The 5th Annual Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase

The Mar Vista Community Council invites you to participate in the FREE fifth annual Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase - a citywide Earth Day celebration on Saturday, April 20th, 2013 from 10 am to 4pm.
Start at Showcase Central - 3635 Grand View Blvd and pick up a map.
See the gardens on the tour here. 

    Maps will be published the week before the tour. Use the MAP to plan your own personal 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 gardens with chicken coops. 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. Does your garden qualify? See the Garden Showcase FAQs.

This giant eco-festival is comprised of gardens throughout the Mar Vista community. On the heels of four wildly successful prior tours that topped 2,000 attendees last year, the Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase includes 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. You can use the maps to create your own self-guided walking tours in each of the 6 Mar Vista Community Council zones. 

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 garden enthusiasts from throughout Southern California join our neighbors to celebrate our shared vision for a greener life.

Guest environmental organizations on the tour include HoneyLove.org, Los Angeles County Master Gardeners,The Seed Library of Los Angeles, and  Grow Native Nursery. Landscape designers will be at many gardens to answer questions and share information.

Save the Date! The 6th Annual Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase is April 26, 2014.

Mar Vista can make a difference!

For more information please email gardens@marvista.org

Media is welcome.

3311 Coolidge Avenue - Map 3D

The garden was installed in summer, 2012. The homeowners wanted to make their backyard more attractive and useable so that they would spend more time in the garden. They also wanted to use less water for the plants and this included removing the large lawn from the front. They had a large brick patio that also needed to be redone. 

This garden transformed a flat, water thirsty lawn into a diverse and multifunctional landscape. Berms and swales create interest and retain stormwater in the front. These areas are planted with native and drought tolerant species, selected for seasonal color and habitat value. Herbs, vegetables and fruit trees are planted in the back along with California native specimen plants. Channels were added into new concrete and old brick was removed and replaced with gravel around the pool to permit water infiltration.  The back brick patio was covered with a micro toping and stained to create a cleaner feel.

Drip irrigation installed in the entire landscape reduced their water use despite all the new plants they added. 

Come by to see the garden! Contractor Tom Stout (Stout Landscape Design:Build) or landscape architect Gabrielle Fladd will be availible durng the day to answer questions and will provide a plant list for anyone interested.  

13204 Rose Avenue - Map 6NN

Fresh chili peppers!

All photos by Allison Diamant

These homeowners have always had gardens. In April, 2011, they embarked on a plan to convert their front yard to a vegetable and fruit garden. The journey has been wonderful! 

They constructed the garden boxes for in-ground, raised beds and have been enjoying fresh fruits and vegetables ever since. This project allows them to relish working outdoors, meeting more neighbors and supplying their family and friends with home grown, organic fruits and vegetables.

12545 Barbara Avenue - Map 6H

This garden is just a few years old; a home remodel inspired the change. The homeowners designed and installed it, even building all of the edging and the counter height veggie garden out of steel. 

One fell in love with cacti while living in Arizona; they still have many plants brought from there on the move to Los Angeles. They wanted a garden without grass and watering, so they planted a lot of cacti and covered the ground with rounded stones for better walking. 

They noticed a huge change in their fruit trees when they took out the grass. They've been composting for about 10 years, but taking out the grass made the biggest difference. The lemon tree almost killed it self growing so fast; they couldn’t keep up with the pruning. They have grapefruit, lemons, peaches, and figs growing...and they eat all of them! Their vegetable garden is seasonal; the winter garden has herbs, lettuce, chard and broccoli growing, which they water by hand.

The children miss the grass, but they love to pick dinner from the garden and show off their night flowering cacti! They look forward to sharing their ideas with the Mar Vista Community; They love living here and have seen a lot of changes since they arrived in 1995.

3247 Granville Avenue - Map 3H

 

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 California 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%.

3460 Greenwood Avenue - Map 6T

These homeowners enjoy decorating and design and really had a good time working on fixing up their home. They saved the landscaping for last and were surprised that it was a bit more challenging than they originally thought it would be. They wanted to go for a look that was clean, neat and balanced - one that complemented the home and did not require too much water. 

They spent a lot of time working on the design, the layout, and the plant selection.  Enlisting the help of family and friends, they were able to complete the project in a reasonable amount of time and with a reasonable amount of money. 

They are very pleased with the results! Come and see why.

3630 Wade Street - Map 6SS

There was a major house fire in 2010. All the burnt debris from the front of the house was dumped onto the front lawn area that night. They homeowners had talked about eliminating the front lawn before and decided to use the clean up after the fire to do just that. 

