Drought-Tolerant Planting & Design

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1 Drought-Tolerant Planting & Design City of Milbrae & BAWSCA Wednesday, May 23, 2018 Sherri D. Osaka Sustainable Landscape Designs

2 TOPICS Garden water use Steps in the design process Measuring your garden Create a concept design Using available designs Creating your own planting design Budgeting Resources

3 MEASURE YOUR GARDEN WATER USE

4 Garden/ Garden Study City of Santa Monica Traditional Garden Native Garden

5 Garden /Garden Study City of Santa Monica 81% less water!

6 Garden /Garden Study City of Santa Monica 37% less waste!

7 Garden /Garden Study City of Santa Monica 71% less labor!

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9 San Jose Company Current Water Rates CCF = 100 cubic feet 1 CCF = 748 GALLONS OF WATER 0-3 CCF $4.96/ CCF > 3+ to 18 CCF = $5.43/ CCF 18+ CCF = $5.91/ CCF

10 Check for leaks Read your water meter One in every 10 homes has a leak that is wasting at least 90 gallons of water per day.

11 Landscaping, 57% Source: California Building Industry Association report, January

12 Current water use = 38,000 gallons per year 1999 Leak : Leak Water Use from 1999 to : Leak 3, Remo ved lawn Water Savings: 100,000 gallons/ yr, $600/ yr San Jose: 10,000 sf lot w/ pool Rainy Refilled pool New Toilets 2015 manual irrigatio n schedul 4 e

13 Homework Determine how much water you use per year Calculate how much you use inside versus outside Check for leaks

14 Design Process Design happens at every step of the process!

15 Design Process Take pictures FIRST 15 min Measure Your Garden 2-4 hours Create a base plan 2-4 hours Determine what you want in your garden 1-2 hrs Develop a conceptual plan dream BIG 4-8 hours Visualize your Design tips and tricks Create a planting plan 2-4 hours Create an irrigation plan 2-4 hours (optional) Review and make modification

16 Take Before Pictures 15 mins

17 Measure Your Landscape 2-4 hours Must be to scale 1/8 or ¼ = 1-0 Could be 10 =1 for large properties Start with the building Measure all the way around Make sure you end where you started!

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19 Triangulate Sometimes it s hard to locate trees or features that are not parallel or perpendicular to the house Triangulate Pick two corners of the building that are widely spaced Measure from the item to the each corner of the building Draw a circle from each corner, the intersection is the location of the item

20 Base Plan

21 What do you want to do in your Patio? BBQ? Pathways? Play area? Vegetable garden? Screening? garden? 1-2 hours More shade? More sun? Quiet sitting area? Re-use materials: concrete, bricks, flagstone Fruit trees? Attract bees, butterflies & Make driveway wider? birds Create more curb appeal? Water feature? Bird bath Pets: dogs, cats, chickens Focal pt for kitchen sink Have color all year? Take advantage of views Add scents, sounds See Houzz.com for pictures you like See YouTube video with Peigi Duvall:

22 Dream! Check out Houzz.com for garden pictures Take pictures in your neighborhood Go to local parks Go to the Going Native Garden Tour on April 7 & 8, Register at GNGT.org

23 Exercise I Jot down some issues you need to overcome: Drainage, bad views, heavy clay soil, etc. Write down some advantages your garden has: Good sun, good drainage, views to hills, views of neighbor s specimen tree, etc Finally note what you d like to have or do in your garden: Vegetable garden, fruit trees, seating area, pathway, fountain, bird bath, etc.

