The commitment of Pardee Homes of Nevada to be a leader in water-saving landscaping is most evident in the new model home complex at Nevada Trails, especially as it compares to the original model park, according to Ron Reitz, Pardee landscape coordinator for Southern Nevada.

"We have already seen water savings on the order of 70 percent," Reitz said. While the original model park was lushly landscaped with pine and ash trees, privets and lots of turf, the new model complex across the street is a showcase for a variety of colorful desert-friendly plants.

The new plant palette includes agaves, ocotillos, yuccas, creosote, cacti, and succulents plus mesquite, palo verde, shoestring acacia and desert willow trees, which are all identified for the visitor by informational signage.

In addition to drought-tolerant plant material, Pardee has installed a state-of-the-art irrigation system operated by satellite technology that receives weather data twice a day to determine how much water each plant needs, according to Reitz.

"We've got our own little desert research institute here," Reitz said. "Nevada Trails is also being used as a test bed for plants we have found in Southern California that are drought tolerant. We just have to see how they hold up when the temperature hits 112 degrees."

In response to Southern Nevada's serious drought situation, Pardee's corporate leadership, including President and CEO Mike McGee and Klif Andrews, vice president of community development in Southern Nevada, decided that all new Pardee model parks will feature desert landscaping. Pardee is set to open 17 new neighborhoods in the Las Vegas Valley within the next year.

Because of the complexity of desert landscaping design and materials, Pardee hired Reitz last year to fill the new position of landscape coordinator for Southern Nevada.

Desert demonstration gardens are now central features of both the new model park in the Nevada Trails master-planned community in northwest Las Vegas as well as the Vista Verde community in southwest Las Vegas. The Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) reports that by using drought-tolerant plants instead of grass, homeowners can save about 62 gallons of water per square foot per year.

The Water Authority offers a $1-per-square-foot rebate to encourage property owners to convert some or all of their water-thirsty grass to a lush, yet water-efficient landscape such as demonstrated at Nevada Trails. Since the Water Smart Landscape program began in 1999, more than 18.3 million square feet of grass has been replaced. That equates to more than 1.4 billion gallons of water saved each year by little more than 7,500 property owners.

"The model parks at both Nevada Trails and Vista Verde are truly beautiful and provide a great source of ideas for our visitors and home buyers who are choosing to incorporate water-efficient landscaping into their new homes," said Andrews. "We are in one of the driest climates on earth and we have to learn to live responsibly with restrictions in our water supply."

Water conservation is just one of the features of Pardee's innovative LIVINGSMART® program in Southern Nevada, which is showcased at both Vista Verde in northwest Las Vegas and Nevada Trails in southwest Las Vegas. In addition to water-efficient landscaping, home buyers can choose from special LIVINGSMART® options and features, which include solar electricity, fluorescent lighting, tankless water heaters, low VOC paint and central vacuum systems.

The new homes include Pardee's ENERGYSTAR®/ComfortWise package that is now standard in every Pardee home and is independently certified to be at least 30 percent more energy efficient than federal standards require.

"Pardee's commitment two years ago to build only ENERGYSTAR® homes was just the jumping off point to the earth-friendly and energy-saving ideas now being offered at Vista Verde and Nevada Trails," said Andrews.

To visit the Nevada Trails model park, take 215 to Rainbow, drive one mile south to Robindale and turn right into the model park. Visitors are welcome from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday, and from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday.

Since 1952, Pardee Homes has been a pioneer in Southern Nevada, building homes and communities for nearly 30,000 families.