Right now, the cardboard flat mulch is in its second year. They are also starting to add some drought tolerant plants into the mix around the fringe of the old lawn area along with existing plants and trees they love: a 30+year old pink hibiscus; some star jasmine; dark blue agapanthus; king and queen palms; kaffir lime and blood orange citrus; various grasses; sage; giant bird of paradise and bird of paradise. Solar pathway lights sprinkled throughout add a soft glow at night. 

Rain chains off they deck and rain barrels in the side yard capture rain water.

3823 Beethoven Street - Map 6K

This homeowner is a set designer for film and very knowledgeable regarding all types of design - including landscape. The front garden is transformed from crab grass into a living oasis.

The garden is a wonderful mixture of native California drought tolerant plants combined with some desert species and a few tropical – a blend of California deserts and lush coastal flora.

With no regular lawn, the garden is drought tolerant it needs very little watering - about twice a week in the summer, not at all in the winter.

There are many varieties of succulents, a beautiful pencil tree, brugmansia, Abyssinian red banana, giant bird of paradise, yucca, Egyptian papyrus, various cacti and fan palms. 

The owners do everything themselves and all by hand - no leaf blowers or any gas or electric powered tools –

3967 Coolidge Avenue - Map 5A

Volunteers from the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Foundation completed this demonstration rain garden just in time for the 2012 Showcase

Come see how it's grown!

The owner's are very grateful to SMBRF for their work protecting our watershed and for putting a demonstration garden in Mar Vista. Stop by to learn about opportunities for involvement – this garden was done entirely by volunteers – putting people in touch with their watershed by inviting them into the process.

This garden absorbs rainwater, prevent flooding and pollution, provides shade, and creates a habitat for butterflies and birds. Rain gardens are not yet plentiful and the owners are incredibly excited to share this one with visitors on the tour. 

What qualifies it as a rain garden?
A rain garden is a garden of native perennials, shrubs and small trees planted in a small depression designed to temporarily hold and soak in rainwater runoff that flows from impervious surfaces such as roofs, driveways, walkways and compacted lawn areas. Basically a rain garden receives rainwater channeled via gutters and connected pipes, allowing the rainwater to soak into the ground, as opposed to flowing into storm drains. Compared to conventional lawns, rain gardens allow for 30% more water to soak into the ground. Most rain gardens are built to hold a 1" rain event.

Every time it rains, the water runoff from impervious surfaces collects pollutants such as particles of dirt, fertilizers, chemicals, oils, garbage and bacteria along the way. The pollutant-laden rainwater enters the storm drain untreated.  Storm water runoff accounts for 70% of all the water pollution nationwide. Rain gardens collect rainwater runoff allowing water to be filtered by vegetation. A rain garden retains water just long enough to percolate into the soil where the plants and soil microorganisms breakdown and remove the pollutants. By keeping the water onsite and preventing it from flowing onto impervious surfaces, a rain garden lessens the amount of contaminated water entering storm drains.

Native plants are recommended for rain gardens because they have adapted to Southern California's dry conditions. Native plants attract birds, bees, wildlife and beneficial insects that have evolved alongside these plants. In keeping with the idea of improving water quality, they do not require fertilizers. A rain garden using selected plants native to the region requires little watering once it's established. The plants are selected with large root structures to allow runoff to soak into the ground. Water that makes it past the roots moves through filtering soil layers before entering the groundwater system. Rocks may be strategically placed so that storm water runoff is slowed, allowing for better absorption and preventing erosion.

In summary, a rain garden:

• Attracts a diversity birds, bees, and beneficial insects.
• Protects oceans land-based runoff pollution.
• Provides an attractive alternative to a traditional lawn.
• Doesn't need mowing or fertilizer as with traditional lawn.
• Requires little watering after plants are established; 60% to 70% of drinking water is used for conventional landscaping.
• Saves money that would be spent on irrigation. 

Bay Restoration Foundation, stewards of Santa Monica Bay, will be guest presenters at this garden.

3783 Redwood Ave - Map 6LL

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.

The homeowners hired help to remove the grass and lay the stepping 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, the #1 cause of ocean pollution in Los Angeles.

3766 Ashwood Avenue - Map 6F

All photos by John Bonny

Contemporary Craftsman meets drought tolerance

The facade of this Ashwood residence was re-designed to resemble a Contemporary Craftsmen home and the garden objective was to be drought tolerant. What is the inspiration? The Midwest and Concord grape vines. When Grandfather Dominic immigrated from Italy to his 15 acre farm in Mineral Point Wisconsin, he brought along with him Concord grape vine seeds. The homeowners wanted to remember him along with all those great farm memories and especially capture the way those sweet grapes tasted in the fall.

When they moved from the MIdwest to California 8 years ago, they were absolutely struck by the beautiful blue color, structure and texture of Agaves… and olives became favorite trees. They love shades of greys, dark greens and grey blues. 

