What's an Ocean Friendly Garden?

Surfrider will be our guest at the MVCC Green Booth on April 11th to share news about their Ocean Friendly Gardens Program! Several of the gardens on our tour were inspired by taking this class. Stop by to see demos on storm water runoff and how to determine your soil type – and to learn how to create a “soil party’ in your garden!

Learn about their next Basics Class and their Garden Assistance Program. You’ll see a great example of that on the garden tour – they are converting a garden at 11409 Charnock Road that will have all of the CPR elements that they teach about --- Conservation, Permeability, and Retention, all essential to sustainable landscaping.

Surfrider initiated the Ocean Friendly Gardens Program (OFG) to help its members and the general public take some steps at their own homes to clean and prevent pollution reaching the ocean and start to restore urban watersheds. Water leaving residential and other developed sites can carry away and/or pick up pollutants on its journey to the ocean. This urban runoff has become the #1 source of ocean pollution. Surfrider’s OFG Program is committed to educating and activating people to create cleaner surf.

Surfrider’s OFG Program teaches participants principles of “applying CPR to the garden” (Conservation, Permeability and Retention). It means conserving valuable resources with native plants, restoring healthy soil and utilizing permeable groundcovers, and installing water retention features – all ways to prevent urban runoff, while also creating wildlife habitat and beautiful spaces.

Electric Bikes - fast, clean, healthy and fun!

Our guest at the Green Booth this Sunday April 4th will be eBikeLikeMe.com. They are a group of regular people that dislike traffic, loathe giving half their paychecks to the car and gas companies and also see an urgent need to start addressing the devastation to our environment and our health from sources like car pollution. They will share how electric bikes can help each and every one of us make a difference.

Their mission is to get from point A to point B faster, cleaner, cheaper, healthier and do it with a smile. Is it really true that the distances we travel are too far to use any other means than our cars? eBikeLikeMe.com will demonstrate how you can get door to door within a 5 mile radius as fast as a car and faster than public transportation.

Stop by the booth to learn more from them while you check out the cool e-bikes that they brought along!

3389 Halderman Street (Map 5 - R)

New Garden on the 2010 tour! Click here to see the gardens that will open for the tour.

The Silver Sheen is their favorite planting, they love the way it moves in the wind and the incredible color that changes throughout the day.

This garden is a collage of both drought resistant and California native plants. In front, there is blue oat grass, fruitless olive trees, reed grass and various agaves. In back it’s silver sheen pittisporum, black bamboo and flowering acacias.

Irrigation is a mix of hand watering, sprinklers and drip and requires no irrigation at all from November to April.

12112 Marine Street (Map 3 - E)

New Garden on the 2010 tour! Click here to see the gardens that will open for the tour.

They wanted an edible garden, fruit trees, vegetables and herbs for cooking. They wanted to create a Zen space in a busy city – with privacy and a division from public space, but without a fence. They wanted to impart the knowledge to their children of how to grow their own food – the process it entails – and to have appreciation for nature and a greener future. To have them learn that a lettuce does not need to be on a truck for a week before it arrives at the dinner table – that it can be picked 15 minutes before they eat, right from their own garden. They grew up in Europe and have fond memories of helping their parents in the garden – planting fruits and vegetables, growing and tending to the herb garden and then cooking amazing, fresh and wonderful tasting dinners. They wanted to create that here.

Enjoy visiting their wonderful spiral shaped herb garden where they grow rosemary, sage, lavender, parsley, cilantro, chives, African basil, oregano, timian, lemon balm, majoram, savory and geranium!

They also have lemon, orange and loquat trees in front. In the back is their vegetable garden, a fig tree and a bamboo privacy screen.

Make sure you notice the materials that they reused when they created the garden and learn about their drip irrigation and composting.

Alternative Insulations & Weatherization Advantages

Join us on March 21st 2010 at the MVCC Green booth and meet Modaa Inc. - learn how to save energy costs by going BLUE. They will have samples of various sustainable insulations within the alternative building industry and information on current and proposed tax credits for weatherizing our living and working spaces. Stop by and pick their brains and get answers to FAQ’s about the most beneficial insulation options that will save money while conserving energy and helping the planet!

Modaa Inc. is a proud and proactive supporter of the ongoing sustainability initiative thru the USGBC, LEED certification and community involvement. Their team is keen on gaining the latest knowledge and educating their clients with ways they can improve their living environments and ultimately, lifestyles.

3238 Corinth Avenue (Map 4 - L)

New Garden on the 2010 tour! Click here to see the gardens that will open for the tour.