24 Concept Plan Tools 4-8 hours

25 Be Loose!

26 Slip Sheet

27 Make sure there is good access and flow Check that everything is in proportion with the site Note trees and major shrubs Don t get bogged down in the details! Design & Photo: Alan Hackler

28 Double check your design Mock up your design Use a hose or paint to outline the size of any patios and paths. Put your furniture in these areas to make sure they are large enough Use two people and a yardstick to make sure that any screening is in the right location and tall enough

29 Hands-on Exercise II

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32 Final Concept Plan

33 HOW TO SELECT CALIFORNIA NATIVE PLANTS

34 WALKABLE LAWN ALTERNATIVES

35 Common Yarrow Achillea millefolium

36 Red fescue Festuca rubra

37 Walkable, Mowable Lawn Alternatives Guadalupe Garden Visitor Center, San Jose Delta BlueGrass Native Bentgrass (Agrostis pallens)

38 Lawn Alternatives - Perennials California Meadow Sedge, Carex pansa

39 LITTLE FOOT-TRAFFIC LAWN ALTERNATIVES

40 Lawn Alternatives - Perennials Dymondia margaretae Silver Carpet

41 Kurapia

42 Lawn Alternatives Bunch Grasses Idaho fescue Festuca idahoensis

43 Photo at Sierra Azul Nursery by Deva Luna Wild Rye (Leymus condensatus Canyon Prince )

44 Lawn Alternatives - Shrubs Ceanothus Yankee Point by Stephanie Curtis, Curtis Horticulture

45 Lawn Alternatives - Shrubs Coyote Bush, Baccharis pilularis Twin Peaks

46 Sand Hill sage: Artemisia pycnocephalus David s Choice Photo: Deva Luna, Design: Sherri Osaka

47 a Creeping sage Salvia sonomensis Dara s Choice Photo Deva Luna, Design Sherri Osaka

48 FREE LAWN REPLACEMENT DESIGNS

49 Design Example 1 Planting a broad area with one or two varieties of groundcover Manzanita or Wild Lilac will look great year round with minimal watering and maintenance. CA - Pt. Reyes Ceanothus (Ceanothus gloriosus 'Anchor Bay ) MR Deer Grass (Muhlenbergia rigens) Design from YerbaBuenaNursery.com

50 Lawn Alternative - Shrubs Ceanothus Hearstiorum Ceanothus Anchor Bay

51 Muhlenbergia rigens Deer grass

52 Bunch Grasses Deer grass (Muhlenbergia rigens)

53 Design Example 4 Meadow Meadow sedge (Carex pansa) Perennials Golden aster (Heterotheca villosa) Tall Shrubs Western redbud (Cercis occidentalis) Foundation Plants Salal (Gaultheria shallon) Screening Plants - Hollyleaf cherry (Prunus ilicifolia) Design by Acterra Stewardship

54 Walkable, Mowable Lawn Alternatives Photo from Greenlee Nursery, La Jolla, CA Design/ Photo: Sherri Osaka Meadow sedge, Carex pansa

55 Low Water Dwarf Wolly Aster Heterotheca villosa or H. Sessiflora

56 Salal Gaultheria shallon

57 Create Your Own Planting Plan

58 Think about what function the plants will provide Screening neighbor s house, utility poles Providing shade for patios, for western sides of the house Enhancing views Providing food for people and creatures Providing shelter for habitat Etc.

59 Create a list of possible plants Use Calscape.org to look for plants Type in your address Select on trees, shrubs, perennials, easy, sun, shade, part shade, etc. Save plants to your list Go to nurseries, public gardens, garden tours Review plants list on GNGT.org Look at books and magazines See the handouts for this class

60 Think about form

61 Think about Texture

62 Think about Color

63 Planting Plan Start with Trees Start with the trees Keep them away from the house Keep them away from sewer and water mainlines Keep them away from solar panels Keep them away from power lines Place them to shade house and patio Use your circle template and show the full (or 80% of full size) width/ size on the plan Check with city for trees in parking strips

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68 Shrubs and Sub-shrubs They are the lowest maintenance items you can plant Use them to create hedgerows Screen properties Add interest, etc. Think about form, shades of green, and texture Coarse texture makes things look closer, fine texture farther away Golden colors need a dark green background Red foliage can clash Variegated colors can lighten dark areas

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73 Include Water As a focal point To attract wildlife To screen unpleasant other noises

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79 Next Add Perennials for Color Add along walkways Near entrances Possibly along side walks Near the driveway Use strong colors for full sun Use pastels for shady areas

80 BEFORE

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