Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase

The 4th Annual Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase

2012-02-10T06:15:00.000-08:00

The Mar Vista Community Council invites you to participate in the FREE fourth annual Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase - a citywide Earth Day celebration on Saturday, April 21st, 2012 from 10 am to 4pm. See the gardens already on the tour here.

The tour will showcase drought-resistant landscapes and edible gardens with sustainability features ranging from composting techniques to water capture practices. Urban farms range from aquaponic farming to chicken coops. This year the tour places special emphasis on the critical need for ocean friendly gardens and California native gardens that support much needed pollinators such as honey bees and monarch butterflies. See how creating outdoor rooms provides much more useful livable space than a traditional lawn and creates a sense of community.

This giant eco-festival will be comprised of approximately 80 private resident gardens broken into 6 compact self-guided walking tours throughout Mar Vista. On the heels of three wildly successful prior tours that topped 2,000 attendees last year, the Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase will include special guest presenters at many gardens to enhance your knowledge of sustainability in daily living. Especially valuable is the chance for guests to meet do it yourself gardeners who share knowledge and experience. This is truly a giant block party throughout Mar Vista and you will have a blast meeting your neighbors as you visit their gardens.

The Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase seeks to empower Los Angelenos to adopt environmentally conscious living solutions. With most people walking or biking their tours, there is a tremendous sense of community as residents throughout Southern California come to Mar Vista to celebrate our shared vision for a greener life.

Guest presenters on the tour include Surfrider Ocean Friendly Gardens, HoneyLove.org, Los Angeles County Master Gardeners and The Seed Library of Los Angeles. Landscape designers will be at many gardens to answer questions and share information.

Mar Vista can make a difference!

For more information please email sherri@marvista.org or jeanne@marvista.org.

Media is welcome.

3628 Rosewood Avenue

2012-02-10T06:12:00.000-08:00

This gardenproject began in 2009 with a goal to remove a two-car concrete slab that occupiedmost of the front yard, and replace struggling non-native plants and a water-guzzlinglawn.

They opted for an outdoordeck, rosemary and thyme groundcover with flagstone pathways, low-water plantsand trees, and a permeable one-car driveway that doubles as a planter. They asked Ocean Charter mom and designer PattyBinder to help them create a child-friendly garden that would attract butterfliesand bees, and hummingbirds and fairies.

The garden has bloomed andbecome a favorite gathering space for family and friends. They've since added a shade canopy on the deckand installed solar panels to the collect sunshine on our roof. Open Neighborhood will be on hand to answer questions about their community solar programs.

12625 Stanwood Place

2012-02-09T06:17:00.000-08:00

Thehomeowner had wished to completely redo the backyard. The main concern was tocut back on the water consuming grass and add interest to an otherwise blandyard.

Adesign was developed incorporating an Australian dry garden theme. Rich use ofcolors red and yellow evoke the rugged outback. The unusual flowering nativeGrevilleas, Leucadendron, Proteas and Banksia soften the ruggedfeel. A mixture of New Zealand, South African and California natives addvariety. The plantings are anchored by a large yellow flowering Golden RainTree.

A raised serpentine wall supports a stackedstonepondless waterfall. This offers an oasis of therapeutic sound. A compliment tothe hummingbirds wizzing by. Butterfly-hosting plants ensure a wide variety ofvisiting species. A small oval-shaped bit of grass wasleft so the client still has a cool place to relax. The existing sprinklerswere retrofitted with water saving micro-emitters. The remaining open spacesare finished with Decomposed Granite topped with decorative stone.A curved path of stunning red Arizona flagstone leads to a seating area with abirdbath.

Thistruly unique garden brings colors as well as providing a bird and butterflyhabitat to the new landscape.

13119 Warren Avenue

2012-02-09T06:00:00.000-08:00

This garden's evolution began when the owners moved into the home 15 yearsago. The front yard was dominated by asloping, shade-defeated lawn. Thebackyard lacked variety in its plantings: one Italian Stone Pine surrounded byRosemay, a lawn that sloped toward the house causing drainage problems and ahillside of iceplant. The side yardswere covered in English Ivy. Findingvermin in the Ivy and Iceplant convinced them that things had to change.

Following a one-day class on hardscaping, themake-over was soon underway. After thehardscaping was complete, Stephen Gabor, a landscape architect and familyfriend, helped to select sandy-loam loving plants for the front, side andlower-back areas. After several yearspause, they added the terracing on the hillside and with an eye to helping ourenvironment, planted California Natives. To reduce water consumption, they converted the traditional lawn to UCVerde Buffalo Grass. They discovered anunforseen benefit of this choice- BuffaoGrass is hypoallergenic).

A wider variety of birds and insects now visit the garden - the garden hasbecome an ecosystem - it is so alive now. They planted the hillside plants this winter and last winter, so it is ayoung garden. The long term goal is tobring the California Natives into the established areas of the garden.

3440 Cabrillo Boulevard

2012-02-08T06:39:00.000-08:00

Inaddition to the support of local birds and pollinators provided by their gardens nativeplantings, this homeowner is providing “affordable housing” to the Western BlueBirds and House Wrens. Come by and listen to our guestpresenter, Roy Van de Hoek, as he explains how we can restore thesetiny friends to our area by hanging Blue Bird houses in ourtrees. Van de Hoek will be taking sign-ups for those interested in obtainingtheir own Blue Bird house.

Few things in life are as rewarding as a Do-It-Yourselfproject. Except, possibly, a DIY projectwith just the right amount of help.

After years of effort but not enough satisfaction with theirsustainable landscaping (think: scrawny, bitter vegetables, dirty, dry soil,and a general lack of aesthetic appeal), this homeowner decided to call in anexpert, Deni Freise of Custom Scapes.

Three months later….

The 3 raised beds are all producing edibles such as lettuce,kale, dill. The weather has beenhelpful, but the big bonus came from adding several inches of mulch. Some of mulch was bark, purchased at thelocal hardware store. Someadditional leaf mulch has ZERO NO CARBONFOOTPRINT. The homeowner spied aneighbor raking leaves and together they transferred several big tubs full ofdried leaves to the veggie plots. If youhaven’t stomped on crunchy, crackly leaves, you’re missing out.

Foodies take note! In the herb garden,just three short steps from the front door you will find Spanish and ItalianOregano, parsley, sage and thyme. Denialso helped to select low maintenance California natives, which were deeplymulched, watered a few times, and then left to their own devices. The front of the yard now offers a cheerydisplay of purple, yellow and orange flowers (monkey flower, California poppy,statice, Santa Barbara Daisy, gazania and more!) Pre-existing succulents were re-located toform more artful arrangements.

There are dozens of tiny oranges on the Blood Orangetree. They should be ready to sample byApril 21. Hope to see you then!

3968 McLaughlin Avenue

2012-02-08T06:11:00.000-08:00

"Goodbye Grass, HelloGarden!"

This was the inspiration of this Front Yard landscape project and thanks to Landscape Architect John A. Tikotsky, their dream came true, evenbetter than they thought! Between now and the date of the tour, we can watch their dream take shape.

It's not only a garden, ithas wonderful Earth friendly features and it's very productive:

* Organic Vegetableplanting circle (will plant more than 15 varieties of veggies)

* Organic fruit trees(Fuji apple, banana tree, blackberry, blueberry, plum, lemon,

Tangerine Tree,grape vines )

* Medical Herbs Spiralwith many traditional Chinese tonic herbs inside

* Waterwise irrigationsystem, filters, drippers… (their next step is to add a

rain barrel)

* Bee saver flowers beds(in the backyard and sidewalk)

* Blower-free

* Reused broken concretpieces, applied D.G. etc.

They started organicgardening in their backyard in 2006, planting different veggies and herbs; they also got a composter from the City of LA in 2007. Wild life visits the garden - bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, wild birds, squirrels…everyoneis happy and they enjoy the fresh veggies all year long.

They began the front yard garden in Nov. 2011 - 95% structure is done and they will startplanting soon. They enjoy seeing the changes every week and are very excited about the countless benefits and happinesswhich it will bring to them and the entire neighborhood.

3875 Marcasel Avenue

2012-02-07T06:19:00.000-08:00

These homeowners have transformed their 1,000 sfparkway!

By the garden tour date, their two curving planting beds will be bursting with a colorful variety of succulents and California natives. The project was launched on November 11, 2011, when they hosted a Transition Mar Vista Lawn Removal Party and 20 people pitched in to remove the grass - see the video here. One circuit of the existingfrontyard sprinkler system was converted to accommodate dripper hoses, asignificant conservation of water. They have built up berms in the SE corner ofthe parkway and front yard to keep rainwater on the premises. They are lovingthe introduction of curving shapes into our landscape. Both Transition and Surfrider Ocean Friendly Garden members will be on hand to answer questions.

Favas

Several years ago, they began portioningoff sections of the backyard for planting vegetables. They have had successfulcrops of collards, fava beans, chard, string beans, carrots, zucchini, lettuce,arugula, New Zealand spinach, strawberries and Christmas lima beans. Less luckwith broccoli, cauliflower, peas and corn. They are working around the shade oftheir very prolific avocado tree and a smaller lime tree. In 2010, they planteda dwarf peach tree, almond tree and grape vine. They are using straw andChristmas tree clippings for mulch. All their food waste goes in the compostbin. One rain barrel is installed, with more on the list.

A dream, maybe for next year, is to transform the front yard into a beautiful edible garden with stone raised beds and a meandering path. They put in a persimmon tree a couple of years ago, and envision a row of small fruit trees along the north edge of the property. An herb garden is already taking off.

12806 Stanwood Drive

2012-02-05T19:02:00.000-08:00

Previously a neglected collection of hardened dry earth,orphaned succulents, a gnarled tree, and cracked asphalt, this front yard nowboasts an entirely drought tolerant landscape set in decomposed granite anddotted by three stone boulders.

BryanRichards of Real Natives Landscape Design helped the homeowners realize theirdream of transforming this lackluster entrance to their new house, which theymoved into in February of 2011. Inspiredby ecologically responsible gardens and design, as well as by their travels toplaces such as Ojai Valley, Joshua Tree, and Catalina Island, not to mentionhiking in the Santa Monica Mountains, Bryan interpreted their desires into painterlygestures of color and texture with desert appropriate plantings like Palo Verdetrees, Mexican and Jerusalem sage, agave, and echeveria.

To further their commitment to theenvironment, they installed rain barrels around the house, use a composter, and,in the spirit of recycling, planted those left-behind succulents in thebackyard, where they are doing quite well.

12807 Stanwood Drive

2012-02-05T18:57:00.000-08:00

These Mar Vistans have lived intheir house for 18 years, abiding with the tired front lawn and very basic landscapingthey inherited. For at least 10 yearsone member of the household (who shall remain nameless) has pleaded to tear outthe turf and angular brick planters and install an environmentally friendlylandscape with softer lines. There wasalso a desire to expand the almost unusable (3' x 7') front porch.

The aforementioned highlymotivated householder drew a sketch of what the front yard and porch could look like, with a 10' x 10'semi-circular seating area and two serpentine paths leading to the sidewalk anddriveway including water features, sculptures, and low voltage lighting thatwould give the yard a more romantic ambience in the evening.

After interviewing threelandscape architects, one stood out as being the most exciting to workwith. The landscaper installed a dripirrigation system that has really decreased this home’s water usage, asdemonstrated by their lower bill. Theyselected their favorite plants: Stipa,Kangaroo Paws, fountain grasses, and a favorite tree Japanese Maple in severalvarieties.

Their landscaper had great ideasand vision for the garden while adding his expertise to create a cohesivedesign with a Zen flair. He added to theoriginal plan an Infinity shaped area to incorporate a unique 3-rock waterfeature and sculptural areas. He alsosuggested another water feature that cascades a sheet of water out of thesitting wall of our front porch.

The homeowners can now sit incomfort on their outdoor lounge chairs and relax to the soothing sounds of thewaterfall. At the same time they enjoythe serene park-like landscaping while communing with neighbors walking by,making many new friends.

Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase Highlights Building Community with Gardens

2012-02-05T18:51:00.000-08:00

3201 Butler Ave.

People replace their turf lawns for many reasons: to help the environment, to use less water, to make room for fruit trees and other edibles, to create a beautiful outdoor space to enjoy with family, friends and nature. A perhaps unexpected benefit expressed by many participants in the Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase is creating community.

