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 over 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 4 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.
