The NRCS Plant Materials Program newsletter for the conservation community 

September-October 2005

Visit us: http://Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov 

Plant Materials Program

Xeriscaping Living Laboratories in the Dakotas and Montana

Contrasts in North Dakota 

Atop a hill in Bismarck, ND, a tale of two landscape 

choices visually illustrates why xeriscaping, the use of 

native or drought tolerant plants in landscaping, is not only 

easier to maintain, it’s far more beautiful to look at as well. 

The contrast is striking. 

On one slope of this hill overlooking the Missouri River 

valley the landscaping is a more commonly used mix of 

low-to-medium-maintenance-introduced or non-native 

plant species often used in new building projects 

throughout the country. Simply put, the slope looks sick 

and because the plants have not taken too well to their new 

environment, they are not covering the hill sufficiently 

enough to prevent erosion. Added to this sickly salad of 

very unhappy plants is the constant mowing needed to give 

it a manicured look which only exacerbates erosion issues. 

However, on the other slope consisting of native plants, 

which need little to no maintenance, the vision is graceful 

with lush grasses fluttering in the wind and bright 

wildflowers of purple and yellows. The onlooker is almost 

transported back to a time when an unhampered mother 

nature knew what plants worked and looked best. And 

most importantly, there are no erosion issues—lawn 

mowers need not apply—as no mowing is needed. So why 

doesn’t everybody ‘go native’ with their landscaping 

needs? 

Lack of awareness is one of the main reasons why 

according to Dwight Tober, plant materials specialist for 

North Dakota. 

“The contrasting native and non-native site is located just 

below a middle school and it was a project developed by 

the biology teachers of the school,” said Tober. “In fact, 

the teachers referred to the project as their ‘Outdoor 

Laboratory’ and made certain that grasses and flora from 

North Dakota were planted to ensure that this outdoor 

laboratory would be an example of the Great Plains as they 

once were throughout the region.” 

For more info: http://plant-materials.nrcs.usda.gov/ 

ndpmc

Contact: Dwight Tober, dwight.tober@nd.usda.gov 

 

Montana in the Mix 

Meanwhile, just next door in Montana, workers at the 

Bridger PMC are equally as involved in xeriscape 

landscaping with drought tolerant and native plants as their 

neighboring PMC in Bismarck. The Bridger PMC first 

established demonstration plots in 1998 with nine different 

native plants and introduced grasses. Like the Bismarck 

example of visually demonstrating a stark contrast of 

landscaping choices, employees at the Bridger PMC mow 

half their plots and leave the other half untouched to clearly 

show what these plots of native plants look like in nonmanicured conditions. 

Common landscape: 

non-native plants, constant 

mowing, sickly plants 

Xeriscaped landscape: 

native plants, no mowing, 

lush plants 
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, 

sexual orientation, and marital or family status. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program 

information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD).To file a complaint of discrimination, write the USDA, Director, 

Office of Civil Rights, Room 326W, Whitten Building, 14th and Independence Avenue, SW. Washington, D.C., 20250-9410 or call (202) 720-5964 (voice or TDD). USDA is an equal 

opportunity provider and employer. 

Visit us: http://Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov 

Being somewhat of a living outdoor laboratory, the Bridger 

PMC conducts experiments including driving vehicles over 

the plots to monitor the impact of trampling. To bring 

greater awareness to native plant xeriscaping, in 2001, the 

Bridger PMC published, in cooperation with several other 

entities including the Montana Association of Conservation 

Districts, a 15 page brochure entitled 'Creating Native 

Landscapes in the Northern Great Plains and Rocky 

Mountains' (see link below). Free of charge, and now in its 

forth printing, the brochure has been distributed to about 

48,000 copies to those 

interested in 

xeriscaping. 

Additionally, through 

the Foundation Seed 

program, the PMC is 

supporting a graduate 

student from Montana 

State University who 

is looking at water use 

efficiency of 13 native 

grass species and 12 

mixtures comparing 

them to Kentucky 

bluegrass along a 

supplemental water 

gradient. 

The Bridger PMC staff has been giving xeriscaping 

workshops to Master Gardeners, Conservation Districts, 

Montana Nurseryman's Association, and Cooperative 

Extension Service. The PMC also help establish xeriscape 

demonstration plots at the County Fairgrounds in Worland, 

WY and Thermopolis, WY. 

For more info: http://plant-materials. 

nrcs.usda.gov/mtpmc

Contact: Larry Holzworth, larry.holzworth@ 

mt.usda.gov

From the Field

Los Lunas Plant Materials Center Hosts 

Landscape Architects 

On August 19, the New Mexico Chapter of the American 

Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) visited the Los 

Lunas Plant Materials Center (PMC). 

ASLA visitors to Los Lunas PMC learn about 

‘Autumn Amber’ Skunkbush Sumac during August 

19 tour of the facility 

About 10 landscape architects toured the Center for three 

hours. David Dreesen, an agronomist at the Los Lunas 

PMC said the PMC staff concentrated on showing the 

landscape architects the PMC’s native grass seed fields so 

they could observe the potential use of mass plantings of 

native grasses in xeriscapes for aesthetic as well as 

conservation purposes. 

For more info: http://plant-materials. 

nrcs.usda.gov/nmpmc

Contact: Gregory Fenchel, gregory.fenchel@ 

nm.usda.gov 

Fun Stuff: Take a tour of the Internet Archives Website (http://www.archive.org) and type the National Plant Materials 

Center’s URL (http://Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov) into their ‘Way Back Machine’. Chances are, every major update of 

the Website (or any other Web site you select) will be there for lots of memory recall fun. It’s very intriguing and somewhat 

addicting so have some fun and use it as a research tool in the future! 

Our Mission Statement: Deliver plant-science technology to meet the nation’s natural resources conservation needs.

Xeriscaping in Montana: nonmanicured versus mowed plots