This garden was designed by Justin Winston who is particularly interested in designing drought tolerant gardens featuring native plants and will be on hand to answer questions the day of the tour. It was installed by Pacific View Landscape just three months ago.

The gardens (front and back) are drought resistant, as are the lawns. They planted Eureka Hard Fescue and overseeded with Pipolina Microclover that acts as a natural fertilizer.

There are also four dwarf fruit trees in the back (naval orange, meyer lemon, avocado and apple) and two raised areas for vegetables, as yet unplanted.

There is a newly installed sprinkler system. With the recent rains, the plants have not needed irrigation at all and the lawns were watered only because they were newly seeded.

13056 Rose Avenue (Map 5 - W)

New Garden on the 2010 tour! Click here to see the gardens that will open for the tour.

The design focus was on creating a painterly effect with different leaf colors and seasonal change while staying mindful of the environment we live in. All plants were chosen for there ability to survive without too much water.

They worked closely with Grow Garden Design to create a garden that complimented their newly remodeled home. The front garden was designed and installed 4 years ago; the back yard was completed 2 years later. The garden is designed to save tons of water as they removed all of the grass and any thirsty plants. The group of acer palmatum sango kaku in the front has to be their favorite - the way the coral colored bark catches the light late afternoon is magnificent. The garden attracts tons of Hummingbirds due to the Australian native anigozanthos. They use a traditional sprinkler system set to come on once per week for a good deep soak.

3147 Mountain View Avenue (Map 3 - D)

New Garden on the 2010 tour! Click here to see the gardens that will open for the tour.

This is an exciting opportunity to learn about what a true Southern California lawn is – a native turf that needs minimal water!

This is a plant collectors garden with a drought tolerant parkway, an establishing California native lawn of Carex praegracilis, and a mixed perennial bed in the front yard.

The entire garden receives no water during the rainy season. During the dry months the parkway is spot watered once every three weeks, allowing most of the plants to go through their summer dormancy. The Carex lawn is currently watered once a week in the summer in order for it to establish. Once it has a firm hold in the garden it will only receive supplemental summer water once or twice a month to keep it green, none if we decide to let it go completely summer dormant. The perennial bed receives water once every two weeks in the summer months, with some additional water if temperatures are high.

The inspiration for this garden comes from an appreciation and understanding of the seasonal nature of California’s Mediterranean climate, and the concept of “right plant for the right place.” Many of the plants in this garden are not considered drought tolerant, but they are sited and established in such a way that they require remarkably less water. Something to consider when viewing this plant collector’s garden, is that the garden is static and ever-changing. Plants are removed, moved, and introduced on the whim of the owner to make room for more unusual, rare, or simply loved plant specimens. Many of the plants were obtained from botanic gardens and various rare plant nurseries.

The garden was started 5 years ago, and was originally planted to mimic a classic English garden. Needless to say, it was not a success and 95% of that plant material was removed. Since then, this plant collector’s garden can be viewed as an informal trial garden of sorts. Plants are obtained, bought and planted either by necessity to fill a space, or on a whim. The garden has changed drastically over the years to appreciate a Southern Californian climate and the amount of diversity it allows in the plant material used. More plants were died in the development of this garden than ever survived…..a sort of morbid trial and error.

Only sweat, a little blood, and hand tools are used in this garden.

11411 Charnock Road (Map 2 - A)

New Garden on the 2010 tour! Click here to see the gardens that will open for the tour.

What a treat - Pamela Berstler of G3 and Flower to the People, lives next door and helped design the garden. Her nephew even helped take out the grass. Ah, the benefits of a community!


This garden is drought resistant with a few California natives. They love the ground cover that blooms a very bright yellow. Pamela will be on hand the day of the tour to answer questions. Many of the succulents had been raised and saved for years. They water only once a week at the most, and only for five minutes. The garden has attracted more butterflies, birds bees and hummingbirds.

3765 Wade Street (Map 6 - J)

There is an important message in this garden about community. Stop by and enjoy the pink bench! It’s a wonderful place to sit and enjoy the day and from which to visit with passers by. The garden has been a wonderful source of peace and joy. Passersby also enjoy it – which delights them! People stop and sit on the bench or take pictures of their kids, or just stop to enjoy the butterflies. It’s a way of getting back to the day when people sat out and visited on their front porches. Doesn’t it make sense for the space in front of our homes to be something more than lawn that we just pass by?

