterflies, including the threatened monarch butterfly. Plant several in the garden to help the larvae and caterpillars as well as the full-grown, nectar-seeking adults. The Happy 100 notes which plant choices attract pollinators and which pollinators favor each plant choice.

Choosing pollinator-friendly plants allows checks and balances in a garden. You can attract insects and creatures, which will help maintain the health of a garden without pesticides.

“Lush, water-wise, pollinating plants in our landscapes cool and clean the air, invite and feed pollinators, enhance the beauty of our homes and businesses, and lift our spirits. Consider adding a few (dozen) to your landscape today,” recommended Dunn.

Dunn has worked with thousands of people seeking gardening advice and realized they need detailed plant lists to help create water-wise, year-round blooming gardens that would fit their visual preferences and maintenance needs. Dunn sought input from dozens of local landscape professionals in the nursery and design field, ultimately making a list that anyone can use and enjoy the results.

The Nifty 50 Plant List

The Happy 100 Plant List

The Bonita Organic Garden Club received multiple awards for its 'Singing Cowgirls' garden, which features a beautifully rustic sustainable garden. Photo: San Diego County Water Authority Landscape Exhibits

Award-Winning County Fair Landscape Exhibits Educate and Entertain

July 10, 2024/in WaterSmart Living /by Gayle Falkenthal

San Diego County Fair attendees found inspiration for low-water-use sustainable landscaping projects from award-winning examples of creative climate-appropriate and native plant gardens at the Fair’s popular Paul Ecke Jr. Garden Show exhibit area.

Californians Learning About Sustainable Landscape Design

The Nifty 50 plants are attractive, non-invasive, easy to maintain, long-term performers and are water-wise once established. You can find them at local nurseries.

Debby Dunn, Senior Water Resources Specialist with the Water Authority, explains how Californians are changing their vision of the ideal home landscape design.

“More than ever, people are looking to create colorful landscapes that use water wisely and invite birds, bees and butterflies,” said Debby Dunn, Senior Water Resources Specialist with the Water Authority. “Interest in California native plants, as well as waterwise plants from Australia and South Africa, is skyrocketing.”

The Water Authority’s new Nifty 50 plant list and the soon-to-be-released Happy 100 plant list can help homeowners with landscape plant selection ideal for the San Diego region. Learn more at https://www.sdcwa.org/your-water/conservation/

Bonita Organic Garden Club Wins Multiple Awards

The Bonita Organic Garden Club’s display encourages healthier organic, sustainable gardening practices. Photo: San Diego County Water Authority

The Bonita Organic Garden Club received multiple awards for its ‘Singing Cowgirls’ garden, which features a beautifully rustic sustainable garden. The Club asked fairgoers to mimic nature and embrace organic gardening. Display signage described the negative impact of chemicals, which harm beneficial soil microbes, enter urban stormwater runoff, and reduce the nutritional value and flavor of fruits and vegetables.

Groovy Garden Fits Fair’s “Retro” Theme Perfectly

Humor is used to get attention for serious low-water-use landscaping tips in the “Groovy Garden” created by Water Authority Senior Resources Specialist Debby Dunn. Photo: San Diego County Water Authority

Dunn created her own individual “Groovy Garden” display with two themes: 1960s Groovy on one side, and 1970s Disco on the other. While the two sides were separated by a peace-shaped path and different color schemes, both had whimsical elements and colorful water-wise plants. Dunn’s exhibit won first place for depicting the Fair’s theme, “Let’s Go Retro,” plus three additional awards acknowledging her exhibits’ environmental messages.

“It’s all about creating a landscape that illustrates your personality and passion. For me, it’s Flower Power, fun, and plants that invite birds, bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds,” said Dunn.

Dunn demonstrated various ways to capture stormwater runoff with a dry streambed equipped with a variety of theme-based ducks, a rain chain, and a rain barrel. She also repurposed colorful thrift store and garage sale finds to educate through imagination and humor.

Using Humor To Convey Water-Saving Tips

“I created different rooms including a bedroom, kitchen, living room, and even a bathroom. Everything is upcycled including my pink and my avocado green toilets,” said Dunn. “They are there to remind people that toilet leaks are the number one cause of water loss. One running toilet can flow up to 200 gallons an hour, enough water to fill a pool in four days.”

“My garden promotes education with easy-to-implement tips. It’s definitely over the top because sometimes that’s how you catch somebody’s attention. People are going to stop and say, ‘Look at that pink toilet!’ Then they might read the sign and wonder if their toilet is running before they move on to the next garden.”

Dunn used theme-appropriate items, including a lava lamp and disco ball, to entice fairgoers to her display. “My goal is to bring them in with fun an

Low-Water Use Gardens Suit Many Design Styles

Dunn said low-water-use landscapes offer many different styles to suit individual tastes and needs, similar to interior design styles. “Everyone’s got their look and their style. It’s the same with plants. There are so many options and choices with these plants. There’s something for everybody.

“If you’ve got kids and dogs, you may need grass. But if the only person walking on the grass is the person mowing the grass, you likely don’t need the grass.

There are countless beautiful, native, and California-friendly plants you can place in your garden that will bring you entertainment and joy,” said Dunn.

Plants on the Nifty 50 list have been selected because they are attractive, available in retail nurseries, non-invasive and thrive in San Diego County. Photo: Capri23auto/Pixabay

The Nifty 50: Best Plants for WaterSmart Landscapes

December 19, 2019/in Conservation Corner, Features /by Kristiene Gong

Are you looking for new plants or trees to upgrade your WaterSmart landscape? Check out the Nifty 50. These 50 plants and trees thrive in San Diego County’s arid climate, and the rainy fall and winter are a perfect time to introduce them into your landscape. They are attractive, non-invasive, easy to maintain and drought-tolerant.

Timing is important

During the first 12 months in your garden, called the establishment period, new plants need extra water. Before bringing them home, make sure to check your irrigation system and water pressure.

A good resource for estimating the right amount of water for your landscape is the City of San Diego’s Landscape Watering Calculator.

The calculator is based on historical weather data for your zip code and can tell you more about water requirements for the plants, soil and sprinkler type in each of your irrigation zones. It will work for any location in San Diego County.

Map out your landscape

Once you have an efficient irrigation system set up, choose your new plants. Trees are a great way to line your property and block out the sun, noise and wind. They can help you collect rainwater and provide a beautiful backdrop for other plants.

Certain types of shrubs pair well aesthetically and attract pollinators like butterflies and hummingbirds. California Lilac, Manzanita, and Toyon are good examples of shrubs that will bring pollinators and other wildlife to your garden.

To add some texture and dimension to your landscape, look for colorful groundcovers like Trailing Lantana or Stonecrop.

Authentic means sustainable

Plants native to the region have adapted over thousands of years, and native animal species depend on them as well. There are thousands of ground covers, grasses, succulents, perennials, shrubs, vines and trees to choose from in addition to the Nifty 50. For more information, go to WaterSmartSD.org.

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