What’s The Tour All About?
Every April, MBCA organizes a Desert-Wise Living Landscape Tour to educate and inspire. It’s intentionally called a landscape tour rather than a garden tour as a way of celebrating not just the plants, but the entire ecosystem of the desert. The Tour demonstrates the ways that Basin residents interact with their personal slice of the Mojave, prioritizing conservation, innovation, and responsible resource use, especially water. Local water agencies and the Mojave Water Agency provide partial funding for the tour (and video production).
How Are Sites Selected?
The process begins when we visit potential hosts and their sites. To represent a range of approaches throughout the entire basin, we evaluate site elements for balance and variety within a given tour. Final selections often have to do with factors outside the individual landscapes, and a site that may not be the right fit this year could be perfect next year!
I Don’t Think My Garden Is Up To Snuff. What Have Previous Sites Been Like?
We hear this a lot! People often base their perceptions on traditional tours that only feature show gardens. While we offer sites that are equally beautiful, our tour emphasizes healthy desert environments and creative solutions to our challenging conditions. The Tour features a range of landscapes, including:
- Permaculture projects (even in-progress)
- Existing natives, planted natives, and drought-tolerant plantings
- Restoration and rewilding efforts
- Wildlife-friendly sites
- Waterwise food gardens
- Sculpture and artful sites
- Architecture integrated with the natural landscape
- Drought-tolerant landscaping
- Creative hardscaping
- Budget-friendly DIY gardens
What Are The Host’s Responsibilities?
Hosts open their sites to the public for one Sunday in late April, from 9 AM to 4 PM. MBCA provides volunteer docents all day, to help with parking and registration, enabling hosts free to soak up admiration from site visitors.
Prior to selection as a site, we will ask you to complete a form to:
- Provide a few sentences describing your landscape and your experience
- Indicate water use (we’ll share how-to information)
- Note any resource-friendly aspects (greywater, rain catchment, solar kWh, green building)
What About My Privacy?
Attendees are not permitted inside residences unless invited by the host. Addresses/directions are shared only with registered guests shortly before the tour date.
Want To Nominate Your Landscape Or Tell Us About One?
If the tour or this information has inspired you to share a landscape, get in touch!
To nominate your landscape or recommend another, email [email protected] with a brief description, the owner’s name, address, and contact information. A committee member will follow up.
Thanks and Happy Hosting!
If you have other questions regarding hosting, please contact us at [email protected]
Showing 1 reaction