The do-it-yourself gardener at 2554 Federal Avenue calls his front yard a Victory Garden. He says “Often when a neighbor walks by or shows interest in the garden, I can pluck a sprig of rosemary or share a vegetable in the garden. With sharing becoming more scarce, I feel my garden has the ability to act as a vehicle for people to re-connect and share.”

The grass area in front of 3201 Butler Avenue is being transformed into a veritable farm. According to the homeowners, a surprising side benefit of this conversion is the social aspect. They’ve met more people in the neighborhood than ever before. Neighbors stop by on the weekends to see what's going on…sometimes leaving with some excess zuchinni.

3201 Butler Ave.

Growing edibles to share helps, but is not required for building community with gardens. Just puttering or sitting and enjoying the garden are often enough. Barbeques with friends, bird and insect activity, and encounters with friendly neighbors have all increased since completion of the garden makeover at 2561 Barry Avenue. The owner says he’s “met more neighbors in past year than in the previous 15 due to time spent enjoying the front yard and lower rise wall.” At3749 Redwood Avenue, a swing bench is the perfect place to meet the neighbors on a hot afternoon.

The do-it-yourselfers at 11375 Matteson say, “Now that the biggest physical part of the work is done, we are discovering the many joys of puttering in the garden and growing some of our own food. Plus since we're out front for all to see, a side benefit has been connecting with neighbors and building community!”

Perhaps most immediate impact of the landscaping project at 13001 Morningside Way is the profound sense of wellbeing that the homeowners experience. A tire swing in the parkway encourages kids and parents to pause and view the garden while walking in the neighborhood. The owners encourage people to help themselves to fruits and veggies, always leaving some for the next person.

The edible garden at 4106 Marcasel Avenue provides much more than produce. The homeowners say, “It is a great learning experience for the kids and a way to meet neighbors.” Their garden is connected to a neighbor’s garden that gets different sunlight, so they grow different things and share. “It has been one of the best parts of the garden,” they say. In the summer, they all sit out back between the gardens, enjoying a glass of wine and whatever delicious dishes they can create from their bounty. The children play and the parents have some grown up time together.

On Saturday, April 21, 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., the community of Mar Vista celebrates Earth Day by inviting the wider community to visit some of its wonderful gardens. At the free 4^th Annual Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase you’ll see a wide variety of mostly turf-free outdoor spaces and meet professional and do-it-yourself landscapers as well as presenters from various environmental organizations. Learn the stories behind the gardens. Share gardening tips with owners and guests. Save the date! Come and experience community.

January 31st is the deadline to add your garden to the tour!

12917 Stanwood Drive

2012-02-05T18:49:00.000-08:00

When these Mar Vistans returned to their home after severalyears of renting it out, they discovered that the tenants had left behind agift-one dead lawn. After some initialdisappointment, they decided to turn lemons into lemonade

Two years later, voila! This Do-it-Yourself front yard was created with minimum projectconstruction cost, and low water usage and maintenance. Mostly local succulent and native Californiaplants were utilized. Drip irrigation and a limited sprinkler system wereinstalled by the homeowner. The brick hardscape, including the front porch,stairs, pathway and planter borders as well as the fence and railing are alldesigned and constructed as DYI projects by the homeowner.

The persistence and patience of this committed homeownergoes beyond what is visible in the front yard. Water conservation measures extend to daily use practices, such ascapturing the first flow of cold water before the water turns hot.

13036 Warren Avenue

2012-02-05T18:41:00.000-08:00

This amazing Do-it-yourself project started in August 2011. The existing turf was removed and replacedwith dymondia, other drought tolerantplants and an attractive mulch of bark.

The gravel path was installed using stabilized granite andpeach pea gravel, resulting in a pleasing, easy to navigate, surface.

All work done by homeowner with the exception of the mostlaborious aspects of turf removal. Thankgoodness for gardeners! There is no sprinklersystem in use. Currently watered by hand. The garden was a very satisfying project that took a coupleof months to complete.The ongoing maintenance is fairly simple. Occasional weeding and the addition of new plantings when the situationcalls for it.

3717 Ocean View Boulevard

2012-02-05T18:32:00.000-08:00

This garden is a wonderfulplace with several surprises to be discovered.

Nearly two years ago the homeownerswere inspired to take on the time consuming but exciting and rewarding endeavorof demolishing their entire landscape to design and create an eco-friendlyyard. The result is a peaceful place where family, friends and neighbors cometo relax and enjoy time together in a unique environment.

The new garden fits into theirlifestyle because it is low maintenance and water wise. They removed the entiresprinkler system and manually water approximately three times a year.

The back yard is a desert oasis. Athree level California native cacti and succulent area frames the backyard; itincludes a tranquil Zen rock garden. Palm trees bordering edges of thesaltwater swimming pool lend a tropical feel. A spacious entertainment area providesa place for BBQs and fun filled days and nights.

The lavender with its abundantfragrance is among their favorite plants. Herbs and avocados are used in deliciousrecipes. Lemons, limes and Aloe vera serve many purposes, providing naturalhealing remedies and astringents.

There have been many remarkablechanges since they started the garden. Once the plants were established, theyseem to have mind of their own. The various plants freely grow in anydirection—sharing space, intertwining throughout. When evening breeze sweepsdown, the fragrances of rosemary, lavender and sage linger throughout theneighborhood.

3525 Military Avenue

2012-02-05T18:25:00.000-08:00

Wanting to replace a shabby lawn,these homeowners started a garden makeover three years ago. They wantedsomething pretty that didn’t require a lot of work.

Raul Castillo of Eco-nomical Landscapedesigned and installed the new drought-tolerant garden. The owners are veryhappy they made this change! They enjoy the variety of different plant sizes,shapes and colors. It is a pleasure to sit outside on the bench and enjoy thegarden; they feel like they’re in the country rather than in the city.Hummingbirds, butterflies and bees are now frequent visitors.

The owner’s do their own maintenance,pruning and weeding from time to time, and have added a few plants sincecompletion of the initial landscaping. They water with a hose two or threetimes a week in the summer, less often in the winter.

3305 Cabrillo Boulevard

2012-02-05T18:16:00.000-08:00

The goal was toupdate 1950s traditional landscaping to a low-water design, but one that wouldbe varied, colorful, and casual -- an inviting and informal entrance to thisclassic Mar Vista home. The homeownerasked for a design that would evolve seasonally as different plants bloom,retaining the joy of encountering signs of nature in action from week to weekthroughout the year. They wanted toshare a look that would encourage passers-by to pause and enjoy.

The yard was converted to drip irrigation usedonly to establish new plants and then only rarely, as in the case of extendedvery dry conditions. Regular maintenanceis minimal, mainly to sweep the walks and porch and remove spent flowers. Dropped leaves from deciduous trees becomepart of the mulch so no blower is used. The designer/contractor, ECO Landscape, will attend to answerquestions.

Before

3604 Moore Street

2012-02-05T06:26:00.000-08:00

Thishome is a great example of how the “green spirit” can take over, and lead you,step by step, toward a more sustainable landscape.

Itstarted with the grass sidewalk on Moore Street. Several years ago thehomeowner replaced it with African Daisies, a ground cover that requires verylittle water and spread like a weed, but had oodles of eye-appeal.

Onthe Marco Place sidewalk area the city never extended the pavement, so lastyear this ambitious do-it-yourselfer cleared the grass and weeds and laid downdecomposed granite for the sidewalk part and California Gold rocks around theplants California natives with minimal water requirements were selected asplantings.

Thebackyard is a work in progress right now with fruit trees and vegetables. Thereare oranges, plums, kumquat, apricots, nectarines and peach. There are alsoConcord grape vine, blackberries, and raspberries. Some strawberries, and alsoa planter box for herbs. In the spring homegrown vegetables (tomatoes, greenbeans, red beets, zucchini, etc.) round out the edible bounty.

ThisMar Vista resident has always been a city dweller, which has influenced theirgardening style, a default system. Whateversurvives gets to stay. Whatever diesgets replaced. It may seem like aheartless system, but it works!

3464 Grand View Boulevard

2012-02-04T09:59:00.000-08:00

After 30 years of maintaining atraditional garden of annuals, shrubs, large expanses of lawn, and never-endingweeds, the homeowners decided it was time for a complete makeover.

With almost a quarter acre from thefront pavement to the back fence, the time had come for these homeowners tore-imagine their garden in a more contemporary, water-efficient manner. Underthe guidance of Ted Vorster (Plan-TEDLandscape), a licensed landscape architect, they decided to embark on aredesign of every square inch of their front, back, and side yards to address avariety of longstanding problems that beset the sloping, narrow lot.

Ted designed the comprehensivelandscape renovation and contractor Jose Martinez (Arrow Sprinkler & Landscape)installed it. The design incorporates many drought-tolerant plantings as wellas water saving and capture features. Hardscape materials include recycledconcrete.

A gravel parkway and a washedconcrete surface replaces the old driveway; a series of planting strips intersectit, increasing the permeability of the parking area and help create a wider,more open feeling to the yard. A planting area that features a specimen olivetree and is bordered by a low berm topped with a mix of drought tolerantCalifornia native and Mediterranean plants replaces the ole front lawn. A small,new decomposed granite terrace serves as an informal sitting area.

A lawn once dominated the back yard.Now a series of discrete terraces of wood, concrete and decomposed granite,bounded by stuccoed concrete walls and planters, gracefully ease the transitionfrom the strong lines of the two-story house to the increasingly organic formsof the garden beyond. A meadow-like expanse of California Dune Sedge (Carexpansa) adjoins the shady understory of a mature Chinese Elm; it features a mixof California natives and a sunny perennial border backed by flowering shrubsand ornamental grasses. Beyond this lies the “working” garden of fruit treesand vegetables that includes a storage shed, potting bench, and compost area.

Replacing the outmoded andinefficient sprinklers, state of the art drip technology coupled with a newsmart controller will help realize water savings as well as the peace of mindthat comes with a fully automated, self regulating system.

Landscaper Ted Vorster will be onhand to answer your questions.

11626 Clarkson Road

2012-02-04T08:13:00.000-08:00

Thisis a new garden, planted mid-2011. With help from the owner’s neighbor (andbest friend), this homeowner tore out the front lawn and parkway. They planteda mix of California natives and Mediteranean plants and installed a large rockgarden made up of cacti and succulents, using California Gold gravel as amulch. Rocks found on the property when digging up the lawn are incorporated intothe rock garden.

Theyalso removed grass in the backyard last spring, planting a large, successfulvegetable garden there complemented by an existing lemon tree. The owner hasgrown garlic, zuchinni, lettuce, herbs.

Theowner waters by sprinkling with can and hose. When established, the newlandscaping will consume even less water.

Another$avings is no more gardener. The owner is able to maintain the garden and is learningto keep a natural garden and use organic methods for a healthy soil.

Theowner finds the new garden very exciting for many reasons. The rock garden is afavorite feature. The owner also loves the California natives, such as yarrow,ceonothus, verbena, sages and manzanita. There are butterflies, hummingbirds,bees and worms. But the the very best thing is that now there’s a beautiful,sustainable front garden that attracts wildlife, and the owner can maintain itwithout any mechanical equipment such as the horendous gas leafblower.

Photo credit: Martin & Joan Rubin

3508 Butler Avenue

2012-02-01T05:42:00.000-08:00

Come sit on the porch…andlearn the benefits of getting rid of the lawn

These owners wanted a front porchwhere they could relax with the kids and visit with friends. They also wantedto get rid of the front yard lawn, replacing it with a garden that reduced theirwater usage but was still interesting, with plenty of color to attractwildlife.

In fall of 2010, they asked HeatherTrilling (TrillingLandscape Design) to come up with a family friendly, water wise design. Theyreplaced the old lawn with a drought resistant garden and Del Rio washed gravelpath, installed a low stucco sitting wall and landscape lighting, andresurfaced the porch with flagstone.

The low maintenance garden combinesCalifornia-friendly plants with small boulders for playing or sitting. Trillingused succulent plants such echeverias, aeoniums, agave, and protea, along withphormiums, lavenders, and echium (Pride of Madeira) to create an inviting andcolorful garden for this family. There is year round color and blooms with lotsof textures. The garden attracts birds, butterflies, and hummingbirds for allto enjoy.

The owners don't miss the lawn atall! The garden encourages them to be in the front yard more and they enjoyvisiting with neighbors in the garden. There are so many interesting places forthe kids to explore! The small stucco sitting wall doubles as a balancing beamfor the kids to climb on and they love playing around the small boulders.

Bark mulch and individual emittersfor each plant reduce weeding and water use. Water-wise-targeted drippers, locatedat each root, water for 20 minutes once a week. Little to no irrigation is neededin winter.

