Notice: Landscape Architects and Designers

Contemporary landscape planning requires an appraisal of the expected water use of all the plants selected. You may find yourself asking "How will I know a plant’s water needs? Where can I get this information?"

Introducing WUCOLS! We are proud to announce the only digitized, searchable, and line-item-transportable version on the internet or anywhere else in the world, right here at EcoRhythm! And, best of all, it’s a free service to you!

WUCOLS stands for Water Use Classifications of Landscape Species. The information in this database provides landscape professionals with assistance in selecting plant materials, while taking into consideration their water needs.

WUCOLS is a University of California Cooperative Extension Publication, making its debut to the public in the year 2000. The project was developed by the San Francisco and San Mateo County Offices in cooperation with 32 landscape professionals. This project was initiated and funded by DWR (Department of Water Resources). It serves as a guide to estimating water needs of plantings in California, and assists in developing irrigation schedules for existing landscapes.

Welcome to The WUCOLS Database!

The Water Use Classifications of Landscape Species Database

This is a tool designed to make finding plants and their watering needs easier for your landscaping project.
Get started by selecting the region that your landscape project is located in, then select "Get Started" to start loading your plants!

After you select your project's region, you search or browse for plants being used by selecting and entering certain criterea that matches the items you are looking for.

If you know part of the botanical or common name, enter the portion you know in the name field and click the search button to get a list of results. You can also browse by plant type or watering needs if you are looking for any plant that fits a certain criteria.

After you get your search results, you add plants to your plant basket by clicking on its row. Once it is added, you will see a green check next to its name. You can remove plants the same way you added them, by clicking on their name.

Continue searching for all of the plants you will use in your project by clicking on "Search for more items" to reopen the item search panel. The WUCOLS program will remember your selected plants during your whole session, so take your time and locate as many plants as you need.

Clicking on "Clear Form" will only reset the search form. It will not empty your Plant Basket. If you need to clear your basket, open it, and select "Clear Basket"

You can view your basket by clicking on "View Plant Basket." This will only show when you have plants selected. From here you can remove plants (by clicking on them), export your basket by copying the results in a tab delimited format to your clipboard, or download a file, in plain text or as a spreadsheet, to your computer. This can then be imported or pasted into your program of choice.

ID	Common Name	Botanical Name	Plant Type(s)	Watering Needs

Select your project's region location and click go
01 - North-Central Coastal 02 - Central Valley 03 - South Coastal 04 - South Inland Valleys and Foothills 05 - High and Intermediate Desert 06 - Low Desert