Planting in the Wasatch Front

A sustainable landscape begins with plant selection. Sustainable gardening in Salt Lake City and throughout the state involves selecting Utah natives and other drought tolerant plants. For other eco-friendly garden practices, check out my Creating a Sustainable Garden page. I am currently working on a page dedicated to conserving water in your landscape, so stayed tuned for that.

If you need plant or design inspiration, take a walk around the Conservation Garden Park, Red Butte Garden (especially the Water Conservation Garden) and the USU Botanical Center. All of their websites have excellent plant directories. These are also all great options if you are looking specifically for trees. Did you know that the University of Utah campus, including Red Butte Garden, is the official State of Utah arboretum? The William A. Varga Arboretum at the USU Botanical Center has many beautiful species as well.

Speaking of trees, Salt Lake City will provide, plant, and care for trees in your park strip at no cost to you. All you have to do is call the Urban Forestry office and sign up. The number of trees you get depends on the size of your property. And the varieties of trees they offer are actually impressive, not your ordinary flowering pears. (PLEASE don’t plant those; they’re overused, their blossoms smell like death, and turns out they are invasive). I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of choices available. Definitely take advantage of this program.

My Favorite Place to Buy Plants in the Salt Lake Valley

Utah plant growers/sellers

The following lists of companies are by no means comprehensive, just my tried and true favorites. Yes, I get around.

• Butterfield Gardens Ground Cover – Hands down the best place to get ground covers. Great prices per flat and awesome quality.
• Growing Empire – it is located right on 700 E. but unless you are looking for it, it is easy to miss, which you don’t want to do because they have a nice selection at great prices.
• Kuwahara Wholesale – A family run business with reasonable prices. They also have a farmer’s market open 7 days a week.
• Lambert Growers – This family operated business grows their pesticide-free plants from organic, non-GMO seeds. Check out this short video to learn more about them.
• Perennial Favorites – You can find this grower’s plants in just about any local nursery you go to. I have purchased more than I can count and they never disappoint.
• Progressive Plants – This operation is huge—you can actually use one of their golf carts to explore their selection, which is a pretty fun activity for the kids. And me. Ok, mostly me. They have an awesome online catalog, which you can actually shop in advance and your choices will be ready for you to load in your car when you arrive.

Salt Lake City plant sale events

• Green Phoenix Farm is an organic farm that gives an amazing opportunity to women facing homelessness through the Green Team Job Training Program. This program offers these women the opportunity to work a paid farm position while working toward stable housing and employment. The produce they grow is given to those in need of fresh, healthy food, and many of the plants are grown for the Wasatch community Gardens annual plant sale. This sale is the best place to get unique, interesting varieties of veggies, especially tomatoes. They also have good perennial options, which has been my area volunteering for the past two sales. I think in the future they will be shifting to all native plants.
• Red Butte Garden has two plant sales per year. The spring plant sale is very popular; you want to get there as early as you can. They have awesome perennials, including native plants, grasses, succulents, veggies, and more. Their fall bulb & native plant sale plant is usually smaller, but this year they moved it to the same area where the spring sale is so they can offer more plants. I’ve gotten some really cool, unique bulbs from this sale, as well as plants, and this year didn’t disappoint.

Utah-owned plant nurseries

• Cactus & Tropicals – I love this store. It’s an indoor plant paradise and also has a decent selection of outdoor plants. They also sell beautiful pots and decor and have great, unique classes such as for bonsai or orchids.
• Glover Nursery – Glover is probably my top choice for selection. They also have a very knowledgeable staff.
• Millcreek Gardens – Millcreek has probably the largest plant selection besides Glover. They also have nice pots and planters.
• Western Gardens – This is a smaller nursery but I still manage to find lot of plants to buy. Unfortunately, they are going to be closing in the next year, so shop there while you can!
• True Leaf Market – Not a technically a nursery or grower, but if you want seeds, this is where you want to go. They have a huge variety, including USDA organic and non-GMO.

Return your plant pots for reuse

Return plant pots to local nurseries for reuse. These are the ones I’ve checked with so far.

• Cactus & Tropicals: all
• Glovers: 1 gallon size or larger only
• Growing Empire: any size for reuse
• Wasatch Community Gardens: any for reuse

Where to get the best gardening advice

The Utah State University Extension is where it’s at. They have classes, videos, articles and fact sheets galore on topics from beekeeping to plant diseases and pests to recommended plant varieties. What I love about this resource is that their information is all backed by research and science, and it is local information that is specific to our climate and issues.

Every county has their own extension office. The Salt Lake County extension office is located in the county building on the corner of 2100 S. and State St. There is a plant diagnostic clinic that you can email or call to ask questions, or even go in person to bring a sample of a sick plant for help with diagnosis. You can also bring in soil for testing. Each county extension is in charge of their own Master Gardener course, like the one I completed.