This is a blower, fertilizer andpesticide free zone. Weeding and trimming is done by hand. No lawn means lessgarden waste and cuttings end up in the compost bin.

Trilling Landscape Design will be atthe house for part of the tour.

3343 Inglewood Boulevard

2012-01-30T18:48:00.000-08:00

This garden has been designed, planted, and maintained by thehomeowner. The front garden came intobeing about 4 years ago due to the old grass yard being demolished during ahouse remodel and the homeowner deciding it would be interesting to create alandscape without grass. The only goalfor the garden was an intent that foliage create contrasting colors, shapes,and textures.

Water is supplied to thegarden using micro sprinklers and drip outlets. Now that the front garden is mature it is watered at most once a weekfor an hour or so, and during the winter months it can go for multiple weekswith no watering at all. It isdefinitely a drought tolerant landscape.

This home has previously been on the Garden tour, but this year hasadded an edible garden in the back yard using both fenced off ground areasalong with planter boxes built by the homeowner. They are in the process of setting up a compostingsystem, and hopefully will be using the product of the system soon. Additionally, the family has becomeinterested in Monarch butterfly habitat, and this year planted an area withmilkweed and are enjoying watching caterpillars turn to chrysalis', and finallyinto beautiful butterflies.

Photos by Renee Tondelli

13204 Rose Avenue

2012-01-30T06:23:00.000-08:00

This garden host has experimented withmany vegetable gardens over the course of living in different cities andcountries. Now they are finally putting this lifetime of experienceinto practice at home. Last year the process of converting the front lawnbegan, starting with the building of raised garden boxes. The pilot yearexceeded expectations with fruits and vegetables almost growing themselves. Thehomeowner has continued to reclaim even more front lawn - one garden box at atime - and looks forward to continuing to subsidize their fruit and vegetableconsumption. It is wonderful and nothing tastes better than to walk outside tothe garden, gather vegetables for a meal and eat them freshly picked.

This Mar Vista resident now knows evenmore people in the immediate neighborhood. They were even askedif they build gardens as a fulltime job. But there will be no jobchange anytime soon. This is just for fun and to be able to sharethe produce with family and friends.

Photos: Allison Diamant

12214 Charnock Road

2012-01-30T06:14:00.000-08:00

A beautiful example of how lush asucculent garden can be!

This garden began 11years ago, when the then new owners transplanted beloved cacti and succulentsfrom their previous home in Venice. Over a ten-year period, they broke the olddriveway to expand the front garden and created paths from the concrete fragments.They also dug up the parkway turf, filling the space with grosso lavender thatbloomed gloriously for five years. And they continued to expand their succulentcollection through sharing cuttings with friends and neighbors.

A year ago they beganworking with landscape designer Sheri Powell-Wolff, owner of Compost TEAna’s OrganicLandscapes, to enhance thesustainability factor in the garden. Their main priorities were to redistributeexisting plants to the extent possible rather than buy a lot of new ones,improve soil quality and replace an old and inefficient irrigation system. Theywanted the look of the redo to be as personal—and even idiosyncratic—as thegarden had always been.

Working with Sheri was asatisfying partnership. The garden is now a pleasing integration of the gardenthey had and the garden they wanted. It is primarily succulents, with theaddition of some native and low water herbaceous perennials to complement themand ensure four-season interest. All turf is gone. There are DG pathways. Bermedplanting beds are designed to trap rainwater coming off the roof.

A drip irrigation systemwaters most zones every other day. The new garden requires generous watering. Theyanticipate a reduction in water consumption within the next year.

More birds, bees andbutterflies visit the garden now. There’s no reduction in squirrels!

12307 Dewey Avenue

2012-01-30T05:43:00.000-08:00

Walk through the garden doorway into a world of calmand beauty.

Thisdo-it-yourself garden is about five years old. The owners replaced lawn in theirfront and back yards with a combination of drought-tolerant plants and treesnative to Australia and California. As a result of these changes, the ownersnow enjoy a plethora of humming birds and bees—they love rosemary flowers.

The solidconcrete driveway is also gone, replaced with pavers interspersed with pebblesto reduce rainwater runoff to storm drains.

Gonealso are the sprinklers. A targeted drip watering system has lowered their monthlywater consumption by more than half!

3745 Maplewood Avenue

2012-01-29T16:02:00.000-08:00

This garden is a home project that they play in daily with their three children. They have 4 chickens that lay eggs for them, eat greens from their garden and are sweet pets for their children. They grow a range of seasonal organic edibles; almost anything that they can eat straight from the garden. Some of their favorites include, Taiwanese spinach, snap peas, basil and swiss chard. We also have a very productive peach tree, lime, apple, guava and persimmon tree. They also have a large composting area with three bins that house red wiggler worms. They make their own organic compost to fertilize the garden. Their garden is a wonderful place where their children learn and explore about our natural world.

They water once a week by hand with a hose and watering cans. They used a lot of compost as mulch on top of the soil that keeps the moisture in the ground from evaporating. They compost almost all their household green waste; food scraps, paper towels, grass clippings and leaves. They love composting!

Their website http://www.kidscancompost.com/ provides a free digital instructional illustrated guidebook for all ages, to anyone interested in starting a compost or learning more. They will have some hard copies of the book available and red wiggler worms to share.

As a committed environmentalist who teaches composting to kids, Parker has concerns that run deeper than simply sticky, stinky shoes. Rainwater and sprinklers wash dog waste into the storm drain. It then flows, untreated, into Santa Monica Bay where it poisons marine life, she says. Surfers, swimmers and lifeguards become ill from fecal contamination. In an effort to change the way dogs do their “business” in Mar Vista, and together with LA Stormwater’s efforts to keep pollutants out of local waterways, Parker will be distributing free biodegradable dog poop bags at her home. Read more about her efforts in this article by Jeanne Kuntz in Mar Vista Patch.

3983 East Boulevard - UP House

2012-01-28T07:35:00.000-08:00

Urban Permaculture House

UP House is an urban permaculture farm and an intentionalhealth and homesteading community education and activities center. Theypractice what they preach on a daily basis. For example -

Localorganic food sourcing

They arelearning to grow as much food as is ecologically sustainable on their largesuburban plot of land while also supporting local organic food initiatives inour community.

Currently they have fruit trees (avocado,orange, tangerine, bananas, persimmon, peach, fig), several garden areas,self-seeding edible “weed” areas, monthly bulk local organic food, distributionand pick up location for the California CSA (Community Supported Agriculture),and two members working a booth for a vendor at the Mar Vista Farmer’s Market (Dey Dey’s Best Beef Ever).

Future and Ongoing Projects – Building anefficient green house system, chickens, bees, aquaponics, and vendingvalue-added products from our urban farm at the MV Farmer’s Market.

Intentional Community

Thesehouseholders are highly involved with volunteer and activism in the realms ofhealth, art and sustainability. Many members of the 11-member community arefounders of, or highly involved in some of the most active and productivephilanthropies in LA.

To name afew: Habitat for Humanity, Label GMO’s Initiative, LA Unified School District,Tree People, Venice Art Crawl, The Joyful Activist, Venice Community Gardens,City Repair, LIVIN’, and The Big P Project.

Health and Sustainability Efforts

Six of theeleven members do not own cars and a seventh commutes to work by bike everyday.
Convertingthe front yard into a cityrepair.org style public space project with a COBbench, an activities/events kiosk, a community garden and an herb spiral.
Built anoutdoor kitchen and an amphitheatre out of re-purposed materials to hostgatherings, potluck events and workshops.

Learn more. Check out their facebook page!

2571 Armacost Avenue

2012-01-28T07:20:00.000-08:00

The color and design of loose stones and rocks, the curves of the landscape and the fountain make this a special garden. Larger boulders and sitting rocks give the garden a relaxing, Zen feeling.

Re-landscapingof the front and side yards began in November 2009, with a goal of replacingall the grass with a rock-based hardscape and drought resistant garden. Theiracross-the-street neighbor (see 2564Armacost), owner Linda Rose Levine of Rose in Bloom, is the landscaper.

Anattractive line of lavender and New Zealand fax and loose gravel replaces theugly, usually dead grass that “grew” next to the driveway.

Manybutterflies and hummingbirds frequent the garden. Birds love the fountains. Thegarden also attracts small children who like to play with the stones.

Anautomatic sprinkler system waters the plants twice weekly using a minimalamount of water. The house has solar panels. Two barrels collect rainwater inthe back yard and the owners use an area behind the garage for composting.

The owners removed most of the lawn in the backyard—retaining a small patch for the dog—and added a dry riverbed in 2005. Thebackyard will be open if fill-in landscaping currently underway is completed intime.

12220 Everglade Street

2012-01-28T06:15:00.000-08:00

This homeowner was inspired by morning walks around the neighborhood - especially the gardens designed by Grow Garden Design, who they chose to design their own garden.

Both the front and back gardens are a balance of drought tolerant plants from around the world and Yosemite flagstone and Yosemite pebbles. They removed all of the grass from both front and back garden to drastically reduce their water use. Their favorites would have to be the three Cercis canadensis forest pansy in the front garden and the Dymondia between the flagstone. The garden attracts butterflies, bees and tons of birds. The irrigation is a combination of traditional sprinklers and drip irrigation.

2564 Armacost Avenue

2012-01-27T19:04:00.000-08:00

Photo credit: Izumi Tanaka Photography

Theowner, a landscaper (Rose in Bloom) uses this gardenas a testing ground to see what plants work in what areas as well as topush the envelope somewhat by planting unusual species and seeing how theygrow…and how sustainable they are. Inspiration came from a desire to bring someunusual gems to client’s gardens, giving their gardens that extra pizzazz.

One “client” that has certainlybenefited is the owner’s own family. There is movement in the gardeneverywhere. With four water features and fruiting vegetation year round, birdsand other wildlife come and go constantly.

The pondless waterfall is a favorite.On spring and summer Sundays, the owners sit on a swing with their coffee andwatch the water all morning. The waterfall draws people in. Many guests say itis so relaxing that they‘ve never sat still for as long as they do in thisbackyard.

The owners love the mixture ofsucculents and Mediterranean flowering plants. There are some very unusualplants. They wait all year for rare bulbs to display their once yearly blooms.One favorite, Draculuncus Vulgaris (ablack lily), only lasts a week, smells like rotten meat, but is so beautifulthat all is forgiven. Mostof the year, the spider lily looks like an agapanthus but, when it blooms everyAugust, hundreds of white flowers—with tendrils make them look like elegantspiders—cover it.

Trees include Japanese persimmon,orange and loquat. Alpine strawberries grow in pots; their tiny, tiny fruit isheavenly—the owners pick and eat them by the bowlful! Tomatoes, herbs, lettuce,blueberries and other vegetables grow in a small vegetable garden. Laura Taylorfrom LauraTaylor At Homewill be on hand to talk about growing vegetables; she is an expert ongrowing hundreds of tomato varieties including heirlooms.

The carefully chosen plants thrivewith deep but infrequent irrigation. The garden is watered once weekly inwinter and twice weekly during the hot summer. Running the traditionalsprinklers for two rounds of 5 minutes each—for a total 10 minutes—eliminatesrunoff and insures that the water goes deeper to the roots.

Photographer Izumi Tanaka—source of these gardenphotos—will be taking photos during the Showcase. Guest Janet Mitsui-Brown of The Joy of Feng Shui will explainthe plant placements and how Feng Shui principles can improve a garden.

11349 Victoria Avenue

2012-01-27T07:30:00.000-08:00

After an extensive home remodel, this homeowner decided to create a drought tolerant front yard. The Mar Vista Garden Club arrived withplants, tools, gloves and advice to help them start the project. Almost two years later, their plants arehealthy and thriving. The gardencontinues to change as they add plants and hardscape. There are primarily succulents and Californianative plants. They have yet to put in adrip system, so they water by hand about twice a month. This is a real “do-it-yourself” garden!

3710 Mountain View Avenue

2012-01-27T06:04:00.000-08:00

The front garden, once mere sloping suburban lawn

Terrace garden set under two Pittopsorum trees planted in1951

All Photos: Michael Moran, Tim Considine, and Steve Lacap

This garden is the summationof twenty years lived in one place, and reflects the changing inspirations ofthe two owners - Katherine Spitz, AIA, ASLA, LEED AP(landscape architect of garden) Daniel Rhodes, Architect. It is always a work in progress. They have been inspired by the places wherebuilding and architecture become one - hedges are walls, trees are columns,paving stones are floors, and tree canopies are ceilings. Enjoythis profile of the garden by Lisa Boone in the LA Times before the tour!

