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!