My wife, who went to school for City Planning, complained that in her profession, the period of time to realize
what you have done is sometimes fifteen or more years. To me that is not tangible, whereas, what we do is an almost instant gratification and that is
something very enticing and rewarding. Especially when you sod instead of seed a lawn. (laughs) When a landscape goes in with sod, large trees and flowers, it is truly instant gratification since it looks good from the moment it goes in.

V5: Living in the desert, water is always an issue. How has that impacted your designs?

RG: As landscape architects, we are acutely aware of the use of water in landscaping. We do our own irrigation designs and have learned how different types of plant materials require different amounts of water. We were also acutely made aware of addressing water issues as professional through seminars given by Coachella Valley Water District. They made it very clear to design professionals that they were going to be turning back the taps, so to speak, by putting in smaller water meters and thus forcing the initiative
towards designing landscapes requiring less water. So we have become adept in using trickle irrigation and designing landscapes that utilize the water saving nature of drip irrigation. For years, the Palm Springs area was noted
for being a desert oasis, as opposed to the more spartan desert landscape environments of Phoenix and Tucson. This area is changing because people coming here are more interested in seeing and planting a derivative of our particular area. So we are finding that our clients are not trying to buck the tide, so to speak, and are actually requesting desert oriented landscaping. But our approach is still not the same as Tucson or Phoenix, where the natural, native desert environment in those places is lusher than
what we have here. The native vegetation here for the most part is far more arid looking than the Arizona developed desert areas.

As far as golf courses being built, the water issue only becomes a controversy during drought years. When there is adequate rainfall,
it is recognized that golf courses bring in the type of business that keeps many people employed in this area. There have also been studies done
that compare the water needs of a golf course with a comparably sized residential area, and apparently they are somewhat equivalent. On one hand, one could argue that the water used by a residential area is to meet the needs of a lot of human beings, whereas golf is just a game. Yet golf is a draw in enticing people to come to this area and spend money, thus allowing other people to live here and earn a living, so both are needed. I think that golf courses over the last decade or so have become far better managed
then they used to be. One way is developing golf courses that use irrigation very sparingly or using it only as needed. Another way is to design courses with smaller turf areas, which in our experiences has to be done very carefully to avoid the dreaded target golf. (laughs)

Most golf courses are far more efficient than the typical residential system. As design professionals, we need to be at the forefront of
conserving water through good design.

V5: Thank you Ron.         volume5