Chondrapetalum line the parkway to screen out the view of parked cars and to help minimize foot traffic from the school nearby, while fragrant and edible Rosemary prostrata disguise the raised cinderblock wall. The color of the cut Bluestone walkway compliments the Agave and directs you to the contemporary board formed concrete porch. Large irregular flagstones lead you on a path past black Aoneum and through grey textured patches of Santolina and Lambs Ear towards the grape vines. 

The hummingbirds go crazy for the Aloe and their deep orange blooms! The perspective of this garden was designed to be viewed from sitting on the front porch as well as from inside the house, inviting the outdoors indoor. 

Landscape designer John Bonny (www.cultivategardendesign.com) will be available for questions on the day of the tour. 

3400 Stoner Avenue - Map 3Q

All photos by Rhonda Lawrence

When the homeowners purchased this home in March, 2012, the overgrown Pride of Madeira plants in the front yard had become trees, creating a dark and scary little forest. A very tall ficus hedge planted next to the sidewalk blocked the front yard, creating a hiding place that the neighbors disliked. After completing remodeling projects inside the house in late summer, 2012, work began on the yards. 

The homeowners wanted to create a silver-green, white, purple and yellow palette on the south side of the driveway that would be drought-tolerant, fragrant and offer a variety of garden experiences that would enhance the modern Southwest style home. They ripped out small areas of grass on either side of the driveway, re-did the path to the south side gate using decomposed granite, and spent hours online researching drought-tolerant plants, blooming perennials and dwarf size plants that would work in the small front yard. 

The non fruit-bearing Mount Wilson Olive tree went in first, establishing a focal point surrounded by prolific white iceberg rose bushes, lavender, rosemary and sea lavender. Perennial dwarf grasses and succulents line the path opposite the olive tree. They removed most of the Madeira bushes, leaving just a few after drastic pruning. 

The paths on either side of the house are decomposed granite, which offers the advantage of being water permeable without requiring watering or creating the mess that regular dirt would. They also installed larger downspouts that drain directly into new drains around the sides and back of the house to control the runoff and prevent further water damage to a back bedroom.

The yard is irrigated twice per week; they hope to reduce watering to weekly once the plants have acclimated. 

The garden is a work-in-progress. There's still much to do but they're having fun!

1352 Palms Boulevard - Map 6II

These homeowners requested three things for their garden: a circular driveway, low water use plantings and an olive tree. Designer Ralph Robinson used groupings of Agave Americanas and Agave Attenuatas set in drifts or Artemisia to give the semi-formal architecture a sense of timelessness.

The home is light blue in color and, with all of the blues and grays for the drought tolerant plantings used in the garden, he wanted to off set them with plantings of bright orange Kangaroo Paws.

The circular driveway is made of interlocking paves set in sand which allows rainwater to percolate into the soil, lessening the need to irrigate the garden.


There are two additional structures on the property that needed separate gardens. The designer used decomposed granite in the rear garden and set pavers for the patio in sand with pebbles in between. Using the porous hardscape materials allows rainwater and any stray irrigation water to soak into the surrounding beds.

This garden is Mar Vista adjacent.

3632 Moore Street - Map 6CC

A garden developing in the rhythm of time

The homeowners bought this property 22 years ago and since then the garden has changed substantially in a gradual and natural way. Having moved here from Italy – where one grew up in a hillside landscape that is a beautiful integration of small scale agriculture, wilderness and old buildings – they wanted to recreate some of the emotions emanating from that kind of surroundings.

Their garden required almost no budget and no major reworking of the land. They allowed nature to work for them when possible, instead of fighting against it. It is very low maintenance, no chemicals ever, and uses very little water. 

They didn’t begin with a major plan but paid attention and put thought into it, adding new plants once in a while to see how they would grow and interact.

They think a bit of magic happens when the human touch intervenes into nature to the right degree, without forcing it too much, in admiration of the various stages of its development. 

Come see the lovely result! Paola Barcaccia, a family friend specialized in sustainable gardening, will be on site to answer any questions.

3539 Greenwood Avenue - Map 6U

This property - including the hardscape and landscaping - was thoroughly remodeled 2007. The original front yard was an abandoned grass patch with 2 wonderful trees: a Japanese plum and a Maelaluca. The goal was to create an inviting PRIVATE and USABLE FRONT YARD to be enjoyed for morning coffee, reading and lounging in the sun WHILE  avoiding any construction debris to be carted out to landfills as well as preserving TREES AND EXISTING PLANTS.

The original Japanese red plum tree became the central feature of the yard. The original front door and the entrance steps to the gallery were removed and relocated to allow this tree to remain in its original location. The new yard is built around this magnificent tree; the house and French doors arere painted in the colors of its leaves and trunk.