The garden is a mix of drought tolerant plants with various cooking herbs stuck here and there. Plants have been allowed to seed and spread with minimal efforts to ‘manicure’. Something is always blooming and surprising the owner. The garden is regularly visited by honey bees, hummingbirds, butterflies, dragonflies and the occasional lizard.

Watering is done by hand. During the dry season, they water once or twice a week. During the rainy season, they don’t need to water at all. Long ago, when there was a lawn, it seemed they were watering constantly – especially in the summer.

Their first effort was to plant the strip between the street & sidewalk. It used to be grass and always looked awful. They saw something in Sunset Magazine and decided to give it a try - initially planting guara, lavender, yarrow and catmint. At that time, nobody in the neighborhood was planting in these spaces. It looked so great, they then decided to tear out the front lawn. A couple of their son’s high school friends did most of the ‘demolition’ – below the sod, the soil was hard and dry. A neighbor helped them rent a roto-tiller.

They absolutely love the matillaja poppies when they bloom – although they’ve discovered the plants are extremely invasive and are now popping up everywhere. Lavender is great – it comes in so many different varieties. They also love succulents – they offer wonderful bloom surprises. Truly, they enjoy each and every plant! They only regret that they don’t have more space to try more plants! Wildlife is abundant - honey bees, hummingbirds, butterflies, dragonflies, lizards – always something to watch!

3401 Corinth Avenue (Map 4 - J)

New Garden on the 2010 tour! Click here to see the gardens that will open for the tour.

Water conservation doesn’t have to be all or nothing – this garden is a great example of that!

The homeowner is a landscape designer, a graduate of UCLA Extension’s landscape architecture program. They’ve seen their garden as a laboratory, which gives them a lot of freedom. They learned sustainable gardening through ongoing participation in Santa Monica’s sustainable landscape professionals program.

In October 2009, the grass in the back yard was replaced with gravel, and it looks great, because the space was designed. They have some grass in the front that they are not ready to lose, so they conserved by replacing the sprinkler nozzles with Toro’s Precision nozzles, which apply water more slowly and evenly than conventional nozzles and thus use less water, reduce runoff and save money.

They wanted to replace all of the sprinklers with drip irrigation, but the cost exceeded their budget, so they compromised by converting one zone and adding a vegetable garden with gravel pathways and a fruit tree.

Most of the plants they added were to reinforce the existing theme. They knew which ones had done well and how drought-tolerant they were, so those were emphasized. Two favorites are Kangaroo Paw (Anigozanthos) and Fortnight Lily (Dietes vegeta). They just added a variegated form of Dietes, and it’s sensational in the shade. Vegetables are the latest adventure!

The garden is a process that began when they moved here. They spent a lot of time observing—watching the way the light changed through the day and the seasons. They thought about how they wanted the space to work and how they wanted the experience to change as they moved through it. Then they started designing. They used plants to reinforce the design ideas and chose plants that they liked, but with a primary concern about what they would do in the landscape.

Irrigation is a combination of drip, sprinklers with Precision Nozzles, and conventional sprinklers. It is watered twice a week on Monday and Thursday per DWP and using the water calculator on the bewaterwise.com website to determine how much and how often.

12537 Woodbine Street (Map 5 - E)

New Garden on the 2010 tour! Click here to see the gardens that will open for the tour.

This California/Mediterranean, drought resistant garden contains 60-70 different water-thrifty species combined by color, texture, size and function with a wide variety of earth tones and flowers that attract birds. There are small fruit trees such as Fuji apple, brown turkey fig, Santa Rosa plum, two Meyer lemons, a semi-dwarf Valencia orange, one Bearrs lime tree, and one fruiting olive tree – practically an orchard!

The homeowners completely removed the lawn and added permeable semi hardscape such as flagstone and decomposed granite. They were inspired by a
part time professional garden designer and landscape architect living in their home. They began the journey in 1994, going through many different transitions and with much experimentation based on current trends in sustainable landscaping and Mediterranean gardens

They water once a week, using standard spray heads.

12512 Brooklake Street (Map 5 - C)

This drought tolerant garden is eclectic! It is newly planted (Fall of 2009) by ‘do it yourselfers’ and a great chance to get hands on advice. Jairo Ramirez of Exotic Succulents, Member of Cactus & Succulent Society of America, will be on hand to answer questions the day of the tour.

The focal point is a fruitless olive tree, and they chose plants with interesting foliage to complement the gray green leaves of the tree. Two mounds of plantings have a decomposed granite walkway between them. Large rocks, a rock “stream” and redwood tree stumps add interest.