The rear fountain garden, with view of Hidcote Garden(England) inspired twin "follies"

This garden has a strong architectural layout;composed of five discrete garden "rooms," it was inspired by thegardens of England (Hidcote), Italy, Japan, and most recently, Spain. Each roomis animated by the sounds of water, and each has a distinct plantingscheme. The "keyhole" shape ofthe rear garden creates what is known as a “false perspective", enhancing the illusion of depth. The front garden, influenced by the gardensof Japan, is also focused on a circular fountain, and is surrounded by shrubsthat are being coaxed into the forms of cumulus clouds!

The garden has become more drought tolerant over the years, with each successive planting removing more lawn and replacing it with either California natives or compatible plants. The simple drought tolerant palette of the Spanish gardens - myrtle, rosemary, lavender, and Cypress - have been particularly influential. The most recent addition to the garden, the circular fountain garden in the rear, is planted with their favorite California friendly drought tolerant plants - a distinctive change to the lawn that had been there since 1951!

Some fun features: Look for the hidden mirror! The wood pergolawas built from columns found in the trash in Silver Lake. And the twin"follies" are used as a nursery and their translucent roofs becomelanterns at night. And the frogs spit!

There is drip irrigation in the rear gardenand the natives will not need additional water by the fall of 2012. The frontgarden has been weaned off water except for monthly in the summer.

Overview looking towards house

3338 Corinth Avenue

2012-01-26T18:31:00.000-08:00

GoingCalifornia green…a work in process

Thisis a corner house, so the front yard is large. The owners are transforming it,one section at a time, doing all the designing, digging and plantingthemselves. They are using primarily California native plants from nurseries atTheodorePayne Foundation and the Santa BarbaraBotanical Gardens.

Theproject began in 2009 with the parkway strip on Kingsland Street. The ownersremoved the grass and planted a variety of low-growing California native shrubsas well as California poppy seeds. This was their test area. It is a beautifulsuccess, and a lesson in what on a parkway.

Severalof the low-growing manzanita shrubs grew more robustly than predicted and arehappily blooming. Ashyleaf buckwheat reseeds itself and blooms in a range ofbeige to rosy pink flowerettes on long stems. Monkeyflower and blue penstemonadd color in the spring and summer. The plant mix includes a few milkweeds and theowners now enjoying seeing Monarch butterflies throughout much of the year.

Theowners are now redoing the Kingsland side garden, working on hardscaping withstepping stones and planting more California natives. Their goal is to have abeautiful flowering California native garden on the south side of the propertyrequiring little water, low maintenance and no chemical herbicides.

They’veinstalled a composter, purchased inexpensively at a City of Los Angeles Bureau of Sanitation composting workshop. And they have some home-grownmulch from a tree that had to be removed.

Oncethe south side is done, the owners will begin work on the larger garden area onCorinth Avenue. Lots of digging ahead! Come and see how far they’ve gotten.

12613 Appleton Way

2012-01-26T07:45:00.000-08:00

This homeowner has planted or grown from seed 20 or so varieties of the Proteaceae Family (proteas, Leucaspermum,"Pins", and Leucodendrons). These are amazing flowering shrubs native to South Africa!

This drought resistant garden was designed with a grey/purple theme and is planted with mostly California native plants from Native Sons, Armstrongs and other far-flung nurseries. Everything was (and continues to be!) done by the homeowner – they were inspired by an article in the Home section of the newspaper and built the garden over the course of six months.

It has various kinds of sages and manzanitas and several fijoa plants that fruit. It is anchored by an olive tree and has several ornamental plum, Australian tea trees and three melaleucas.

12734 Rose Avenue

2012-01-26T06:04:00.000-08:00

The front yard of this well-designed, water thrifty garden includes a Blue Fescue (Festuca glauca) lawn that was installed in the early 1990’s. That’s almost 20 years ago! It has never been replanted, uses minimal water and still looks fantastic.

Just imagine how much water has been saved by this non-lawn over the years. And how about the CO₂ that has not been emitted by lawn mowers? The lawn clippings that did not end up in the waste stream? The chemical lawn fertilizers that were not applied?

The front garden planting, deck and irrigation system were designed by Jo Cunningham who has since moved to Eureka, CA. The design brief: a garden that fit the climate, was easy to maintain and used minimal water. Over the years, the plantings and shrubs have changed, but the layout has not. Nicely established evergreen pear (Pyrus kawakamii) trees are original to the plan. The gravel was added 3 years ago to cover bare dirt and replace mulch.

The back garden was designed in 2000 by Nancy Giffin of Marina del Rey. Over the years, the design has not changed much but the plantings have been upgraded to more drought tolerant selections. The Gingko trees are original to the design.

The irrigation system was installed when the landscaping was done. The ground cover areas are watered by sprinklers and the trees and shrubs are irrigated by a drip system.

3721 Barry Avenue

2012-01-25T05:50:00.000-08:00

This garden is truly an extension to the home. They have created areas for different activities - entertaining space, fire pit area, pool and sun deck area. Drought tolerant, California friendly, beautiful outside rooms.

The homeowner is a Garden Designer (Grow Garden Design) and the goal was to create space that had a strong sense of design and sense of place in our desert by the sea. They incorporated drought tolerant plants from around the world to create an outdoor environment that proved that drought tolerant gardens do not need to be hard, barren and uninviting.

The designer was most inspired by gardens that have a strong sense of design and drama whilst remaining climatically correct and site specific. They love the garden's created by Jay Griffith in Venice, a Dutch Garden Designer Piet Oudolf and Dan Pearson from England.

Irrigation is a combination of drip and conventional sprinkler. They water only occasionally between November and March. In the hotter months they can get away with a deep soak once per week. Water consumption is way down and there is no run off at all.

They love plants that have natural movement - grasses like Miscanthus sinensus and Stipa tenuissima. A favorite small tree is Cersis candensis -'forest Pansy' - it has something to offer all throughout the year. Succulents are also a big favorite for year round color and minimal maintenance. Agonis Flexuosa 'jervis Bay afterdark' is a current favorite. This year they installed a raised vegetable bed.

2822 Barry Ave

2012-01-24T08:55:00.000-08:00

These homeowners are pioneers in the sustainable living movement, having designed and maintained this climate-appropriate, blower-free garden for over twenty years. The garden is composed primarily of California Natives, Edibles and Succulents. It’s nice to know that, despite reducing water consumption by more than 50%, they still enjoy their nine rose bushes, watering by hose and watering can when needed.

They always have a good deal of wildlife, but some notable additions have been an ongoing display of Monarch butterflies with the addition of the milkweed plant. Visitors include a variety of birds including hummingbirds, ladybugs, bees, squirrels, a few possums and the occasional raccoon visit.

Theirsoil has benefited greatly from twenty years of composting. They will be happyto answer your questions, although the composting areas, in the back, will notbe visible during the tour.

Photo credit: Martin & Joan Rubin

3465 Stewart Avenue

2012-01-24T06:19:00.000-08:00

Featured in the LA Times by Lisa Boone - see more pictures here.

This landscape designer owner of Elow Landscape Design and Build, Inc. designed the garden for their daughter. She wanted to bring wildlife into the yard. They have humming birds, butterflies, bees, squirrels. They also wanted her to be able to explore the yard, hide and play under trees. Everything is soft and durable enough for children. However the yard still maintains adult spaces and does not look like a play ground. When their daughter goes to bed, the grownups enjoy the space just as much. They live in a very small house so their yard becomes an extension of their home. It has been designed to allow them to live outside.

They have incorporated lots of features that are green, easy to use, and beautiful. They used composite decking for their decks and reclaimed wood for our dining pergola as well as dining table and bench. Drip irrigation has saved them about $400.00 a month in watering. We have a 6'x6x'6 reclamation pit that catches excess rain water and releases it back into the yard.

After careful research, they also incorporated synthetic turf which cut their water use down even more. It is made from recycled plastic and can be recycled. It is no longer made out of recycled tires that off gas. For those who have considered this alternative, this is a great stop to learn from a professional who made a studied, informed decision.

12579 Westminster Avenue

2012-01-21T18:00:00.000-08:00

This homeowner is the owner of Gardenerd and will be availableto answer questions about vegetable gardening and composting. They just added a few chickens to their urbanhomestead and will be sharing their experiences with tour goers!

The backyard organic vegetable garden will be featured on this year’s tour, butbe sure to check out the front yard’s use of California natives and droughttolerant plants as you pass through. What makes the front yard unique is the mini orchard of citrus and stonefruit trees.

The backyard vegetable garden features 3 rain barrels (with room for 5) thatthey use to water the plants, allowing them to turn off their drip irrigationsystem from November through April each year. They utilize a 3-bin compostingsystem plus a worm bin to turn kitchen, garden and coop waste intonutrient-rich soil and fertilizer.

They have a sprinkler system that runs on a timer in zones. With the clay soiland slow drainage, they have found that watering every 5 days was all it needed(4 minutes max). The fruit trees get watered once a month.

This is a unique opportunity to get advice about organic gardening from amaster!

Windward Learning Garden 11350 Palms Blvd.

2012-01-21T08:55:00.000-08:00

Students harvesting onions

WindwardLearning Garden, located at the eco-friendly school of the same name, was thebrainchild of some very committed students and their advisor, Samantha Lyon,who is a certified Permaculture Designer. The Green Club and the CommunityService Committee were interested in composting the food waste from thecafeteria, recycling, and starting an edible garden. This hand-watered gardenwas started in the fall of 2010. It is an elective class for both middle and highschool students, and meets twice a week to do garden projects. Art teacherHannah Northenor teaches the middle school gardening class, and Samantha theupper school's. It’s also an opportunity for students to have fun! The schoolgarden movement is growing at an amazing rate, and Windward is committed togreen initiatives and interactive learning for students. Because it is linkedto the Community Service Department, students are encouraged to be active intheir community through gardening as well. Check out a video of the garden

NOTE - PLEASE ENTER ON BUTLER - SEE MAP

3558 Military Avenue

2012-01-21T07:59:00.000-08:00

Afterthe house was extensively remodeled, the garden was a construction zone. Theowners were therefore able to start from scratch. Their goal was to createfront and back yards that required little maintenance yet gave some space toplay with fruit trees and vegetables.

Theydecided to remove the remaining grass, replacing it with artificial turf and anexpanded garden bed area.

A lowwater, low maintenance cactus and succuclent garden dominates the front yard. Thebackyard has raised beds for vegetables, fruit trees and a new patio area.Bamboo planted on one side of the backyard will eventually provide someprivacy.

Sprinklerswater the front yard and the backyard has a drip system. The owners supplementthe drip system by hand watering as required.

Theowners did not have time in the past to play with vegetables and have reallyenjoyed planting them and watching them grow this past year. Last summer—theirfirst—they experimented with squash, tomatoes, lettuce, bush beans, radishes,eggplant and okra. In the winter they planted winter tomatoes, lettuce, snap peas,snow peas, herbs, kohlrabi and blueberries. They are trying to grow Hawaiianpapayas from seed and have a Babaco Papaya from Ecuador.

12833 Rose Avenue

2012-01-20T19:16:00.000-08:00

The designer who created this beautiful floral oasis started gardening in 3rd grade after falling in love with her grandmother's vegetable garden in Canada. Having a background as a fine artist – her plants are her medium. People don't realize there's a whole spectrum of just the color green alone. Be enticed by her combination of colors, shapes and textures to form many rich layers of beauty.

This designer began with a very loose plan and then added plants. If the plant worked--great, if not then it was moved somewhere else. That's one big aspect the designer loved about gardening--it's always changing. Like any other responsible green gardener, she incorporated native plants, drought tolerant plants and all kinds of succulents. One of her joys of gardening is creating new plants with cuttings. In fact, a majority of the plants in her garden were from cuttings.

Neighbors and even people beyond her neighborhood love this garden. Strangers come to her door to enquire about a flower they have never seen before. Her enthusiasm for gardening literally grows on other people.

Any extra moment she can grab from her busy schedule, this designer loves spending time in her garden. Surprising to most, she hand waters her garden, sometimes even using a water pitcher. She finds this therapeutic and saves water. Come and visit this fun garden and get some amazing cuttings.

3741 Moore Street

2012-01-20T18:38:00.000-08:00

Photos - Carter Mays

These front and back yards contian a bevy of flowersin a jumble of colors, with both California natives and other drought tolerantplants included to create an exciting, yet natural effect.

