An eco-friendly landscaping project in a southeast-side neighborhood could be used as a model in other parts of Tucson for things such as public rights of way and other subdivisions.
The project, in the Sycamore Vista community, features a low-maintenance fence along with trees that have a sustainable irrigation system. The two-year project was completed at the beginning of the year.
"It'd be good for areas where irrigation is cost-prohibitive," says Ben Goff, deputy director of the Pima County Department of Transportation.
The project may even be a boon to business here: Eva Hanson, whose Minnesota company manufactured the low-maintenance fence, is opening a branch here.
The project started with the need to unify homes in Sycamore Vista - which is made up of several subdivisions - and ended up being a positive thing for the environment and for neighbors, said Steven Russo, president of the Sycamore Vista Master Homeowners Association.
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Because the fence and landscaping require little maintenance, they're good for the environment and for the residents' budget.
The 440 fence panels are interspersed with 90 palo verde trees for a mile and a half along West Camino del Toro, between South Harrison and South Houghton roads near Corona de Tucson.
The $200,000 project was paid for by the subdivisions' developer, Sycamore Vista LLC.
Gordon Darby, owner of G.H. Darby Landscape Architecture, designed large tree wells that will collect rainwater and runoff. The wells are filled with gravel mixed with materials that act like a sponge and hold water, he explained.
Although the trees will be watered for the first couple of years, the plan is for them to be sustainable after they get stronger.
Goff, with the county's Transportation Department, plans to keep an eye on the project to see if it's successful.
Self-supporting planting schemes such as this one could be used to revegetate public rights of way, so he's always on the lookout for new ideas.
In the future, you may also see Hanson's fences elsewhere in town.
Hanson, owner of Hanson Welding and Manufacturing Inc., built the 10-foot panels that Darby designed out of hot rolled steel and decorated them with sycamore leaves that look like they've blown onto the fence.
It was the first time she did a "green" project like this one.
"All the materials are naturally going to get the rust look," she said. "They're going to last forever."
But the project couldn't have come together if it weren't for several exceptions the county made, said Jim Shiner, an investor with Sycamore Vista and the project coordinator.
For one, the county allowed the developer to put the fence and trees in the public right of way, because the Sycamore Vista property is set back from the road. If the fence and trees had been installed on subdivision property, they wouldn't have been so visible.
The county also gave the developer the green light to try sustainable landscaping. Typically, he said, permanent irrigation is required.
Contact Natalia Lopera at 807-8029 or at nlopera@azstarnet.com
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