Other places you can find USU affiliated information include:

• USU Extension YouTube channel, as well as Garden Guys and Gal, created by a few of the USU horticulturists.
• KSL Greenhouse podcast, featuring USU horticulturist Taun Beddes.
• Utah’s Gardening Experts Facebook page. This does come with warning: the page is moderated by USU horticulturists, and Master Gardeners like myself have gone through training to help answer questions, but unfortunately you can’t tell who the MG’s are, and the group is so big that the moderators can’t see everything. Sometimes the comments get out of control, and people are insisting that grandma’s remedy is the only way to go. The moderators have to periodically remind people that this a a page run by USU, providing researched-backed information and interventions.

For help with landscape design, there is only one: Localscapes. This organization has many online resources, including ready-made design plans, and they teach workshops and classes on how to integrate their waterwise designs that are created just for Utah landscapes.

If you’re not up to designing your own landscape, try Daryl at Yardfarmer.co. She specializes in permaculture design, a method which essentially mimics natural environmental features.

Salt Lake City yard waste information

If you don’t already have a brown curbside can for green waste, get one. There is no extra charge for this; sign up on the city’s waste and recycling website and they will deliver it to your house. You can even get more than one if you’ve got a big yard or a large project; I have three.

Acceptable yard waste items to dispose of in your Salt Lake City green waste cans are weeds, lawn clippings, leaves, and tree branches. But did you know you can also add tea bags, coffee grounds and filters, fruit & vegetables, and eggshells? Also acceptable (verified with SLC but not posted on their website) are hair & fur, nutshells, crustacean shells, bread, and plain grains & pastas (not coated with dairy products).

Do not add meats, dairy products, fats/oils/grease, or any foods cooked with these. Construction wood, biodegradeable plastics, and animal waste are also not allowed. And please, DO NOT BAG YOUR GREEN WASTE.

SLC’s green waste is picked up and taken to the Salt Lake Valley landfill, where there is a designated area for composting. The compost that results is certified by the U.S. Composting Council and can be purchased for a great price.

If you live outside of SLC and your city does not offer green waste collection, make sure they hear from you. In the meantime, try Ace Disposal or Wasatch Front Waste and Recycling District.

Another option is the city’s free Call2Haul program. You can sign up for a curbside bulk green waste pickup once per year. This is great for any time you are doing a lot of cleanup, tree trimming, etc. They take the collection to the compost area of the landfill.

Note that if you take green waste to the landfill yourself, it goes into the trash section and not with the rest of the compost. I was told it was a space issue. If you have frequent large loads of green waste, such as a landscaping business, look into a

To learn more about food waste and composting, click here.

Why can’t I just throw yard waste in the trash?

We need to make every effort to keep things out of the landfills as much as possible, and not just for space. Even though yard waste is organic, when it is sent to the landfill and buried, it lacks the oxygen it needs to naturally decompose. A head of lettuce can take up to 25 years to break down! In addition, the decomposition process normally creates carbon dioxide, but with anaerobic breakdown (lack of oxygen) creates methane instead, which traps heat in the atmosphere 80 times more than CO2.

Garden tool & equipment resources

Each November, Wasatch Community Gardens hosts an annual event called Giving Toolsday, a “BYO garden or kitchen tool ‘walk-in clinic’ for tips and tricks, demonstrations and hands-on tool repair, annual maintenance, restoration, repurposing and swap or donation.”

SLC has an exchange program via a lottery for a chance to receive $300 towards an electric mower in exchange for your old gas one; annual registration is in April.

SLC’s Call2Haul program will take away old mowers and power tools that are drained of gas and oil for recycling.

Sustainable hardscaping materials

• Bland Recycling offers recycled road base, asphalt, and concrete gravel for purchase, and accepts the same materials for recycling.
• Asphalt Materials, Inc. recycles many landscaping materials such as asphalt, concrete, fill dirt, clean topsoil, rock, cinder block, brick, sand, and roadbase. They also sell products that contain these recycled materials.

Backyard chickens in Salt Lake City

Salt Lake City allows residents to keep a maximum of 15 chickens (no roosters). Read the guidelines and apply for a permit here. Also, someone please tell my husband to let me get some.

Beekeeping

Residential beehives are an an option for those who want to support the bee population while enjoying fresh honey. Check guidelines and permit information here.

Volunteer and get your hands dirty with these Salt Lake City gardening organizations

Find more Salt Lake City eco-volunteer opportunities here.

Tree Utah – planting trees

Swaner Preserve & EcoCenter – assist with land preservation, environmental education, community outreach, and building & grounds maintenance.

Wasatch Community Garden – learn and garden; assist with the WCG annual plant sale

Red Butte Garden – numerous volunteer opportunities including horticulture, garden tour guide, special events, and more

Green Urban Lunchbox – help pick or preserve fruit, garden on the community farm, or assist with senior farm stands

Conservation Garden Park – volunteer gardener or tour guide

Wheeler Farm – assist with ground maintenance, weeding and tending to garden beds, and more

USU Master Gardener program – Receive 13-14 weeks of college-level lecture and hands on training taught by USU specialists and faculty. After completion of the training, USU Master Gardeners are required to provide a minimum of 40 hours of volunteer service back to their community. This includes opportunities to serve as a resource to help educate the public on garden-related topics and assisting with a wide variety of projects like growing seeds and produce to donate or helping at Wheeler Farm and other public gardens.