The front yard of this Do-It-Yourself garden startedin the summer of 2009, following up with the backyard in the Fall of 2011. This makes it a new garden and it needs to mature,so that when you look across the garden the eyes will eventually see plants atall heights. Currently a single mature tree in the backyard draws attention, whilenewer plants continue to grow and fill in the space with color accents.

The garden started with a base of decomposed granite("DG") to replace the lawn. The homeowner planted drought tolerant flowers all around in a doughnutshape. The homeowner researches plants as a hobby, looking for Mediterranean, Californian,Texan, Arizonan or Mexican flowers that might fit into the garden. After identifying the plants online it, this“gardening detective” found it surprisingly easy to locate flowering shrubs atlocal nurseries.

After doing all the planting without professional help,the homeowner has continued to do all of the maintenance without outsideassistance. Because there is no outside gardener to help out, the garden was plannedwith easy upkeep in mind. Maintenance requires about one hour of work per week tocheck on any weed growth and/or to prune the plants a bit. No mowing or leaf-blowing is done. What a pleasure for everyone!

3213 Maplewood Avenue

2012-01-20T08:05:00.000-08:00

Preview this garden in this article on Fresh Dirt - Sunset Magazine!

What is unique about this front yard is the sculpture garden. The owner’s mother, Siv Cedering, was a Pushcart Prize winning poet. When she died two and a half years ago, the decision was made to honor her by installing her "poetry sculptures" to be enjoyed by her family, friends and neighbors. The grass was removed from everywhere.

The sculpture in the photograph above greets visitors as they approach the front door. It is hung above a fountain and looks out on a driveway of octagonal slabs of cement. When the driveway was originally conceived in 2000, grass was planted between the slabs, and it required watering. Now, river stones separate the slabs.

A large sculpture consisting of engraved stepping-stones and small boulders now fills the front yard and the strip that separates the street from the sidewalk. The grass was replaced with bark mulch and scattered plantings of succulents, which only require light watering once a week. Visitors discover the playful sculpture by stepping on stones that are each engraved with one word. "In", "My", "Garden", "There", "Is" - which lead them to boulders, which are engraved. On the front of one you read, " A TIGER" and on the back, "LILY", A QUEEN/BEE, A BIG BULL/FROG, A DRAGON/FLY/ A POLKA DOTTED LADY/ BUG, ETC.

According to the owner, "It feels great to cut down on water usage knowing we live in a desert. Beautiful spaces can be made without using much of it. And there is nothing better than seeing children and adults who didn’t know her discover the writings on the stones and delight in my mother's love of both nature and language!”

2554 Federal Avenue

2012-01-20T06:51:00.000-08:00

This uniquegarden is primarily edible. It is truly a reflection of today’s economy,demonstrating that with the onset of inflation and "tough times" wecan be more reliant on our very own Victory Gardens. The owner enjoys eatingfresh and unique produce plucked from the garden.

Thisis a do-it-yourself project. Edibles grow within and around raised beds.Repurposed metal buckets set in the ground serve as containers for herbs. Alarger metal bucket filled with gravel directs water from the rain chain intothe ground.

Sinceit is in the front yard, the garden is a resource for sharing. Often when aneighbor walks by or shows interest in the garden, the owner plucks a sprig ofrosemary or shares a vegetable. With sharing becoming more scarce, the ownerfeels this garden is a vehicle for people to re-connect and share.

3417 Cabrillo Blvd

2012-01-20T06:36:00.000-08:00

This beautifully designed garden has inspired manyneighbors to pursue a lawn-free front yard.

The owners bought their home in 2006 and wanted tocreate a low maintenance front yard with a natural and woodsy feel. The use of natural and organic materials wasvery important to their plan. The havepebbles and boulders from Indonesia mixed into the landscape with recycledfurniture from their far-flung travels to complete the idyllic feel.

The garden has morphed into a wonderful space where theymake use of a private deck with beautiful succulents and Podocarpus Henkelii onthe side and Silver Sheen Pittosporum in the front.

The front portion of the yard has a small cluster ofbirch trees with red kangaroo paws flanking a rock fountain. The elegant fountain has become a playgroundfor birds. The garden also boasts regular visits from hummingbirds.

To add color, they planted a short row of Hot CocoaRoses in front of the low wall. Theseplants can get by with watering 1 or 2 days per week depending on the time ofthe year.

Other plants used: Dymondia for the ground cover andFlax for the front strip. The Landscape Designer is Mike Mendoza Arborist of M&M Gardens.

3201 Butler Avenue

2012-01-19T06:18:00.000-08:00

Edibles…lotsof them…growing in the front yard

Foryears the owners grew tomatoes, strawberries and a few things like that on anarrow strip on the southeastern side of the house next to the neighbor'sdriveway.

Newneighbors built a fence cutting off vegetable garden’s light. The children, nowolder, no longer used the grassy area in the front yard for play. it was timefor a change. The backyard doesn't get as much sun as the front, so the ownersdetermined the front yard was the place to site the new vegetable garden.

TheWestdale soil, as all gardeners there know, is terrible. Rather than trying toamend it to something less than terrible, the owner decided to construct raisedbeds. Using stacking joints manufactured by frameitall, they were dead-easy to put together. The firstyear's produce, in 2011, justified the decision. The owners have grown onionsand garlic and potatos and carrots and beans and snow peas and lettuce andcucumbers and tomatos and zuchinni and pumpkins and corn and parsnips and aload of herbs.

WallaWalla onions, cut thick and grilled on the barbecue, became a favorite summerfood. The owners just finished the last of their onions in January, having beenself-sufficient since June.

Thesurprising side benefit from this has been the social aspect. The owners have metmore people in the neighborhood than ever before. They stop by on the weekendsto see what's going on…sometimes leaving with some excess zuchinni!

Thisis still a work-in-progress. The unwatered grass is dying but not gone. Theowners are adding more planters and then will put in low-water natives andstepping stones to create a more pleasing look. Right now, the owner/chiefgardener has more vision than time!

3406 Keeshen Drive

2012-01-18T18:48:00.000-08:00

Thisis a do it yourself garden from design to planting to maintenance. The ownershave the aches and strains to prove it!.

Theirgoal and inspiration was low maintenance. They started planting fruit trees in2004. The cactus patch started in 2009. In 2010 they removed all the turf thereselvesand added decomposed granite and gravel.

Theowners hand-water their pesticide-free garden once or twice a week.

Theeuphobia cactus and the fruit trees are among their favorite plants. They'veseen an uptick in hummingbirds and squirrels.

Theowners look forward to sharing their garden and answering any questions.

3783 Redwood Ave

2012-01-18T06:50:00.000-08:00

This garden is a must visit to learn about Ocean Friendly Gardens!

This front garden is largely California native or drought resistant plants with two small square-foot vegetable gardens, flanked by a handful of potted strawberries and herbs. The native plants have brought an amazing difference in wild life! The yard attracts a wide array of birds and pollinators and neighborhood cats that can’t get enough of the wildlife activity going on.

The homeowner hired help to remove the grass and lay the step stones that run along the driveway and then did all the plant selection, garden layout, and planting on their own. The main path is recycled driveway from a neighbor. They completed the process with NWF to make the garden certified Wildlife Habitat, and installed a rain barrel in the front yard. Next steps include an additional rain barrel in the back yard and cutting into the driveway to stop flow to the street to retain as much water on the property as possible. The plants are hand watered as needed. The edibles get more frequent watering and the rest of the yard maybe once or twice a month. There is also a compost bin in the back yard.

This homeowner works full time for the Surfrider Foundation, a non-profit that works on issues such as ocean water quality. Surfrider Foundation launched a program in Los Angeles County called Ocean Friendly Gardens in 2009. The purpose of the program is to give your yard “CPR” (Conservation, Permeability, and Retention) to reduce our individual contribution to urban runoff, which is the #1 cause of ocean pollution in Los Angeles. They will have information on hand to share about the Ocean Friendly Garden program.

3717 Mountain View Avenue

2012-01-18T05:45:00.000-08:00

There is so much to see in this garden that it was difficult to select which picture to use! This is a wonderful bungalow style home with a sloping hillside front garden that has been landscaped into separate areas which each create a different atmosphere. The front yard is no-lawn, low water, and spectacular. The back yard is divided into two parts, the front back and the out back. The front back is mostly brick, with many pots, and a small lawn, about 12 feet in diameter. There are several different plants including Heliotrope, day lilies and agapantha. The outback is ecological, using very little water. There are two lemons, two oranges, two fig tress as well as three raised beds with plants such as sorrel, arugula, spinach, lettuce, peas and tomatoes. The front is watered once a week with sprinklers. In the back there's a mixture of tube watering in the boxes, and hose watering elsewhere and the roses are hand watered. They use no pesticides, herbicides, or any toxics in our cleaning supplies.

4129 Moore Street

2012-01-17T19:11:00.000-08:00

As a child in England, the homeowners’ parents always had a colorful garden with roses. They wanted to achieve this lush color and variety in their Los Angeles garden by using drought tolerant California natives, while protecting the environment, and reducing water usage.

They removed all the grass and concrete pathway, substituting Arizona flagstones and pebbles. All plants are drought tolerant, with emphasis on lots of color and blooms through each season. They started August last year with the hardscape and finished January 28^th, 2011with plant installation.

Inspiration came from England. This haven of California Natives is maintained without the use of blowers. The garden is watered using a subsurface drip system located at each root to reduce water consumption. At the moment they have to water to establish the roots but eventually this will be minimal. Mulching was done with bark for mulch and they will use Compost Teana’s by Sheri Powell-Wolff Owner/Designer tea spray made from organic compost.

Enjoy a time lapse video of the recent installation of this garden here.

12521 Westminster Avenue

2012-01-13T19:09:00.000-08:00

The previous owners of this home built a retaining wall andplanted a row of trees around the periphery of the property. While the trees create deep shade and keepthe front of the house cool, the limited sunlight did not allow for muchgrowth, resulting in an unsightly weed and crabgrass “lawn”. This home is a great example of how to takeadvantage of shade by choosing environmentally appropriate plantings.

The hard ground had not been tilled or fertilized inyears. Bad for planting – great for thepink Arizona flagstone selected by the current homeowners! All that was needed was a layer of sand andseveral inches of space between the stones to provide a water-permeable surfacethat requires little maintenance. Thespace between the stones was filled with rich soil, ornamental gravel, andseeds of various low-light ground covers. The contrast between the pink stones and the green ground covers givescolor, life and complexity to an area that initially seemed unworkable. The flagstone was the main expense, withaccents of potted plants.

The garden has become a friendly hangout for neighborhoodcats, who congregate on the cool flagstone on hot days. The homeowners love watching their own catsmingling with feline visitors, each one sprawled on their own individual flagstone pad.

Watering is minimal. Spot watering by hand once or twice a week is all that is needed. Because the homeowner can efficiently targetmicro-environments, nothing is over watered and there is no runoff.

3749 Redwood Avenue

2012-01-12T19:32:00.000-08:00

Read about the cluster of gardens on Redwood

in this feature by Emily Green in The Dry Garden in the LA Times.

This garden was installed in 2009 following a major remodel of the garage. The small garage was replaced with a 4 car dream garage with office/family room above. Check out the view from the balcony, you can see the Getty and quiet surrounding Mar Vista neighborhood. This garden is not on the published maps but it's on your way to the next garden.

The garden is watered with the latest smart irrigation technologies (ET Water Irrigation Controller) and all subsurface drip irrigation. The garden was design by Marilee Kuhlmann of Comfort Zones Garden Design and installed by Clark and White Landscapes. The landscape masonry was done by Macon Inc. A plant list for the garden will be available at the tour. No herbicides, pesticides or fertilizers were used in the construction or ongoing maintenance of this garden. The soil fertility is being improved with the use of mulch, compost, worm casting and compost teas.

All the existing mature trees on the property were kept and protected during the construction. The front yard has a Trumpet tree (Tabebuia) which should be in full flower for the tour. The 4 mature Australian Paperbark (Melulaca’s) provided the impetus for the other plants in the garden to be primarily of Australian origin. A few native California species with the same low water requirement were added for color and habitat for our native birds and insects.

The swing bench is the perfect place to meet the neighbors on a hot afternoon. The old front garden had a small patch of turf which was removed and the area was re-contoured and elevated into a berm to improve drainage for some of the Protea’s and other plants wanting fast drainage. Check out the flower on the Australian vine on the arbor in front, it’s an usual Black Kennedia or Black Coral Pea (Kennedia nigracans). Some of the unusual Australian plants in the garden were specimens from the Australia Native Plant nursery in Ventura/Ojai.

