I've done waterwise gardening classes like this numerous times. You've gotten some great ideas but 1-2 hours is such a short timeframe to be able to present what is a fairly complex topic so you need to be precise in how you go through the material. One thing that always gets attention from the start is if you can provide them with some stats on water usage and how that can be reduced with waterwise gardening. Most people are oblivious to the impact they, and more particularly their landscapes, have on the environment and providing them with a few facts and figures can be a real eye-opener. I'd also agree that you need to slide into the plant selection portion, so address what can be done to their existing garden to reduce water usage - proper watering techniques (time of day, duration, most efficient delivery system, etc.), soil amending/conditioning, timing/need for fertilization, grouping plants with like needs, mulching. Then gradually slide into perhaps rethinking plant selection - avoid saying they shouldn't plant thirsty, water loving plants (that always gets their back up) but suggest that they limit them and consider grouping them to a single area that can be watered separately. Since these most often include annuals and veggies, that makes a certain amount of sense anyway. Waterwise plantings do not always need to be xeric plants - the concern is to many that having a waterwise landscape will limit them to cacti, succulents and a few scrungy natives in a bed of gravel. This is simply not true. Many common landscape plants are very drought tolerant once established and also many home gardeners are not aware of the diversity and attractiveness of many native and/or xeric plants. Do your research, visit local nurseries and compile a list. If possible, bring samples. And do present a visual depiction of what a well designed waterwise garden looks like - slides or large photos are great. You are right in thinking some of your biggest resistance will be from those unwilling to reduce or give up their lawns. In arid areas or those that regularly experience drought, our attachment to a thirsty, environmentally unnatural lawn is awkward and counterproductive. You will need to focus on how to get around this big stumbling block and slides or photos illustrating how this can be attractively approached with things like hardscaping, drought tolerant groundcovers, dry stream beds, or other plantings, etc. can be very helpful. It relates to a different area so the plant selections will differ, but check out the So. California waterwise gardening site. There are some wonderful photos included in this that you may be able to use. This is a class situation where words are not going to carry the day. Yes, you will able to communicate a lot of this verbally, but visual aids are going to be what convinces your attendees that they can still have a lush looking, attractive landscape by selecting waterwise plantings and following waterwise gardening techniques. Make sure you include in your handouts a plant list with both common and botanical names - homeowner class attendees will never remember specific plant names without it :-)) Here is a link that might be useful: waterwise gardening gallery

Sunbum, one of the best ways to get to the right question is to ask yourself "what do I want this landscaping to achieve?" It's actually a question that suits design decisions in general, from paint colours to fashion. Ink has provided the clue to getting there with his observation that the garage is the prominent feature of your house, visually dominating the house itself, and that this is exacerbated by it being built at the high end of the lot. People with a design sensibility do tend to have an aversion to the "welcome to my garage look." The flip side of "welcome to my garage" is "where the heck is the front door?" and probably (I don't have a house like that so don't know) kind of an unpleasant feeling for people who approach the house, especially after dark. Of course, if you enter through the garage and never order pizza, perhaps this is not an issue :-) So the question you could start with is "does that bother me?" By chance, the sample photoshop that Goldie has provided also has that design feature; actually even more so, where the house is subsidiary to the garage. Of course, the contrast with yours is that your garage at least has a side entry. And you know, maybe people don't mind this look so much, now that millions of people have it. But still, there seems to be some effort being made to make the house attractive, so it does make sense that the landscaping would try to de-emphasize the garage and give the house more prominence. Now, my amateur design skills fall down at the question of "just how do we accomplish that?" but there Goldie's design actually provides a hint... at least, I think shows the effect that landscape design can have. While it is a pretty layout and very tidily done and maintained, I think it exacerbates rather than solves the problem. I stand to be corrected, but here's my rationale. A couple of months ago, someone posted a house for suggestions that was very different from this, but with an instructive element. The house was very close to the street and the lawn was an inverted U shape, with the bottom of the U being closest to the house. I don't remember what the OP question was, but Laag made the point that the lawn shape functioned to visually elongate the yard and thus to make the front yard seem as big as it was going to. Goldie's design puts a similar lawn shape - with a dominant line paralleling the driveway, thus more or less forming the U - in front of the already receding house. It is unfortunate that the photo angle of the later pictures is lower, but it almost seems in the actual installation that the house appears if anything further away from the street than in the photoshop. You may be somewhat protected from the full force of this effect by the line of your sidewalk, but the point remains that the lawn shape is a design element that will have an effect on how the two parts of the building are perceived. My expertise is sorely exceeded by the task of compensating for the fact that the house is on the downhill side, but hopefully you get the point that landscape can affect how the building is perceived - and decide whether you want to play with this element (vs just saying, "yeah, that's how the house is, so what?"). I do hope others with more expertise can chime in to at least explain what principles might be applied. KarinL PS: DrtyGrl, see what happens when you encourage me: I keep talking :-) PPS: Sunbum, you should also read the two threads by v1rtu0s1ty, you might enjoy them. Copy and paste his name into the search field to make a bunch of his threads come up, they are always instructive. PPPS: Or if all you still want is shrub suggestions for the existing beds, you can just sneak off to the local nursery to ask for advice, and ignore us all :-) Here is a link that might be useful: Virtuosity's thread on shape of planting bed

