The 4th Annual Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase

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 on the tour here. We have 50 NEW gardens this year! Use the  labels on the side bar to preview the gardens by areas of special interest.

    Use this MAP to plan your own personal tour. 

      Print out the map for each of the six tours - 

          Map 1, Map 2, Map 3, Map 4, Map 5, Map 6

Maps will be available at these 9 gardens the day of the tour. Here are some tips to use the bus and your bike to take the tour!

The tour showcases drought-resistant landscapes and edible gardens with sustainability features ranging from composting techniques to water capture practices. Urban farms range from aquaponic farming to 6 gardens with 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 is comprised of 90 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 HoneyLove.org, Los Angeles County Master Gardeners,The Seed Library of Los Angeles, Open Neighborhoods on solar and  Grow Native Nursery. 26 Landscape designers will be at gardens to answer questions and share information.

Mar Vista can make a difference!

For more information please email gardens@marvista.org

Media is welcome.

3635 Grand View Blvd - Map 4E - Showcase Central!

Learn about their chickens in this video!

Showcase Central - you can pick up maps here, sign up for notification for next years tour and get tips for taking the tour!


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 property 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. Broken concrete creates pathways in the front and back 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. In March of 2011 Jesse 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.

Jesse 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.


Ron Mulick from Solartronics will also be on hand to answer questions about their solar installation. 


Learn a little about the history of this block here.

12579 Westminster Avenue -Map 6LL

This homeowner is the owner of Gardenerd and will be available to answer questions about vegetable gardening and composting.  They just added a few chickens to their urban homestead and will be sharing their experiences with tour goers! Here is a video preview of some of the tips they will share and a video preview with David Walrod of Urban Dirt!

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

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

They have a sprinkler system that runs on a timer in zones. With the clay soil and 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 a master!

3710 Mountain View Avenue - Map 4I

The front garden, once mere sloping suburban lawn

Terrace garden set under two Pittopsorum trees planted in 1951

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

This garden is the summation of twenty years lived in one place, and reflects the changing inspirations of the 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 where building and architecture become one - hedges are walls, trees are columns, paving stones are floors, and tree canopies are ceilings. Enjoy this 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 the gardens of England (Hidcote), Italy, Japan, and most recently, Spain. Each room is animated by the sounds of water, and each has a distinct planting scheme.  The "keyhole" shape of the rear garden creates what is known as a “false perspective", enhancing the illusion of depth.  The front garden, influenced by the gardens of Japan, is also focused on a circular fountain, and is surrounded by shrubs that 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 pergola was built from columns found in the trash in Silver Lake. And the twin "follies" are used as a nursery and their translucent roofs become lanterns at night. And the frogs spit!

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

Overview looking towards house

3464 Grand View Boulevard - Map 3F

A Surfrider-LA Chapter OFG rep and an APLD-LA District rep will be tabling at this Ocean Friendly Gardens, pointing out how they apply the OFG principles of CPR (Conservation, Permeability & Retention).


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

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

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

A gravel parkway and a washed concrete surface replaces the old driveway; a series of planting strips intersect it, 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 olive tree and is bordered by a low berm topped with a mix of drought tolerant California 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 transition from the strong lines of the two-story house to the increasingly organic forms of the garden beyond. A meadow-like expanse of California Dune Sedge (Carex pansa) adjoins the shady understory of a mature Chinese Elm; it features a mix of California natives and a sunny perennial border backed by flowering shrubs and ornamental grasses. Beyond this lies the “working” garden of fruit trees and vegetables that includes a storage shed, potting bench, and compost area.

Replacing the outmoded and inefficient sprinklers, state of the art drip technology coupled with a new smart controller will help realize water savings as well as the peace of mind that comes with a fully automated, self regulating system.

Landscaper Ted Vorster will be on hand to answer your questions.

3214 Malcolm Avenue - Map 1D

The homeowners designed this garden after 2 years ago after building the house. They were very concerned about saving water; the desire for no grass, low maintenance and low water drove plant choices. Drought tolerant Australian and African species were also an inspiration. They selected lots of succulents and cacti, added some sedum ground cover and various interesting trees. A drip system provides irrigation.

In the blooming season, the garden is vibrant. The owners love the sound of the gravel under their feet when they walk around and inspect the plants. They love picking fresh leaves from the verbena shrub to infuse into an herb tea to sip while sitting in the corner of the garden in pure contemplation.

2556 Granville Avenue - Map 2I

This stop is open to showcase their backyard only - well worth the stop to see what you would never suspect was there from the street!