The garden is only 2 doors away from a Mark Twain Middle school so there is lots of traffic in the area in the morning and afternoon on school days. Once the plants mature on the berm it will provide some separation and a sense of privacy from the sidewalk traffic. The recycled broken concrete pavers and stacked concrete used in the outer front patio area and garden wall came from the old garage floor. The open joints between the pavers have a combination of dymondia, thyme and herniaria ground covers, drip tubing is below ground to provide irrigations water until these plantings are mature. The parkway has two mature Gold Medallion Trees (Cassia leptophylla). The turf was removed and Dymondia and small New Zealand Flax were used, stepping stones were placed for folks to have access to their parked cars.

The front south side has an edible section. This is the best full sun spot on the property. Two espaliered apple trees (low chill varieties; Anna and Fuji) stand at the house, with 2 Blue Berry bushes, and raised beds for salad veggies are planned in the remaining inches of space.

The back garden’s raised wood deck was protected during construction and repaired and painted at the end of construction to match the new color scheme of the garage and house. The mature Birch trees where kept, but these tree need more water that the other plants that were planned for the garden so a fountain was installed at their feet providing a little extra slash for the trees to drink.

The homeowner’s collection of orchids will be out on display during the tour. The greenhouse was built by the homeowner to fit tightly under a mature Australian Tea Tree (Leptospermum petersonii) and over the sump pump area for the property to house the orchid collection.

The Bouquet Canyon stone patio and planter incorporates a built in gas fire pit with a small seating area. The open joints in the patio’s construction allow rain water to be infiltration into the soil reducing the runoff into the street. The back garden plants are a combination of plant from California, European and Australian origin.

11620 Clarkson Road

2012-01-12T06:17:00.000-08:00

This homeowner was ahead of the trend. In the spring of 2004 they replaced the front lawn and flower bed with California Native plants, resulting in water savings and natural habitat for the birds, butterflies, bees, and small creatures. The design evolved around the existing Magnolia, Cotoneaster (since removed), Yucca, Camellia, and irrigation system. With a budget of $1,200 the grass was removed by hand, soil mounded, DG pathway and decorative crushed rock areas installed, and foundation plants planted. Finishing touch was 2-3” of shredded redwood to keep the soil moist and cool. Plants and grasses have been added over the years along with nature’s plantings.

BENEFITS

75% less water once plants are established; water for 20 minutes every 10 days. No water in the winter months.
Less garden waste; 80% of cuttings end up in compost.
Low maintenance; no fertilizers or pesticides.
Attracts wild life.
Visually pleasing all year round.

PLANT LIST of CA NATIVES

1. Achillea millefolium, Paprika Yarrow

2. Arctostaphylos, "Emerald Carpet" Manzanita

3. Arctostaphylos x densiflora, 'Howard McMinn' Manzanita

4. Ceanothus arboreus x thrysiflous, "Frosty Blue" California Lilac

5. Ceanothus hearstiorum, San Simeon Ceanthus

6. Cercis occidentalis, Western Redbud

7. Dudleya attenuata orcuttii, Bright Sprite Dudleya

8. Epilbium canum "Catalina", Island California Fuchia

9. Epilbiumcanum latifolium "Armstrong", California Fuchia

10. Erigonum grande rubescens, San Miguel or Red Buckwheat

11. Erigonum grande var. rubescens, San Miguel or Red Buckwheat

12. Festuca idahoensis "Siskyou Blue", Idaho Fescue

13. Festuca idahoensis "Warren Peak", Idaho Fescue

14. Heuchera "Lillian's Pink", Coral Bells

15. Heuchera "Opal", Coral Bells

16. Iris douglasiana, Pacific Coast iris

17. Monadella antonia Antonia, San Antonia Hills Coyote Mint

18. Monardella villosa, Coastal Coyote Mint

19. Muhlenbergia rigens, Deergrass

20. Penstemon heterophyllius, Foothill Penstemon

21. Penstemon heterophyllius, Margarita BOP'

22. Rhamnus californica, Coffeberry "Eve Case"

23. Salvia clevelandii "Winifred Gilman", Cleveland Sage

24. Salvia mellifera, Black Sage

3784 Redwood Avenue

2012-01-11T07:00:00.000-08:00

Photos by Renee Tondelli

This is the fourth year this garden has been on the tour and visitors have watched it go from newly planted to a paradise! About half are native California plants and half Mediterranean climate plants from Australia, South Africa, Chile, etc. The front is a delight - but don't miss the chance to explore the back with a chicken habitat that is practically a chicken condo and 2 large edible gardens. There is a lot to learn here!

Thesoil in these gardens - both edible & ornamental beds - is maintainedexclusively with compost & compost tea. The owner has become such a believerin compost tea & the biological method of garden maintenance that it hasbecome the main thrust of their design and maintenance business - Compost Teana.

They also added a gray water system to the back yard last year and took the beds nextto the house off of the main irrigation line. Those plants have beenmaintained exclusively with washing machine gray water since April 2011. They use drip irrigation - once every 2 weeks on one line and once a month on the other.

After tearing out the turf in the front yard, these homeowners created a Mediterranean style courtyard, with a small fountain in the middle, encircled by a 3’ high berm. The berm was planted with climate appropriate plants, focusing mainly on California natives. They removed 2 very thirsty birch trees and replaced them with 2 beautiful, unthirsty, summer-flowering Chitalpa x tashkentensis trees - which were received from the ‘Million Trees LA’ program.

Look for the surprise visitor in the front yard!

3210 Kelton Avenue

2012-01-06T07:53:00.000-08:00

Coming through the gate and into this yard is like entering a magical space. The street and neighborhood traffic feel a long way off. Hummingbirds and bees are ever-present. In addition, many plants have a subtle fragrance that will delight you – after rain, the smell of rosemary and sage is intoxicating.

When they bought their home in 2001, the garden was as sad and neglected as the interior. Moreover, the site wasn’t properly graded. When it rained, the foundation flooded and the view from inside required looking up, which made the living room feel buried.

The re-do was both aesthetic and structural. The project, done in 2008 by Pam Bottaro of Red Lemon Landscape Design, called for excavating several feet of dirt then installing steps and retaining walls, so the yard was on the same level as the house. A flat pad meant water could percolate down, and pebble pathways provided additional drainage.

From the start, they wanted a waterwise design but worried it might be too austere for their 1927 house. Pam installed drip irrigation and chose native plants that perfectly complemented the old house’s “fairytale” look. They love the yard’s cottage feel and how the leveling gave them a beautiful view from their living room.

12527 Westminster Avenue

2012-01-06T05:56:00.000-08:00

The homeowners had two main goals in this front yardremodel. They wanted to replace their hillside grass/crabgrass lawn withdrought tolerant plantings and to capture rainwater rather than allowing it torun off the property and into the street. To that end, they leveled a portion of the hill by installing a stoneretaining wall. They then chose anassortment of climate-appropriate plantings, which compliment the house’s new pathway,making the front yard more welcoming to those approaching from the street. Usingelements suited to our local climate, they have a yard full of plants that willeventually grow to fill the space, rather than overwhelm it.

Another feature that they hope will help with waterconservation is the futuristic automatic watering system that is linked up to asatellite weather sensor so it waters only when necessary.

Although they originally hired a professional landscaper,the homeowners’ current design came from their own hard work. They altered the initial design to create an orderly landscapewhile still enjoying the benefits of drought tolerant landscaping. It took two years of plant research andexperimentation with placement and spacing for the design to complete their ourversion of the plan, which was then professionally installed. They were inspired by Sunset Magazine and MarVista Garden Tours!

Mark Twain Middle School - 2224 Walgrove Avenue

2012-01-03T17:56:00.000-08:00

Thisis Mark Twain Middle School’s second year of being on the MVGG Showcase. Fivegarden/educator volunteers are now working with the teachers at Mark TwainMiddle to incorporate the garden into their academic subjects. Inaddition to the classes taught during school hours, over 30 enthusiastic,committed students come out each day to work and play in the garden duringnutrition break and lunchtime. They are currently building a grapearbor and outdoor theater in the garden with volunteers. This is awonderful example of what other schools and children’s programs can do to linkchildren with nature & sustainable living.

3767 Redwood Avenue

2011-12-31T07:48:00.000-08:00

Featured on Chance of Rain and in the LA Times, this drought resistant garden combines California friendly plants with raised beds of vegetables and herbs. It was is not on the published map so make sure you stroll up Redwood and don't miss it!
The angled walkway in front adds a feeling of depth as plants soften the front entrance and create a meadow woodland feel to give an overall feeling of serenity.

The trees add so much! The Forest Pansy Red Bud is a beauty in all seasons while Melaleuca Nesophila is always such a fun dramatic gesture - birds love it and so it bring lots of joy to the little front patio. The Yellow Tabebuia is a spring treat with its mass of clear yellow blooms. Finally, the Ginkgo is gorgeous and such a cast iron plant for our climate and city living. The Arbutus Marina in the back yard is a butterfly and hummingbird magnet. This is a wonderful example of how much you can add to a garden with trees! The water features always draw in birds and the finches seem to love the Abutilons in the garden.

The garden was designed by the homeowner (the company is Wild Gardens) and was finished in June of last year.

3373 Cabrillo Boulevard

2011-12-30T08:35:00.000-08:00

This garden was the conception and largely the work of Andrea Dembrowski (born April 1947 and died June 2008). Andrea made the decision in 2006, after another year of Southern California drought and brown lawn, to redo the lawn portions of the front and back yards. Her primary motivation was conservation. According to her son, Alex, Andrea had long been environmentally conscientious and had been at one time a Sierra Club member.

Andrea’s inspiration was to reduce water, to achieve a more natural look than turf, to recycle materials from the demolition of the old garden and hard surfaces, and to use drought tolerant plants and gardening techniques. At the same time, she had in mind using lavender and sage in the garden, two of her favorite scents, incorporating a dry river bed in the garden design, and installing a deck over a good portion of what had been the back yard.

In 2006 and 2007 Andrea worked on totally killing the front and back lawn by cessation of watering and digging up the roots. She had a poured cement patio removed from the back of the house and stacked chunks of the cement to use for future pathways in the back garden.

During 2007, she enrolled in a course on California-friendly (xeriscape) gardening at Santa Monica College to learn sustainable landscape design, planting and watering techniques, and plant selection. This course led her to procure stone, pebbles and nylon/rubber sheeting to use in shaping areas of the garden and help control weeds and conserve water.

It was in the back yard that Andrea carried out her concept of the “dry river bed.” She hired helpers to dig out a “gulch” which was lined with stone. The excavated dirt was used to build .mounds raised alongside the “gulch” and these were covered with the nylon/rubber sheeting. For each variety of succulent planted in a mound, Andrea cut away sheeting around the planting “basin” allowing the plant to be watered and but shielding the rest of the mound from watering. The sheeting was ultimately covered with wood chips to achieve a natural look ant control weeds.

In stretches of the back yard, the cement chunks were laid as stone pathways and to widen the walkway extending to the rear of the garage. Small pebbles were used to fill in and level the spaces between cement chunks. Andrea planted sage and lavender along the cement pathways. She planted blue fescue along the riverbed gulch. Along the newly-constructed redwood deck in the back of the house, she planted decorative grasses.

In the front of the house along the front porch, Andrea planted a flowering ground cover that required low water once established. She created a large succulent “island” in the former turf area of the front yard and added more succulents and flax plantings along the curb. She mixed in grasses and lavender plants throughout the front garden to unify it with the look of the back garden. The three dwarf citrus in the north portion of the front yard were the last plants she added to the garden in fall 2007.

In Summer 2008, after her death, friends completed the front garden by adding stepping stones, stone edging and blue fescue plantings around the citrus trees, and yarrow plants in between the citrus. The last planting added in the front garden is the variegated mahonia plant in the northwest corner of the yard.
This garden is largely hand watered, with the exception of soaker hose added by friends in Summer 2008 to enable watering the succulent “islands” and stretches of lavender in the back yard.