The lawn was removed in August. While it was covered with black plastic to kill the weeds, their water usage was cut in half. While watering to establish the plants it is down about a third. Once established, they don’t plan to water much, if at all.

Their daughter, who is mindful of the earth, had suggested a drought tolerant garden years ago. Two years ago the needles on their pine tree began turning brown, so it was necessary to have it removed. When the DWP began offering rebates for turf removal, they were given the impetus they needed to get serious about their dream of having a water-wise garden.

They are DYIers and didn’t think it would be difficult to design the yard. However, they were overwhelmed once the lawn was out and the planning began. They knew they wanted mounds for planting, a walkway, an olive tree, drought tolerant plants, and overall low maintenance and worked with a professional to pull their ideas together. He was great - adding boulders, redwood tree stumps, mulch and a pebble “stream” to the mounds and positioning the plants that they wanted. This month they are planning a succulent rock garden for the planters. Hopefully, it will be ready by the time of the Green Garden Showcase!

They water by hand using a water meter to check the soil. When they first planted, they were watering twice a week but haven’t watered at all since the rains started in January.

3312 Coolidge Avenue (map 4 - G)

New Garden on the 2010 tour! Click here to see the gardens that will open for the tour.

This garden was designed by landscape designer Linda Endler and planted 6 years ago, replacing an old Bermuda lawn and some shrubbery The new design reduced the original lawn size by approximately 35% and is comprised of a hybrid of drought tolerant plants and native grasses mixed with a collection of hybrid tea roses for cutting. The natural cut stone walkway, as well as the stacked stone walk at the entry are as much a part of the garden as the plantings. While there is some lawn, the planters are wider than traditional gardens and there is a slightly mounded planted berm off the sidewalk to reduce run off.

Linda created a California garden based on a Mediterranean climate. Because they love roses, together they selected some hearty, disease-resistant varieties to mix in with the plantings. Additional color was created from plants with variegated foliage of gray, gray-green & bronze red.

There are a blend of grasses - Blue Oat, Carex, New Zealand Flax and Mexican Feather- combine with the burgundy foliage of Loropetalum, and the grayish green Pittosporum crassifolium. The ground cover is a mixture of Dymondia, Sedum, true Geranium, Blue Festuca and Lambs Ear. A multi-trunk Olive tree anchors the corner of the garden as well as a newly planted Guava tree. There is an assortment of cutting roses of yellow and orange tones, including a favorite climbing rose, ‘Josephs Coat’ that frames the entry.

A copper birdbath is visible from the front window and complements a newly added copper rain chain hanging at the entry. The birdbath attracts numerous species of birds, which the children enjoy watching as they splash about. The plants attract butterflies, bees and bumblebees. The children love to dig in the garden unearthing worms along with the occasional encounter with a grasshopper or two.

The garden was installed before drip irrigation had been perfected, so irrigation uses the traditional spray heads on an automatic timer. It is watered twice a week on separate zones to meet the different watering requirements needed.

Linda Endler will be there periodically through the afternoon and will supply a hand-out with a thorough plant list.

3717 Barry Ave (Map 2 - D)

Their goal is low maintenance, low water with an Asian aesthetic and they have continued to tweak their garden 4 or 5 times since moving here in 1997.

They placed a vegetable garden in their front yard because that is where they get the most sun on the property. They’ve removed their grass and have replaced it with mostly decomposed granite. Other plantings are mixed: fruit trees, a few tropicals, and native drought tolerant plants.

Since the process has been gradual, they’re not sure how much water they are saving but they are thrilled that they’re not wasting it on ugly pee stained weedy grass!

They have a rain barrel from the city of LA – the planning has been a little stressful when El Nino is in the forecast!

They’ve planted a wonderful Pomegranate tree, a Pineapple Guava tree, Satsuma Plum tree, and Protea’s from Trader Joes. They like to get loot for watering!


With their new water fountain they’ve opened up a bath house for the little green finches - they’re so delightful to watch! Critters have always been around but now they have a destination and come digging into their vegetable garden for grubs. They’ve found that Mar Vista has always had a lot of wild life.

They use drip twice a week, adjusting for the different needs for trees and the vegetable garden.

3144 Coolidge Avenue (Map 4 - F)

New Garden on the 2010 tour! Click here to see the gardens that will open for the tour.

This home was recently remodeled from the original Trousdale tract to a fairly modern two story home and the garden was designed to be drought resistant and low maintenance. What a success! After only 18 months, the garden has thrived with only our winter rains while the irrigation system was turned off for the last three months!