This garden was redesigned completely following a remodel in 1994, when they turned the corner of their triangular lot into a triangular garage - the only way to save the beautiful old avocado tree that anchors the yard. It has been a work in progress since then. Thomas Bloch, the owner, has been the designer as well as the builder in all cases.

Their goal for the garden was to make it a refuge/oasis, while working within the restrictions of the existing hardscape: the brick patio, the brick oven that backs up to the fireplace inside, and the somewhat unusual shape of the lot. Existing trees included the avocado, a row of large ficus along the fence that borders the alley behind them, and an old camellia the size of a tree. And even though the garden is not large, they wanted distinct areas, each with its own feeling and unique vistas. They also wanted a largely drought-tolerant garden, someplace to grow vegetables, and a garden shed to store tools and garden supplies.

The "rooms" in the garden include their gazebo, the raised wooden deck, and the patio. Near the deck they installed a small fountain in the shape of a cube. The garden shed, designed around 4x8 plywood, was custom built. A brick path winds past the avocado tree to join the patio and the garage. The table - a focus for many summer dinners and brunches - is in the gazebo, with other seating options placed strategically on deck and patio. In addition to the garden itself, Thomas designed and built the two redwood benches (as well as the deck and the garden shed).

They love the way different shades of green play off one another and other colors. They chose New Zealand flax and blue fescues to shape the garden, with a accent plants including euonymous, palm, heavenly bamboo, bay, rosemary, rose, and other herbs. Two barrel cactuses round things out. On the patio, large white planters hold colorful kalanchoes. And the raised beds currently have a newly-planted pomegranate tree, as well as a host of seasonal vegetables and flowers: fava beans, beets, lettuces, pansies, garlic, and more. Every spring they host mockingbirds, who nest on the property, and throughout the year various birds and butterflies visit. (The former resident squirrel was asked to leave when he started to chew out chunks of our cushions for a nest.)

Their garden has indeed become the refuge we planned and hoped for. Spending time in it is a way to recharge, to relax, and to reconnect with nature.

3417 Cabrillo Blvd - Map 6H

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

The owners bought their home in 2006 and wanted to create a low maintenance front yard with a natural and woodsy feel.  The use of natural and organic materials was very important to their plan.  The have pebbles and boulders from Indonesia mixed into the landscape with recycled furniture from their far-flung travels to complete the idyllic feel.

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

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

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

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

4060 East Boulevard - Map 5E

a family of itty bitty fish...the liquid fertilizer machines! 

This location is home to the birthplace of EVOFarm, likely the only commercial farm in West LA. Using a method of intensive, sustainable food production called Aquaponics, it is able to grow more food per square foot than any other method, while also being the most water efficient. LA Food Policy Council will be a guest presenter at this garden as well. Councilman Bill Rosendahl previewed EvoFarm - see the video! Read more about EVOFarm in this recent article and this one in the LA Times.

Aquaponics is the merging of hydroponics (soilless food production) and aquaculture (fish farming). Simply put, the fish (which can be edible varieties) provide the fertilizer for the plants while the plants filter the water for the fish. It’s a symbiotic relationship that demonstrates biomimicry in its truest form.

A typically aquaponics system uses 90% less water than conventional farms. But EVO Farm pushed further to rely on rainwater catchment to provide all of the needs for the fish and plants. Not only does the system have zero impact on water usage, but it also exceeds organic standards. With an emphasis on heirloom varieties, EVO Farm grows some 40 varieties of lettuces alone, plus kale, bok choi, leeks, tomatoes, herbs, peppers, celery, mustard greens, cress, and more.

To further lessen its impact, EVO Farm turns all of its waste streams into opportunity. Anything that is not directly consumed is composted to generate worm castings, which can be reintegrated to the system in the form of tea. Another compost pile is harnessing the power of biodegeneration to help regulate water temperature by transferring heat from the pile to the aquapoincs system.

EVO Farm sells its food through a CSA on a limited basis to the local community and will be expanding its shares when its’ new locations come online in 2012.


This garden will also have copies of the printed maps on hand.

3508 Butler Avenue - Map 4B

Come sit on the porch…and learn the benefits of getting rid of the lawn

These owners wanted a front porch where they could relax with the kids and visit with friends. They also wanted to get rid of the front yard lawn, replacing it with a garden that reduced their water usage but was still interesting, with plenty of color to attract wildlife.

