With Gov. Jerry Brown ordering water use to be cut by 25 percent statewide and tasking Californians to conserve more water, now is the time to learn how to create a smarter landscape. The Central Coast community can learn the basics this summer at Allan Hancock College.
Allan Hancock College Community Education will offer a free Water-Wise Landscaping class as part of its summer course offerings on Wednesdays, June 24 through July 29, from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Santa Maria campus in Room C-35.
The course explores various planting and landscaping techniques to conserve water by as much as 50 percent. Learn how to create an easy-to-maintain landscape using native and drought-tolerant plants. Students will learn about xeriscaping, a landscaping method that does not require supplemental water from irrigation and often utilizes native, drought resistant plants to conserve water (and typically requires less maintenance than traditional landscapes). Drip irrigation practices will also be discussed.
Instructor Julie Andrews-Scott has been an educator for more than 20 years and specializes in teaching students how to make native and water-wise plants work for a better environment in a drought-stricken California. She has a bachelor’s degree in nutritional science and a master’s in cultural aspects of food systems from California Polytechnic State University. Her landscaping techniques, combined with natural pesticide management and sensible water conservation measures, give students the edge over problematic landscaping.
Registration begins May 11. For more information, you may view the summer 2015 schedule of classes online now at www.hancockcollege.edu, then click “Class Search.” Or, see the printed summer 2015 Spectrum Schedule of Community Education, available at all campus locations and arriving in mailboxes beginning May 8.
For more specific questions, call 805.922.6966 x3209.
— Stefanie Aye is a public affairs coordinator for Allan Hancock College.