Well...these are Winter events...but you sign up in the Fall, so... The Arnold Arb's Winter Horticultural Series with 3 lectures and 1 workshop: Seán Conway, Design for Outdoor Living, Thu Jan 18 7:00Â8:30pm Sydney Eddison: Gardens to Go: Creating a Container Garden Thu Feb 1 7:00Â8:30pm [MBCC] ...and...drum roll please....... Fergus Garrett: Good Planting Thu Feb 15 7:00Â8:30pm "Learn the principles of good planting and designing with plants from Fergus Garrett, head gardener of Great Dixter and long-time creative partner of famed British gardener and author Christopher Lloyd. Fergus will talk about shape, textures, color, scale, repetition, and maintenance Fergus Garrett is head gardener at Great Dixter, the 57-acre estate of Christopher Lloyd in East Sussex, England. He worked alongside Christopher Lloyd from 1991 until his death in 2006. Fergus continues to lead a team of horticulturists for the newly formed Great Dixter Charitable Trust which is committed to carrying on Christo's work and keeping Great Dixter and its garden open for the public to enjoy." Creating the Mixed Border: A Workshop with Fergus Garrett Fri Feb 16 9:30Â11:30am [MHS] In this morning workshop, Fergus Garrett will teach you how to create a multi-season border. He will share his ideas on proportion of garden beds; variation in plant height, texture, and flowering; and color combination and repetition. Drawing on his experience working with Christopher Lloyd at Great Dixter, Fergus will inspire participants to fine-tune an existing garden or create a new one. Fergus Garrett is head gardener at Great Dixter, the 57-acre estate of Christopher Lloyd in East Sussex, England. He worked alongside Christopher Lloyd from 1991 until his death in 2006. Fergus continues to lead a team of horticulturists for the newly formed Great Dixter Charitable Trust which is committed to carrying on Christo's work and keeping Great Dixter and its garden open for the public to enjoy. The Winter Horticultural Lecture Series is sponsored by the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, the New England Wild Flower Society, Tower Hill Botanic Garden, and Wellesley College Friends of Horticulture.

Here is a link: http://www.bluewaterbaltimore.org/blog/2015nativeplantlectureseries/ I am not affiliated with Blue Water Baltimore, I am just excited about these lectures/talks. Thought some of you might enjoy learning about a Baltimore native plant lecture series! Each two-hour session costs just $10 and will include lots of great tips from the staff of Blue Water Baltimore and Herring Run Nursery, plus plenty of time for your questions. All the lectures will happen at the offices of Blue Water Baltimore (3545 Belair Road, Baltimore, MD 21213). � Native Plants In the Modern Landscape � Native Plants: Planning & Design � Native Plants: Gardening in the Age of Man � Native Plants: Gardening for Pollinators � Native Plants: Gardening for Birds � Native Plants: Gardening for Butterflies Advance registration is required. This post was edited by amanda_m on Thu, Jan 8, 15 at 13:34