In the summer of 2007, I began volunteering with Tucson’s Watershed Management Group (WMG). The WMG uses a learning-by-doing approach to solve soil and water resource problems.
And I was having one right here at home.
After I bought this place in 2004, I started planting a xeriscape. In addition to planting low-water use plants, I tried to contour the property so that water would soak in around the greenery and stay away from the house. But, alas, the summer monsoon storms showed me that there was more work to be done.
Some of the yard flooding was so severe that I worried about water coming into the house.
While this flood-fearing was going on, I was working on WMG Green Living Co-op projects. The co-op uses a barn-raising model to help members transform their landscapes into water conservation showcases.
In August 2008, I had enough co-op hours to host a WMG workshop at my place. The workshop leader was Omar Ore-Giron.
Fast-forward to the present, and the WMG Green Living Co-op has grown to include several hundred members. I’m still involved.
Omar now has his own business, Native Roots. He just helped me solve another problem.
Seems that my rainwater-fed mesquite tree has quite the attraction for my roof. When the wind blows, the branches scratch the roof, and that’s annoying to hear. It also conjures up images of roof damage. Which hasn’t happened — yet.
So, here comes Omar, back to the scene of his well-run 2008 workshop, where he’s now playing the role of tree-tamer…
Didn’t take long for Omar to remove the roof-loving tree branches. And did I mention that he did this work during a windstorm?
Thanks, Omar!