Deadline looms for landscape awards program

     Are you proud of your landscaping? Do you think you have the coolest yard in the neighborhood? It's time to put your ideas where your mouth is.
      Las Vegas homeowners are asked -- nay, urged -- to enter the Southern Nevada Water Authority's annual Landscape Awards program.
      Like all good things, there's a catch. The program is for homeowners who have designed an attractive landscape that uses water efficiently.
      But time's a-wasting. Entries must be in the hands of water authority personnel by 5 p.m. Thursday.
      Here's a quick rundown of the basic rules:
      --All projects must be within the Southern Nevada Water Authority's service area.
      --The entry form must be signed by the homeowner.
      --The homeowner must provide four to six different 35 mm slides or prints of the landscaping, which become the property of the water authority. Be sure to put the address on each visual aid. These slides/prints are important to the judges, who aren't going to hop on their bicycles and tour each yard individually.
      The best thing to do at this late date is download the entry form at snwa.com, bundle it up with the pictures/slides and put them in the mail Tuesday morning addressed to:
      Southern Nevada Water Authority Landscape Awards
      Conservation Division
      1001 S. Valley View Blvd.
      Las Vegas, NV 89153
      For those people who don't have Internet access, drop by the authority's headquarters at the aforementioned address. I'm sure the nice folks there will be delighted to help you fill out a form.
      The contest is free for homeowners. There is a separate contest for professional landscapers that has a $25 entry fee.
      The water authority has run this landscape awards program for several years in an attempt to identify beautiful, water-efficient landscapes in Southern Nevada and encourage others to adopt water-efficient landscaping.
      Entries will be judged by a panel comprised of professionals in landscaping and irrigation, as well as experts in horticulture and gardening.
      Do I have a vested interest? You bet. As well as being put on by the water authority, the annual contest is co-sponsored by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Las Vegas Sun, Southern Nevada Coalition 2000 and the Southern Nevada American Society of Landscape Architects.
      We've all driven by attractively laid-out yards and thought, "There's an award-winner." They're everywhere, and those yards help make living in Las Vegas such fun. It's amazing the imagination that homeowners display when putting together their projects. Oh, some of them "cheat" and hire pros to do their yards, but some of the yards come out of the imagination of very creative citizens.
      I've watched my husband laboring in 115 degrees, praying for plants to make it through the hot weather, so I know how much blood, sweat and tears go in to making a beautiful yard.
      C'mon. It's a long weekend. Take time between the sporting events and barbecues and go through those slides and prints. Have everything ready for Tuesday morning to join the contest. Your yard could be No. 1.
      Carmel Hopkins, Real Estate Product Manager for the Las Vegas Review-Journal and Las Vegas Sun, can be reached at 380-4574. Her e-mail address is Carmel_Hopkins@lasvegasnewspapers.com. Snail mail is P.O. Box 70, Las Vegas, NV 89125.

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