About the Garden

 
Garden Purpose: to provide an educational resource where growing regionally appropriate plants also grows public awareness to reduce outdoor water use, fosters development of sustainable landscaping, and enlists community participation to conserve water resources for our future.

Planning and Design Kiosk The Scottsdale Xeriscape Garden at Chaparral Park is part of a 12-mile greenbelt through the City of Scottsdale in the floodplain of Indian Bend Wash. The garden, adjacent to the Chaparral Water Treatment Plant, conceals a buried reservoir with a holding capacity of 5.5 million gallons of water. The water in this reservoir comes from the water treatment plant, which treats 300 million gallons of Salt River Project (SRP) water per day that meet or surpass highest drinking water quality standards.


Rainwater Harvesting CisternDrinking water is not used for irrigation at the garden. Irrigation water from the lake north of the McDonald Road is used to water plants. In addition rainwater is collected from the roof of the treatment plant and channeled into cisterns and natural swales that run through the 5.5-acre garden site.

The Xeriscape garden is a Certified Wildlife Habitat recognized through a program sponsored by the National Wildlife Federation. NWF also sponsors programs for children, such as "Be Out There," and publishes award-winning children's magazines that highlight outdoor learning activities and advocate environmental stewardship as the cornerstone of conservation.

 

Scottsdale Public Art Feature | Terraced CascadeFind inspiration at the garden. Read thoughtful quotes form the great minds of history etched into the concrete paths throughout the garden. Experience Terraced Cascade, an engaging environmental art piece located at the south entrance to the garden, was commissioned by Scottsdale Public Art and created by environmental artist Lorna Jordan.

See over 7,000 plants and 200 species. If there are particular plants you would like to see, use the Plant Finder (exc/41kb/1p) to help locate them.

HELP AT YOUR FINGERTIPS

 

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Water Resources

Xeriscape Garden

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