Mountain’s Edge offers landscaping winter tips

With the leaves turning and winter's chill just around the corner, officials of the master-planned community of Mountain's Edge in the southwestern valley announced that the next installment of the Desert Demonstration Garden Series will be held Nov. 17 at Exploration Park. Taking care of yards during the winter months will be the topic.

The free seminar starts at 2 p.m. in the park, located on Buffalo Drive just south of Blue Diamond Road.

Thanksgiving-themed arts and crafts will be constructed, and hot beverages and snacks will be available.

After the seminar, participants will be invited to see examples of plant materials that thrive in the desert during all four seasons at the Desert Demonstration Garden, which is located behind the Home Search Café at the entrance to Mountain's Edge.

Landscaping professionals expected to participate in the lecture series are experts in a wide range of disciplines and will provide examples of how to care for plant materials and give interactive demonstrations related to managing yards during cold weather.

"This installment of the lecture series will prepare people to care for and protect landscaping during a time of year that can be just as tough on trees and plants as the hottest months of summer," said Deonna Stocker, manager of information center operations at the Home Search Café.

The final installment of the Desert Demonstration Garden Series for 2007 will focus on winterizing desert landscape and how to protect new and existing drought-tolerant plants from freezing. Guidance also will be given on irrigation protection and how to appropriately water during this time of year. Attendees will learn how to take care of specialty plants such as roses; discover what plants need to be wrapped for winter survival; and determine the right time to plant bulbs for growing spring flowers.

Along with the experts assisting people at the Desert Demonstration Garden Series, representatives from the Mountain's Edge's Design Review Committee will be on hand to help homeowners gain a better understanding of the approval process of submitting backyard landscape plans, and to answer questions about the design guidelines for the community, Stocker said.

"Anyone in the valley can plan on these quarterly seminars to learn more about how to maintain beautiful, water-smart yards all year long," Stocker said. "We also plan the events to make sure that they're fun for the entire family, and serve as a great opportunity to meet neighbors and make new friends."

Each participant receives a free copy of the community's landscape guide book, "Legendary Landscapes," to use as a manual when considering plant materials for their yards, Stocker said. Focus Property Group, the developer of Mountain's Edge, designed the book to be an easy-to-read handbook on how to bring water-smart landscaping ideas to life.

The Desert Demonstration Garden was built as a resource center for the residents of and visitors to Mountain's Edge, showing that desert landscaping is more than just cactus and rock. At the Garden, people can walk along paths filled with desert-adaptable trees and plants, all of which are identified so people can request them at a nursery.

The commitment to water conservation extends throughout the community's landscape and into design guidelines put into place by builders selling homes in the master plan. Those guidelines include the elimination of turf from the front yards of all homes in favor of drought-tolerant landscaping.

The water-saving measures at Mountain's Edge have been evaluated by the Southern Nevada Water Authority, which has determined that when compared to conventional master-planned communities of similar size, Mountain's Edge will save an average of more than 200 million gallons per year.

When fully developed, Mountain's Edge is planned to have four elementary schools, two middle schools, high school, fire station, shopping centers, restaurants and commercial office space.

Those wanting to learn more about Mountain's Edge and its home builders are invited to visit the development's Home Search Café or visit mountainsedge.com. The Café is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily and can be reached at 898-5777.

Builders with actively selling subdivisions at Mountain's Edge are Amstar Homes, Avante Homes, Beazer Homes, D.R. Horton, Engle Homes, KB Home, Kimball Hill Homes, Lennar, Meritage Homes, Pardee Homes, Pulte Homes, R/S Development, Ryland Homes, Toll Brothers, Warmington Homes Nevada and Woodside Homes.

Other builders, including Astoria Homes and StoryBook Homes, are expected to begin sales in the coming months.

For more information on the developer, visit focuspropertygroup.com.