Linda Endler, the landscape designer, chose a simple palette of plant material and native grasses to compliment the minimalist style and strong vertical lines of the new structure. The low concrete wall that runs along the sidewalk with planting was created to help ease the transition of the garden and draw the eye to the strong vertical axis of recessed entry.

A grove of three Acacia stenophylla grow tall to soften the strong vertical lines of the house façade. Plant selection focuses on the combination of greys, chartreuse green and burgundy colored foliage. They include Anigozanthos (Kangaroo Paw), Agave attenuata, New Zealand Flax, Juncus, Carex, Pittosporum crassifolium, and Senecio. A solid mass of the silver colored Dymondia is planted in the parkway under the silver Maple street tree.

The owners can also share information about their solar panels and tankless water heater. Linda Endler, the landscape designer, will be there periodically throughout the afternoon.

Drip Irrigation Made Easy!

As a landscaper, Deni Friese designs, consults and installs Custom Gardens – helping people to create their “Dream Yard”. As a Master Gardener she teaches the Irrigation class of their training program and volunteers her knowledge at classes and outreach events as well as helping schools with their Learning Gardens. Deni will be our guest at the Green Booth Sunday March 14th. Stop by to have all your questions answered about drip irrigation.

Deni has been an ecologist and organic gardener since the 1970’s with a BA in Environmental Studies and Aquatic Biology (1981) and has over 30 years of practical plant knowledge and experience. One of her goals is to reduce the ecological footprint of her client’s yards – teaching them about and converting them to non-toxic products and lower water use. She loves to rip out lawns and replace them with more drought tolerant or native plants. Her specialties are organic and edible gardening, drought tolerant and native plants, critter friendly gardens (hummingbirds, butterflies, birds, bees, etc), conversion to lower water irrigation (drip irrigation, soaker hoses, low water sprinklers), specialty trimming and plant care, and personal tutoring.

11409 Charnock Road (Map 2 - B)

New Garden on the 2010 tour! Click here to see the gardens that will open for the tour.

The FLOWER to the PEOPLE garden is a work in progress. Drive by now to see the before (pictured above) – come the day of the tour to see the transformation! If you are ready to pull out your turf, this garden is a must see.

On March 21st, in anticipation of tabling at the Garden Showcase, Surfrider Foundation Volunteers are going to help transform this garden into an Ocean Friendly Garden, demonstrating the principles of CPR: Conservation, Permeability, and Retention through the installation of a rainbarrel, a downspout disconnect into a raingarden area including a small cistern/pond, nasty turf removal, berming, planting native plants, and mulching.

After purchasing the house three years ago, the first order of business was to sheet compost the front yard. They covered it in the IKEA cardboard boxes in which their kitchen components arrived, and covered that with 10 yards of natural wood chip and leaf mulch. The neighbors knew they were crazy when they began burying their compost in the front yard and invited everyone to join in. Their next door neighbor contributed grass clippings from her yard – it looked like Dogpatch for about 2 years. They were just too busy with our sustainable landscape design business that we didn’t have time to work on our own garden.

Last year they cut away about 25% of the driveway, providing added sunny garden space and allowing them to manage the runoff from the hardscape surfaces. Since the garage has been converted into an office, they decided that it was stupid to devote so much precious garden space to a concrete strip that would never again be used for an automobile.

A couple months ago, they received a phone call from a prospective client who had found the address on their website and had driven by the property. The woman said that she was sad that it seemed they’ed abandoned their home, and hoped that they had not had serious misery befall them. That was a wake-up call!

This past year they have really focused on spraying compost tea and building up the soil microbial activity to hold on to as much water as possible throughout the year.

They’re looking forward to using water from their rainbarrels and small cistern to water the vegetable garden. Since the rain has been plentiful this year, they are optimistic that they’ve banked enough of it in the main garden’s healthy soil to get them into the summer months. After that, nature will tell them whether or not they need to replace the weak ones – nature’s brutal!

They have many fruit trees, including a couple climate-appropriate ones such as Jujube (Ziziphus mauritiana), and native ones like Catalina cherry (Prunus ilicifolia ‘lyonii’) and Elderberry (Sambucus mexicanus). Since the space is small, they have had to get creative by putting them into large containers or espaliered on walls.

They are daily visited by a cloud of titmice (that’ a bird) and the local cooper’s hawk is never far afield. Butterflies find the asclepias ‘Family Jewels’ most interesting, and so do the neighbors.

They hope you’ll visit them during the tour and experience how Southern Californians can restore their urban watersheds by turning their yards into Ocean Friendly Gardens.