This
home is a great example of how the “green spirit” can take over, and lead you,
step by step, toward a more sustainable landscape.
It
started with the grass sidewalk on Moore Street. Several years ago the
homeowner replaced it with African Daisies, a ground cover that requires very
little water and spread like a weed, but had oodles of eye-appeal.
On
the Marco Place sidewalk area the city never extended the pavement, so last
year this ambitious do-it-yourselfer cleared the grass and weeds and laid down
decomposed granite for the sidewalk part and California Gold rocks around the
plants California natives with minimal water requirements were selected as
plantings.
The
backyard is a work in progress right now with fruit trees and vegetables. There
are oranges, plums, kumquat, apricots, nectarines and peach. There are also
Concord grape vine, blackberries, and raspberries. Some strawberries, and also
a planter box for herbs. In the spring homegrown vegetables (tomatoes, green
beans, red beets, zucchini, etc.) round out the edible bounty.
This
Mar Vista resident has always been a city dweller, which has influenced their
gardening style, a default system. Whatever
survives gets to stay. Whatever dies
gets replaced. It may seem like a
heartless system, but it works!