The garden palette is dark, light and blue greens, punctuated by occasionally flowering irises and two original rose bushes that were preserved. The choice was to limit the plant species to tall New Zealand grasses, Siberian irises and succulents, as well as including areas of gravel and poured-in-place concrete pavers, to reduce the need of watering. The installation of a large TREX deck as continuation of the original narrow front porch allows for outdoor seating

Green rolling hills were built with construction debris and dirt excavated for new foundations, providing privacy and noise reduction from the street, most plants were recycled from existing back and side yards or donated from other properties. As they grew and multiplied, they were moved to  fill in spaces to create the existing lush green barrier.

The front yard is open and has no fence, except for the front and side gates. The hills and  strategically placed grasses and succulents not only offer privacy, but effectively create barriers against dogs entering front yard in a area where dog walking is unusually popular.

The original concrete driveway is now cut up into pavers with a 3" separation allowing for the rainwater to seep into the ground. Both concrete side yards were demolished and replaced by Trex decking on the South side and gravel on the North side, allowing surface rain water to seep into a French drain system that transports it into the street to avoid flooding.

There's a drip hose watering system for the large grasses, and a sprinkler system for the grass areas. The system was proved redundant once the plants were established; it's never used between November and  March, since the large grasses and the Maeleluca tree  provide shade to the grass. During the summer months, the system works only for 3-5 minutes twice a week at 4 a.m.

Landscape designer Gabriela Frers will be at the garden.

3512 Butler Avenue - Map 4D

The homeowners brought in landscape designer Lauri Burrier to replace their small, monochromatic front lawn with a range of water-wise plants that provide flowers and seasonal color. Finding plants that meet that description and that thrive in clay soil is one of the big landscaping challenges for Southern Californians.

Before landscaping

Another fun challenge with their front yard was to transform a small area dominated by straight lines – sidewalk, front walk and driveway – into an area that celebrates organic shapes and provides a more boundless use and sense of space. Medium sized boulders were chosen to anchor in nature’s shapes with their inherent volume and provide new focal points to design around. This also worked to shift the prominence of the borders into the background.

The addition of a simple board fence in keeping with the mid-century modern style of the house lent the previously exposed yard a sense of privacy or shelter as well as a visual invitation to see what’s growing on the other side. The Acacia stenophylla tree brings in another element of height and volume while adding to the sheltering nature of the new fence. This good-sized tree, also known as the Shoestring Acacia, doesn’t crowd the space thanks to its airy tendrils and arching growth habit.

The number of hummingbirds has increased dramatically, drawn by the many new plants including the Cuphea ‘David Verity,’ Anigozanthos or Kangaroo Paws and the Penstemon, which are the perfect offering. 

The homeowners love color and design in their garden and now greatly appreciates the new use of space in the front garden. Their water usage has decreased 25% since making the change to just the front section of their landscape.

12425 Appleton Way - Map 6B

This mostly-CA native garden was installed in November 2012, soon after the owners moved in, so everything is young and small-ish. They'd left a big do-it-yourself garden where they experimented with EVERYTHING and made every mistake. In this smaller space, they wanted a more organized look and easier maintenance with drought-tolerant, wildlife-friendly, flowering and fragrant plants.  

They took out the lawns front and back. The yard is dominated by a huge tree (cedar?) with a rope swing that apparently has been part of the neighborhood for years. The tree and swing had to stay!  

They enlisted the help of landscape designer Mary Sager McFadden, who developed a plan with just the right combination of continuity and informality. Victor Barrios and his crew at Barrios Maintenance handled installation of plants and irrigation. 

One of Mary’s brilliant ideas was to extend the plantings into the parkway. The effect is very pleasing! The result is a combination of foundation shrubs, including toyon and Ray Hartman ceanothus, a stone path, meadow area with California fescue, carex, and a sprinkling of salvia, buckwheat and grasses, and another section with manzanita ground cover. There are two western redbud trees and a desert willow, but they don’t look like much—yet! 

The garden includes a few volunteers: sweet peas from who knows where and a mystery vine that was a mystery no more when someone asked if the owners had by any chance carved their pumpkins in that corner of the yard.

3600 Meier Street - Map 6Z

This garden was installed in 2007 after a complete home remodel. The homeowners decided to forgo turf and plant drought-resistant plants throughout the front yard. Their goal was to create a natural environment that would encourage local wildlife, and to have an ever-changing “show” throughout the year.

With the help of a friend (Hilary Fonda Webb, owner of Bella GardensDesigns) they chose a variety of plants that would bloom at different times and provide constant change as they moved through the seasons. It was important to them to choose plants that encouraged native butterflies and birds to visit on a regular basis. 

Despite the fact that the garden is in the front, it provides a feeling of tranquility and it is one of their favorite places to sit.