Springs Preserve offers learning opportunities

The new Las Vegas Springs Preserve is finally opening Friday. It has been more than 10 years in the making. You won’t even know you are being educated as you take in the exhibits.

For 25 years, the 2.5-acre Desert Demonstration Gardens introduced many new drought-tolerant plants and landscape ideas to the valley. Now those plants are on display spread over eight acres. As time goes on, Pete Duncombe, curator for the preserve, will add more plants as explorers scout the deserts of the world looking for new additions to the exhibits. The preserve is at 333 S. Valley View Blvd.

The project is designed to be an innovative learning environment for visitors to explore native and non-native desert-adapted plants through interpretive stations and hands-on activity, as well as a chance to learn about techniques and different ways to enhance outdoor space with water-smart landscaping. Here are some things you will see:

Enabling garden: This garden demonstrates ways of making gardening an accessible activity for people of all ages and with physical challenges. Components within this specialized garden include raised beds, vertical wall gardens and shallow pans you can maintain from a standing or seated position; hanging baskets you can lower to a comfortable height for planting and maintenance but raise up for a more vivid display; and a tool shed stocked with a selection of gardening tools that are lighter weight and are ergonomically designed to reduce joint stress and strain ordinary tools can cause.

Let me focus a bit on raised beds, because they might be the best way to garden in our valley. They enable you to make the perfect soil environment for your plant.

All successful gardens begin with good soil preparation. It is very porous soil you can run your hand through.

It might surprise you to know the compost used in these raised beds came from Christmas trees donated in January. I hope we get more Christmas trees to compost next year.

All gardeners, regardless of their abilities, can access the vertical wall garden. You plant the plants at eye level, making it easier to prune, check for pests and harvest fruit and vegetables so you don’t have to get down on your hands and knees.

Frame House: It is a teaching space that features a kitchen area with cooktop used for outdoor cooking classes, gardening demonstrations and other activities. It is partially enclosed for learning comfort.

Adjacent to the Frame House you’ll find an herb garden, fruit trees growing in containers, vegetables, a rose arbor and different mulches under them.

You’ll also see displays of the many combinations of hardscapes, a factor often overlooked in landscapes.

Watering Can Theater: This outdoor theater looks like a giant watering can. It provides a shady venue for talks and demonstrations about irrigation with examples placed around for demonstration purposes.

Wetlands: You’ll be able to see the re-creation of a southern area wetlands. It shows you how aquatic flora species — rushes, sedges and grasses — help to clean up reclaimed water pumped from the buildings on site and provide a habitat for wildlife.

Technical Training Center: This is a wet classroom where participants design and build their own miniature drip irrigation or sprinkler system, then test it for efficiency. Because of its ease of cleanup, it is ideal for workshops about straw bale construction and rammed earth construction.

Design demonstration: Here you will find an outdoor interpretive exhibit that explores the principles of landscape design — balance, texture, rhythm, proportion, color, line and symmetry with elements of art in a fun, whimsical way. You stand before mirrors that reflect back the above principles for easy understanding.

Display of retrofitted landscaping: Here you’ll compare water-smart landscaping with inappropriate landscaping. You’ll be able to compare turf, irrigation and plant materials.

As you can see, there are lots of things to see and educational opportunities going on. I must say, you will not be able to absorb it all in one visit. Let the gardens be an ongoing experience as we pass through the seasons.

Agenda: The preserve put together an exciting agenda for the grand opening. These activities are Saturday and Sunday at the same time both days. You will receive a map on where to find the areas. Hope to see you there!

Will Garden for Food, 10:30 a.m. in the Frame House: Join master gardener Don Fabbi and me as we offer tips on growing vegetables at any time of the year, and provide advice on keeping pesky critters under control without using pesticides.

Cooking with Herbs, 12:30 p.m. in the Frame House: Let Wolfgang Puck show you how to cook with herbs as he finds it a great way to add flavor and depth to everyday meals. It is easy to grow your own and you can do it organically so you won’t have to ingest those unwanted chemicals.

Dish Gardening with Cactuses and Succulents, 2:30 p.m. in the Watering Can Theater: Container gardens filled with cactuses and succulents can be the perfect solution when needing a focal point on your patio or in a larger landscape. Let Susan Kent of Turner Greenhouse show how to choose the right container, soil and plants, and how to balance and shape it to your location.

Designing with Climate in Mind, 4:30 p.m. in the Watering Can Theater: Let Jonathan Spears of Sage Design Studios show you how to make landscaping your best long-term investment for reducing heating and cooling costs. Learn how to pick plants and put them in your landscape to save money on heating and cooling.

A Piece of the Wall, 11 a.m., 1, 3 and 5 p.m. in the Children’s Play Area: You will be inspired by your surroundings in this area as you create an artistic "masterpiece" using recycled glass and learn the story behind this amazing wall.

Save It, 10 a.m. noon, 2 and 4 p.m. at the Desert Living Center: Come on an adventure and discover ways to help protect our Earth by exploring the Desert Living Center. You’ll experience everything you need to develop a sense of stewardship.

The Trails, 10:30 a.m., noon and 4 p.m. at the Trails: Discover the rich history of the Springs Preserve on this walking tour of the Trails to see how Las Vegas got its name.

Linn Mills writes a garden column each Thursday. You can reach him at lmills@reviewjournal.com or at the Gardens at the Springs Preserve, 822-8325.