12029 Navy Street

2011-12-28T09:12:00.000-08:00

Have you ever wanted to get rid of your gardener ? In a nice way of course. This homeowner got tired of paying for someone who comes once a week to mow, blow, grab a check and go. And it seemed that anything additional they wanted cost extra. Enough of that! The goal for incentive for the new garden was to create something beautiful that could be maintained by the owner, without machinery like a mower, blowers, etc. They received a rebate from water and power for $800 for turf removal which required that the job be finished within a specific time period. As a conservationist, another motivation was to cut way back on water usage knowing that California imports it’s water. Using this precious resource on a lawn, which dries out in the summer, seemed ridiculously wasteful. They wanted a new look and the one that they created included decomposed granite, rock and drought-resistant plants.

They continue to save money, as water usage remains low. They are thrilled with the look of the new front lawn and, as an added bonus, they keep the gardening fees for themselves!

3237 Glendon Avenue

2011-12-28T08:09:00.000-08:00

When the owner, a landscaper (Tanglevine) moved in eight years ago, the front yard was just a 1000 square foot grass hillside. Today it is an eclectic mix low water, bee and insect friendly flowers and shrubs evocative of the colorful gardens in Venice and Santa Barbara that the owner loves.

Rather than trying to achieve a particular ‘style,’ the owner wanted a free-form mixture of plants. The result is a garden in which aloes live happily next to lavender, roses, fruit trees and agaves—a living tapestry has evolved and changed over the years. It reflects the owner’s instincts for mixing colors and textures.

Beginning the garden makeover, the owner decided to invest in a two-person crew to remove all the sod as well as a roll off bin and lots of soil amendments. It was well worth the money. The crew dug 2-3 three inches off the top to remove all the roots, and the amended soil has been fertile and healthy ever since.

Once the soil was prepared, the fun part began: picking plants. The owner’s choices include pencil cactus, Echium, oak leaf hydrangea, a Japanese maple, stipa grass and many varieties of lavender. These plants have thrived over the years. A rose garden in the center of the yard offers a profusion of orange and peach blooms. The owner plants two wine barrels near the curb with a rotating display of seasonal color—currently anemones.

Hummingbirds, bees and spiders visit the garden daily. Occasionally the owner catches a glimpse of a lizard, grasshopper or dragonfly.

The garden has taught the owner a lot about patience and trial and error. It’s a process that can’t be rushed, but one that is extremely rewarding!

11375 Matteson Avenue

2011-12-27T06:15:00.000-08:00

Spring! See our new bench made from recycled wood & hand-built-mold concrete shape.
Please try it out ... just know that our kitty Crystal often hides in the Chard right behind the bench!

Starting with zero gardening knowledge, in 2008 this family stopped battling their monoculture lawn and began learning how to cooperate with nature on their learn-as-you-go journey of drought tolerant landscaping, urban gardening and rainwater harvesting.

New for the 2012 tour - their local Transition chapters and friends are having a barn-raising-style work party to help support residential lawn conversions. On this project, they learned "on-the-job" as they helped install a simple passive, hidden "reservoir" for rain water collection to transform this 8'x15' patch of dirt into a garden of edible CA natives. Come see the results!

Their hope is to model creative self-reliance and to encourage growing food and community in a frontyard display that is friendly and inviting and not too “farm-y." This entire DIY project has had strict budgetary parameters (everything cheap, recycled or free) as the homeowners slowly converted their post-lawn moonscape into a creative sustainable garden featuring stealth edibles intermingled with drought tolerant natives and succulents, small "urbanite" terraces, a WaterWall for rooftop rain collection, and a bistro-style hardscaped frontyard room with homemade concrete planters and pavers. The L-shaped corner lot offers a spectrum of microclimates from sunbaked hardpan to mossy deep shade which has provided a steep learning curve for these beginning permaculture enthusiasts. The front entry of river rock, DG & flagstone is wide & inviting as well as easy to maintain. Recent learning curve adjustments include resculpting the berm with mini-swales and adding a keyhole feature to help prevent mulch and water runoff as well as a soil pH crashcourse due to excess lime leaching in concrete planters. In hopes of improving their resilience, ecological footprint and water savings, the homeowners recently consulted with sustainable landscape architect John Tikotsky for advice on greywater Big Picture planning.

“Our reason for participating: We have had such fun with the project so far -- we really want to encourage others to be brave and take up their lawns. Now that the biggest physical part of the work is done, we are discovering the many joys of puttering in the garden and growing some of our own food. Plus since we're out front for all to see, a side benefit has been connecting with neighbors and building community!”

3782 Redwood Avenue

2011-12-26T18:49:00.000-08:00

This homeowner is a garden designer and also a founding member of G3. G3 teaches landscape sustainability classes for homeowners and workshops for landscape professionals.

The turf in the backyard was removed 10 years ago and the front yard turf 4 years ago. This will be the fourth season for the veggie garden in the front yard but the first year for the veggie garden in the back yard. Yes they have now removed most of those useless ornamental plants (saying “they were pretty, but you can’t eat them”). They have also used some interesting materials for raised beds, some very inexpensive tricks that even apartment dwellers may be able to duplicate. If that isn’t enough, they have added some edibles in the front parkway too. Basically don’t stop too long in the garden or they might plant something in your shoes.

There is practically an orchard of espalier fruit trees (a tree or shrub that is trained to grow in a flat plane against a wall): Fig-5 varieties, Apples-5 varieties, Citrus-4 varieties, native and edible Grape & Pomegranate. Artichokes block the front entrance this time of year; the postman must be very patient. You will see many pots of strawberries throughout the garden - they keep them going for the kids in the neighborhood. They even use the driveway as a squash patch.

They love the Arbutus Marina Strawberry tree in the front and watch hummingbirds and butterflies daily from the kitchen window. Wild life abounds! native bees, Monarch Butterflies, hummingbirds and a flock of Bush Tits each morning in the Pittosporum Silver Sheen next to the fountain - they come to bathe until the resident Anna Hummingbird protests. On average 50 Monarch Caterpillars could be seen from mid-summer until December. Swallowtail Butterflies share the front fence for their caterpillar to chrysalis transformation.

The homeowners use drip and hand water as needed and now have 2 rain barrels. Their water consumption has been reduced by approx 70%. This household uses an average of 42 gallons per person per day (the average home uses twice that) and they expect to continue to find ways of reducing their potable water consumption.

They are very jealous of the chickens next door, but share a back gate with their neighbor so after cultivating their garden they can easily drop off grubs – delicacies to most chickens.

3247 Granville Avenue

2011-12-26T13:18:00.000-08:00

This homeowner wanted to convert the property from water guzzling, high maintenance and boring turf to a combination of plants that would save water, maintenance hours, provide visual beauty and benefit the local fauna of birds, butterflies and bees.

“When we bought our house the front yard was a sea of grass struggling to remain green and 8 shrubs carved into circles. It took a lot of water just to maintain it's boring appearance. We asked Susanne Jett to create a native garden that would attract butterflies and hummingbirds. Turns out it attracts people too, and we love it. Our garden has gotten more beautiful in the eight years since she planted it. After remodeling in 2010, we had Susanne return to do the backyard. Now our entire landscape is environmentally friendly and we couldn’t be happier with how it looks."

The garden refurbish of 2010 now includes a rainwater catchment element (infiltration pit) in the front yard and rain chains on all of the gutters throughout the property. The infiltration pit collects roof rainwater runoff from the front half of the house. Thousands of gallons of seasonal rainwater are diverted from the street gutter and into the ground water table of the site. All walking and driving surfaces on the property have been designed to reduce water runoff.

The front garden is a combination of plantings and permeable walking areas from the original landscape installation of 2004 and the post-remodel refurbish plantings of 2010. The back garden was completely re-landscaped as part of the 2010 remodel refurbish. The entire landscape is a combination of Mediterranean plants including CA native plants. With the exception of fruit trees and edibles in back, all selected plants are low to medium water need plants. There is no turf on this property. Most of the plants provide some type of habitat support and attract beneficial insects to support Integrated Pest Management in the garden environment.

All planting areas on the property are serviced by low-volume, drip irrigation. The delivery of irrigation ranges from once per week to once per fifteen days. A weather-based irrigation controller on this site would enable irrigation delivery of 20 to 30 day periods. A weather-based irrigation controller will be the next landscape upgrade. Transitioning from a turf dominated landscape to one of low and low medium water use plants and low-volume drip irrigation can reduce water use on a residential property by 65% to 85%.

13014 Morningside Way

2011-12-24T09:59:00.000-08:00

A pair of bonafide Dodger Stadium seats were the inspiration for this unique sustainable garden. The homeowners started seven years ago with the back yard that had a vegetable garden and a small lawn 12x20'.

They had received a pair of Dodger Stadium seats and found a way to include a water fountain where birds could drink and bathe to create an effect that any garden enthusiast or baseball fan could appreciate . A consultant from the Theodore PayneFoundation helped to keep the plantings 100% California Native. They even planted a grapevine, Vitus Californicus -Rogers Red, that goes around the vigetable garden fence. Dirt burms added interest, and a drip irrigation system underground conserved water. A number of large big pots are filled with more natives. The hummingbirds especially like the fuchia (epilovium catalina). This area has become a very serene space to enjoy.

Inspired by the tranquility of their new backyard, the homeowners decided to transform the front as well incorporating a dry-rock river bed into the design.

They left several existing trees and a few camelia bushes, but the new plants are all low water users with many California native plants. The parking strip has less dense plantings and decomposed granite to insure easy access from a car parked on the street. There is also a six-inch wide rock drainage around the parking strip to control water run-off from the sidewalk. It solved an erosion problem and also added a design element. All irrigation is by underground drippers. There are also several large rocks to delight visiting grandchildren. They love to climb on, jump off, or use the boulders for picnics.

Low-voltage night lighting accentuates the appearance. Maintenance has been minimal and enjoyment maximal. They used at least 4" of mulch to cover the entire space around the riverbed. The plants are growing well and filling the spaces, and the variety of plants allows both color and accessibility.

3551 Tilden Avenue

2011-12-24T09:37:00.000-08:00

This very large garden is designed primarily for asthetics. The owner’s foremost consideration was colors and textures. Eco-Nomical Landscape certainly achieved this goal!

A blooming cactus stands sentry at the front entrance

Wide swaths of gravel separate islands planted with cacti, succulents and other drought-tolerant plants. Even in winter, there are spots of color and the backyard is fragrant with the aroma of orange blossoms.

Only a few backyard trees remain from the original landscaping. They are joined by several fruit trees. A large flagstone seating area provides a vantage point for enjoying the garden.

3904 East Boulevard

2011-12-24T06:45:00.000-08:00

This drought resistant garden was created with special attention to water conservation and capture. The landscape architect, project manager and landscape contractor will be on hand to answer questions!

The goals were a desire to save water, be beautiful and provide easy maintenance - and they achieved it all!

Grading was done so that run-off water is absorbed into soil and all new landscaped areas are permeable with planting areas covered in mulch. They use bubblers and some popup sprinklers. The rain sensor shuts off the irrigation when it rains. Established hydrozones and seasonal irrigation schedule lowers water consumption from 30 to 50% in this newly landscaped front yard.

Among some of the plants are: Cercis Canadensis (Eastern Redbud), Agave, Artemisia (Coastal Sagewort), Coleonema, Festuca (Blue Fescue), Ceanothus (Wild lilac), Hebe, Lavandula (Lavender), Loropetalum (Fringe Flower), Phlomis, Cerastium (Snow in Summer), Erigeron (Santa Barbara Daisy) and Lamium. What they love is the combination of colors.

There is so much to learn here and seeing a newly planted garden is a much needed perspective on spacing before you start your own!

This homeowner also works with The Los Angeles Food Policy Council which has a number of Working Groups that are looking into how to create a healthier, more equitable, and sustainable food system in LA. Their Working Group is called Urban Agriculture. Their goal is to develop LA into a center where healthy and affordable food is grown in an environmentally sustainable manner. They are trying to develop a comprehensive program to propose to the City to make it much easier to grow our own food and will be sharing information about their program during the tour.

Walgrove Elementary and Ocean Charter School - 1630 Walgrove Avenue

2011-12-23T12:36:00.000-08:00

Photo courtesy of Michelle Dean for Mar Vista Patch

The learning garden at Walgrove Elementary School lay fallow for sometime until it was “reinvented” about 5 years ago. Today, the kids are literally making salads from lettuce they grow outside their classroom! This year, the garden looks better than ever! Student and adult volunteers have been busy planting milkweed and other plants to provide way-stations for monarch butterflies. The school curriculum now includes monarch lessons in the kindergartners and first graders.

Read this article that was written by Walgrove parent Brooke Wirtschafter for Mar Vista Patch -

This week my son’s kindergarten class at Walgrove Elementary made a garden fresh salad from the lettuce the students planted eight weeks ago in the planter box right outside their classroom.

