The Sustainable Front Yard: A Design in Progress

Early this past summer the opportunity came along to give away a sustainable front yard design to a homeowner in Scripps Ranch. The idea was to cross promote my design services at Urban Green and the community group Sustainable Scripps Ranch through a showcase project. This project is to be featured on the community website and in the community newsletter. Through this partnership we now have a deserving winner and a design process that is well under way. Here is what their home looks like now. It is a 70's era single family home with a generous sized front yard. At this point it is almost a blank slate with some lawn area, a Eucalyptus tree and some cobble/boulders.



This is what the design looks like on paper so far.



These are a few of the highlighted design elements that will bring this front yard to life:

A bio-swale is proposed as a strong element flowing through the yard which will include the use of lots of cobble and boulders along with some native grasses. The swale is intended to take runoff from the roof, back yard and some of the front yard and filter out sediments before sending it out to the curb. It will also enable much of the stormwater runoff from smaller rain events to recharge back into the water table.

An intimate lawn area will be maintained as the centerpiece of the front yard and it will be planted with a drought tolerant hybrid grass. Flagstone pavers will encircle the lawn and feature small plants growing between the steppers.

The plant palette will generally be native and adapted species of trees, shrubs, grasses and vines. Together they will provide a variety of drought tolerant color and texture throughout the year. A combination of cobble and bark mulch will cover the ground plane instead of typically thirsty groundcover plants. A healthy layer of bark mulch will limit weed growth year round and help the soil maintain moisture levels through the dry season.

A narrow trellis on the front of the garage has also been proposed. A small planting pocket at either side of the garage will be created to allow vines to grow up and across the trellis. Vines might also be trained to grow up the columns that support the entry overhang. This will soften the look of the garage and add some color.

Also up for consideration are a couple driveway cut out strips that would be filled with cobble and some small plant material. This would liven up the look of the drive and also create more permeable and potentially green area.

As the design becomes solidified we will be looking for donations of landscape materials, irrigation equipment and volunteers to help bring this project to completion. All contributors will be featured in the community newsletter and on the community website. Please contact me if you are interested and stay tuned to see how the design evolves. I'm looking forward to getting some shovels in the ground!

Parking Lot Vegetable Garden

Given this is my first post I thought I would start with something close to home. That is exactly where we begin, right across the street at 54th and Collwood Boulevard in San Diego, CA.

Last fall I noticed a small patch of vegetables growing by the sidewalk on my way to the bus stop. It was an unlikely spot given its location on a sliver of land between the sidewalk on 54th Street and the adjacent church parking lot. This piece of land was about 10 feet wide and was somewhat of an eyesore with overgrown and untended plants. Over the past several months it has undergone major transition as several people have been removing the overgrown weeds and expanding the vegetable beds. With the land cleared and soil amendments added this actually has turned out to be a fantastic place for vegetables to grow and flourish. It is situated on a gentle west facing slope which is great for solar exposure and also protects if from would be intruders. Given that its surrounded by pavement I doubt that gophers or other predators will be a significant issue.

I haven't spoken to any of the gardeners but I think several families from the church have adopted their own garden patch here. This is a wonderful opportunity for people who live in apartments or on small lots to have a place to grow some of their own food. They may have little or no arable land at home or perhaps poor soil conditions or an unfavorable solar aspect. With this transformed parking lot families now have a chance to re-connect with nature even within a completely urban environment. It also provides them with wholesome food that only cost them their time and patience. Kudos to the bright-eyed stewards who began this garden, it is truly beautiful!