In fall of 2010, they asked Heather Trilling (Trilling Landscape Design) to come up with a family friendly, water wise design. They replaced the old lawn with a drought resistant garden and Del Rio washed gravel path, installed a low stucco sitting wall and landscape lighting, and resurfaced the porch with flagstone.

The low maintenance garden combines California-friendly plants with small boulders for playing or sitting. Trilling used succulent plants such echeverias, aeoniums, agave, and protea, along with phormiums, lavenders, and echium (Pride of Madeira) to create an inviting and colorful garden for this family. There is year round color and blooms with lots of textures. The garden attracts birds, butterflies, and hummingbirds for all to enjoy.

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

Bark mulch and individual emitters for each plant reduce weeding and water use. Water-wise-targeted drippers, located at each root, water for 20 minutes once a week. Little to no irrigation is needed in winter.

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

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

3983 East Boulevard - UP House - Map 5D

Urban Permaculture House

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

Local organic food sourcing

They are learning to grow as much food as is ecologically sustainable on their large suburban plot of land while also supporting local organic food initiatives in our 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, distribution and 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 an efficient green house system, chickens, bees, aquaponics, and vending value-added products from our urban farm at the MV Farmer’s Market.

Intentional Community

These householders are highly involved with volunteer and activism in the realms of health, art and sustainability. Many members of the 11-member community are founders of, or highly involved in some of the most active and productive philanthropies in LA.

To name a few: 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.

Label GMO's will be a guest presenter at this garden

Health and Sustainability Efforts

• Six of the eleven members do not own cars and a seventh commutes to work by bike every day.
• Converting the front yard into a cityrepair.org style public space project with a COB bench, an activities/events kiosk, a community garden and an herb spiral.
• Built an outdoor kitchen and an amphitheatre out of re-purposed materials to host gatherings, potluck events and workshops.

Learn more. Check out their facebook page!

3904 Michael Avenue - Map 6N

When these homeowners go into their garden, it's not just a place to look at pretty plants… it's to create an actual adrenaline rush.  Their backyard is a true sportman's destination that includes a regulation size half-pipe skateboard ramp, firepit, raised veggie bed, dry dock for their ocean-worthy catamaran, outdoor shower for after surfing and a large communal table and grill for entertaining friends who come by the beach almost every weekend.  

So for this couple, a traditional lawn bordered with water thirsty plants was definitely out of the question.  After turning off the water and letting the lawn die, in the fall of 2010 they hired landscape designer Joel Lichtenwalter of Grow Outdoor Design to help create a mostly CA native and Mediterranean landscape that is a feast for the senses:  including the scents, colors and textures of their adopted home.  In place of the lawn, the ground is a pattern of large expanses of DG (decomposed granite), modern square concrete pavers and shredded bark mulch which nourishes the soil.  The vegetation includes CA native salvia clevelandii, manzanitas, leymus and deergrasses, ceanothus and a fast-growing native Sycamore tree.  Mediterranean plants include colorful leucadendrons, Euphorbias, agaves and a bronze-red Dodonaea border along the perimeter.  An existing pomegranate tree and new raised veggie beds and citrus trees make eating locally really mean local. 

The next spring the designer tackled the front yard, again removing the dead lawn and replacing it with a geometric path to the front door using square concrete pavers.  Along the journey, one encounters more native grasses, salvias, avocado and camphor trees, golden sedums border the pavers, cistus, ceanothus and the native coyote brush groundcover are quickly covering the shredded bark mulch.  The parkways are planted with more sycamores, avocados and ceanothus.  The landscaping is a perfect synthesis of homeowner and location.  When they walk into their yard, they truly feel alive.

Joel Lichtenwalter of  Grow Outdoor Design will be at the garden the day of the tour. A Surfrider-LA Chapter OFG rep and an APLD-LA District rep will be tabling at this Ocean Friendly Gardens, pointing out how they apply the OFG principles of CPR (Conservation, Permeability & Retention).

2571 Armacost Avenue - Map 2C

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

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

Many butterflies and hummingbirds frequent the garden. Birds love the fountains. The garden also attracts small children who like to play with the stones.

An automatic sprinkler system waters the plants twice weekly using a minimal amount of water. The house has solar panels. Two barrels collect rainwater in the 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. The backyard will be open if fill-in landscaping currently underway is completed in time.

Their solar installer - Solar Forward – will be on hand to answer questions as well! They had it installed in 2006 and in the summer months have no electrical bill except for the "required" minimum charge for DWP hook up.  Under a new system with DWP, they get credit for energy that goes back into the grid when they are producing more solar energy than they can use which is  then applied in the months when they do need it.