“We reviewed some of the ways we buy salads—in plastic bags and boxes—and found that we could rather easily grow our own fresh vegetables that tasted a lot better," said Ruth Handel, a kindergarten parent and volunteer who helped the kids with the planting and the harvest. "Being involved directly in the process, from mixing up the dirt and planting the seedlings, to watering, harvesting and preparation took away the mystery and put the ability in the children’s hands.”

Parent volunteers make this possible at our school, as they do at schools all throughout the neighborhood. At Walgrove, a handful of dedicated green-thumb parents were not satisfied with the vegetable garden they’ve been helping kids to tend in a back corner of the schoolyard. Read the full article here.

See a video preview of the garden from Mar Vista Patch here.

13000 Venice Boulevard - The Learning Garden

2011-12-23T06:31:00.000-08:00

Enter on Walgrove
See a video preview of the garden on Mar Vista Patch here!
The Learning Garden at Venice High School was established in 2002 by a community wishing to utilize the one acre property on the Venice High campus more fully as a garden.
The Garden flourishes with over sixty fruit trees, a fiber arts garden, Chinese, Ayurvedic and homeopathic medicinal herbs, a tea garden and vegetable gardens. The excess produce is sent every other week to the Westside Food Bank, often times more than fifty pounds in a trip. The focal point of the Garden in late winter/early spring is our drought resistant California Native and succulent garden which is in full bloom.
They use no pesticides or fertilizers and the result is a spectacular array of insects and other life in the Garden. Some of the garden is watered with drip hose, but most is watered by hand. As a teaching institution, part of learning how to care for plants is watering them. There are three or four (depending on the week) different ways of composting in use.
Please note that you enter through the gate on Walgrove.

3518 Federal Avenue

2011-12-23T06:27:00.000-08:00

This is a sustainable garden play yard! The owner designed this garden as an experiment for the modern family. They are developing ideas for families with children that are sustainable and functional. The result is a garden that maximizes the use of all the outdoor spaces for gatherings, parties, and exercise.

In the front lawn, They replaced the grass with artificial turf. On one side of the walkway is a putting green under a 20 foot tall teepee that functions as a jungle gym and, when covered, a fun play zone. On the other side an olive tree provides shade for a giant chess game and solar powered pondless water feature (for safety). On both sides, there are raised vegetable and fruit beds. Attractive low water plants grow along the low fence and on the parkway.

The backyard features a climbing wall, a trampoline and a zip line. Plans are in place for a “tree” house to be designed and built by the owners’ 7 year old.

3635 Grand View Blvd

2011-12-16T09:24:00.000-08:00

This do it yourself garden is practically a farm and a permaculture paradise! Pinwheels, colorful Nepalese flags, solar path lights, wind chimes, trellises, seating areas including tables, chairs and a patio swing, a fire pit, water features (a small pond and watering can fountain) all make the yards more inviting. Enjoy a slide show preview of what you will see here. Honeylove will be a guest presenter at this garden with information about our urban beekeeping initiative.

This homeowner had always wanted a beautiful and inviting yard with bountiful fruit trees, vegetables and flower gardens. The original property, purchased in 1996 was a messy half acre which included a guest house built in 1923 and a ranch style house built in 1964 - shag carpets and all.

The back patio was a sloped cement pad, but it had beautiful palm trees with large aloe vera plants and Birds of Paradise in the front area with a “tropical” feel, a few fruit trees by the guest house and a huge St. Augustine lawn with a working irrigation system. The homeowner planted more fruit trees and enjoyed the lawn until it was destroyed during two years of remodeling. After several failed efforts to restore the lawn, which included Marathon sod and buffalo grass plugs, the irrigation was turned off and the lawn forgotten.

Meanwhile, the homeowner used the Do-It-Yourself approach and improved the yards as time and energy permitted. A level back patio was installed, and a small retaining wall added in front to address the slope of the yard. A broken concrete path led to the front of the house.

When the homeowner’s son, Jesse Dolan, graduated from UC Santa Cruz where he was the assistant manager of the University farm, he helped to create a more viable, sustainable and beautiful outdoor environment. Jesse will be on hand the day of the tour to answer questions.

In March of 2011 he rototilled the large lawn area, laid out footpaths and planting beds and together they started a large organic garden from seeds and a few store bought plants. They also planted flowers and shrubs that enhanced the beauty of the yard, added color and fragrance and attracted bees and butterflies to the property. The first summer brought an abundant harvest of fresh tomatoes, corn, sunflowers, basil, beets, beans and wildflowers.

Dolan also fenced off the orchard area to provide a large free range area for chickens that not only produce fresh eggs daily, but also help provide insect and weed control in that area.

Ice plant and compost help to replenish areas that still show damage from the earlier remodel. Hand watering as needed is now the only source of irrigation.

3527 Kelton Avenue

2011-12-16T08:55:00.000-08:00

A 'before' shot

This is the owner’s first house. When he moved there in 2004, the “garden” was primarily lawn—puntuated, in the backyard, by an unruly, unpruned apple tree. He quickly gave up watering the backyard, but even the small front lawn consumed a vast amount of water and time to keep green. Thanks to the Los Angeles Free Mulch Giveaway program, the owner started getting two truckloads of mulch each year and progressively removed the lawn and amended the rich but hard clay soil we enjoy in Mar Vista.

The owner designed the garden—somewhat chaotically, by trial and error. The backyard is the productive side, with dozens of fruit trees that the owner planted over the first few years and annual vegetable crops.

The backyard demands more water and maintenance, so the front yard had to be less work. Gradually eliminating the lawn over the first three years, the owner planted Mediterranean: lavenders, bay laurel, grasses, succulents and caccti (mostly in pots because of winter rot problems). The owner couldn't resist adding some fruit trees to the frontyard, planting fig, Moro blood orange, Pakistani mulberry and avocado trees. Eliminating the front lawn decreased water usage by half!

The owner hand waters the garden to further check water consumption. Now that the back breaking part is over, he loves reaping the fruit, seeing the seasons change, and observing the wildlife that shares his garden!

3620 Mountain View Avenue

2011-12-15T05:25:00.000-08:00

There are really no words that can express what a special experience this is. Both front and back yards will be open to the tour. This home is on the Mar Vista Historical Tour as one of the earliest homes built in Mar Vista. For fifty five years, the artist who owns this home has collected artifacts and turned this into a virtual museum of Southwestern plants and art. Give yourself extra time to explore and meander here as it takes time to absorb everything – with each step, there is a new discovery. Between hardscape, DG and drought resistant plants, this is the perfect example of just how special it can be to let go of a conventional lawn!

11835 South Park Avenue

2011-12-14T06:55:00.000-08:00

This is a must see for so many reason!

This husband and wife have a design/build business . He is a licensed contractor and she is an architectural designer. They built this house in 2004 but just completed this landscape project in October 2009 – and for those of us who are neighbors, it was a delight to watch!

They wanted a low water consumption landscape as well as edible trees and a vegetable garden. They accomplished all of that and more. The front yard had the best sunlight for this, so their raised garden beds and fruit trees went in the front yard. They have rain barrels, a composter, and a chicken coop with hens that lay 16 eggs a week. All of this is topped off with a life size statue of a cow!

The parkway is a combination of drought resistant plants and succulents in decomposed granite. It will be a treat to watch this as it matures.

They worked in collaboration with Steve Silva of Suburban Design Inc., a landscape design firm, to achieve the outdoor spaces they had always wanted. He was amazing at getting the right gardening soil and picking all the right plants and placing them together in an aesthetic manner.

In addition to their solar pool heater, they are in the process of installing solar panals on the roof. They expect to save $200 a month off their utility bill in addition to money they save on eggs!

2561 Barry Avenue

2011-12-06T18:07:00.000-08:00

Outdoor living space surrounded by a sustainable garden

This sustainable, water-wise garden wraps around the house providing outdoor spaces for lounging, dining and entertaining. Designed by Ania Lejman of ALD Landscape Design/Build and completed in early 2010, it replaced turf with permeable paving of decomposed granite, gravel and Santa Barbara area stone. The garden maximizes outdoor living while minimizing maintenance and upkeep. Barbeques with friends, bird and insect activity, and encounters with friendly neighbors have all increased since completion of the garden makeover. See before shots in this wonderful profile by Lisa Boone in the LA Times Pro Portfolio.

The low-lying front landscape is a mix of drought tolerant native plants and succulents. Small trees retained from the original garden—including a Southwestern native acacia that is home to hummingbirds and finches—provide a canopy of shade. A low stucco wall topped by a wood trellis separates the yard from the street, providing a sense of privacy while still permitting the owner to meet and greet neighbors while lounging on the front patio. The owner has met more neighbors in the past year than in the 15 years before the garden makeover.

A walkway of flagstone and decomposed granite—lined with a sweep of steely-blue Leymus grass and rosemary and anchored with dwarf citrus trees—leads to the backyard. Herbs grow in built in planters conveniently located next to the kitchen door.

In a corner of the backyard, low-voltage lighting highlights the beautiful structure of a 100-year old prolifically fruiting avocado tree. Permeable gravel surrounds the tree. A generously sized corner built-in seating area with a gas-fed cast iron fire bowl make this a cozy space top lounge after an outdoor dinner with friends.

A low-emitter drip system, run once weekly, irrigates the garden. The landscape designer will be available to answer questions during the Tour. Visitors can also see the solar panels and tankless water heater.

3654 Meier Street

2011-12-03T18:07:00.000-08:00

After remodeling their small Mar Vista Home six years ago, these garden enthusiasts decided to dig up the front lawn, which had died due to lack of water. They bought a few drought tolerant plants and planted them helter-skelter in the front yard in the hopes that they would take. Since that time the garden has become a "breath of fresh air". Bees, butterflies and birds visit year round and help pollinate their “favorite place on Earth”.

This past summer, after ceremoniously digging out the last little patch of grass, the homeowners installed a small patch of decomposed granite. After considering an irrigation system, they eventually decided that the joys of hand watering and the pleasure of spending quality time with their plants made irrigation irrelevant. They started raising chickens a year ago, receiving the benefits of both eggs and compost material that was spread liberally in the garden. Their pond recycles the water used and creates a lovely habitat for other creatures. They have a small and large compost area. They are having great fun with the succulents, clipping cuttings and enjoying their growth all year long.

They have an abundance of peaches, plums and grapes in the summer. The homeowners lovingly attend to their plants on a daily basis. Gardening has become not just a hobby, but a meditation and a lifestyle for this couple. Their grown children often comment on the ever-changing landscape that results from this constant attentiveness. These committed, inspired gardeners hope that someday lawnmowers and leaf blowers will become obsolete, and the air will be filled with the “sound of peacefully growing plants”.

13001 Morningside Way

2011-12-01T08:10:00.000-08:00

The homeowner moved onto the property in July 2010. If you have ever encountered that crazy intersection of Morningside Way, Beethoven and Rose Ave, just southwest of the Santa Monica Airport, you know how busy it can get. The front yard consisted of overgrown juniper bushes and lawn. The owner realized that an antidote for the dreary landscape and car traiffic had to be concocted.

Using the permaculture model, he covered the lawn with flattened cardboard boxes, then spread mulch from the ground up with junipers on top. This killed off most of the grass over the next several months while plans percolated for the front yard space.

In early Spring 2011 he built a 3' cinderblock wall around the perimiter and came up with a design for paths and planter beds. Edible Earth Designs in San Francisco executed the plan, created luschous planting beds with compost and mulch. They put in a drip irigation and populted the site with fruit trees, vegetables, herbs, and wild flowers. They followed the permaculture model of planting and creating ground cover throughout the site. Some composting is still taking place on site.

In the middle of construction the homeowner was suddenly inspired to create arbors that would cover part of the walkway and allow for hanging fruit and climbing roses. He put up a tire swing in the parkway to encourage kids & parents to pause and view the garden while walking in the neighborhood.

For the finishing work on two gates, this creative, artistic gardener used recycled materials and plans to continue that aesthetic throughout the property.

Space has been set aside for a pond, sundial and fountain, with 2012 as the target completion date.

Perhaps most immediate impact of this landscaping project was the profound sense of well-being that the homeowner experienced. The garden, which can be viewed from both Rose and Morningside, has become a focus of appreciation by the neighbors. The owner encourages people to help themselves to fruits and vegies, always leaving some for the next person. This aesthetically pleasing, unique and natural-looking front yard has enriched the community through it’s beauty as well as it’s bounty.

A before shot of the property