12450 Barbara Avenue

I am so excited to be Chair of the revitalized Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase for 2018 and hope you will visit my garden (front and back are open). Reps from the LADWP will also have a table talking about all the great rebates that are available through the city (cash for turf, irrigation, free trees, etc.).
As you can see from the "before" shot, when I bought the house in 2013, it had a boring lawn, some roses here and there with no beds, pavers, shrubs or drought-tolerant plantings. That blank slate was great in many ways as I could create my own vision. But it also produced in me a horrible period of paralysis. I didn't know what to do and felt overwhelmed. Here's my biggest tip if you find yourself in a similar situation: PINTEREST ROCKS!!! I just devoured hundreds of images of sustainable gardens and pared down what might work for me. And I recalled many of the gardens I had visited on previous Mar Vista Garden Showcases. I was so lucky that a wonderful landscape designer named Michael Todoran lives in my neighborhood and I hired him to create the actual plan for my front garden. Then my longtime gardener Henriis Caballero took over and did the plantings, created the porous fence, installed the drip irrigation system and hopseed perimeter, and laid down the decomposed granite walkways.

Beau Finnegan loves his front garden 

The front yard's half-moon pathway separates beds of echium (Pride of Madeira), society garlic, various sages, butterfly bush, night-blooming iris, milkweed, and Eastern redbud, olive and Jacaranda trees. My sustainable garden dream came true with lots of help...I wish the same for you.

Before shot of front

Backyard "secret garden" 

12545 Barbara Avenue

Our garden is a mixture of a variety of agave, aloes and fruit trees and it is truly drought tolerant. We first planted fruit trees in 1997 and while remodeling in 2010 we removed all the grass and that's when the fruit trees really flourished. We created a recycled limestone stone wall, steel garden borders and planter boxes, and a "river" of river rocks that greets you at the entrance and leads you throughout the property. Many of our succulents started out as cuttings and have been collected over time from friends and trips to other desert climates. Through the years we have grown vegetables and seasonal flowers, but our love of succulents and our busy schedules have shaped what you see today. We enjoy ruby red grapefruits, lemons, figs, blackberries, and peaches at different times throughout the year. The birds, butterflies and lizards are the biggest benefactors of the garden and we have seen a huge increase in all of them over time. We love to pick our dinner from the garden and show off our night-flowering cacti.  We love living here and have seen a lot of changes since we arrived in 1995.

12537 Barbara Avenue

What does a gardener do when there is a dominating existing element at a property?  Case in point is this homeowner's twin palm trees in her front garden, visible for many miles around.  She planted around the trees, inserting aloe, firestick and agave into the overall plant selection.  A perimeter of westringia in front and artfully arranged paths of pea gravel complete the look.  

The back yard is a zen oasis, with succulents, pea gravel paths, private spaces for reflection and plenty of seating to enjoy the splendor.  The entire space is hand watered when needed but plant selection was guided by low (or practically no) water requirements.

12531 Caswell Avenue

When a visitor from the East Coast first saw the giant cactus in our front yard, she burst out laughing. It’s not something you see everyday, or maybe ever, if you’re not from around here. It’s one of the things we really enjoy about our garden — that the plants that grow well here are so
varied and interesting.

A friend told us that this plant is technically not a cactus. We still don’t know its actual name, or the names of many of the plants in our garden. When we moved to this house, we found some beautiful, but neglected, plants tucked around the perimeter of the big lawn in the backyard. We decided to move them into the front yard, where they would have more room to thrive. We supplemented them with a small box of cuttings from a friend’s drought-tolerant garden and plants we bought from Theodore Payne and other nurseries. Just about everything was small when we started the garden in 2014, then we propagated plants as they grew. Later, we added a California pepper tree and a pink trumpet tree, which was free, courtesy of the City Plants Parkway Tree Program. They even came out and planted it!

We also took advantage of a turf removal rebate program, which helped us offset the cost of hiring a landscaping company to tear out the lawn and put in plants and drip irrigation. Our water bill was reduced dramatically after we ditched the lawn and sprinklers, yet our garden is more colorful than ever. It’s our little tribute to Joshua Tree, the Huntington Library Desert Garden, and all the great drought-tolerant gardens in LA!

3857 Coolidge Avenue

Come see what you can do with an old garden...and learn from a local naturalist!

Over the past three years, since the 2015 garden tour, this "California Garden" has been evolving.  Come see what’s changed and what’s stayed the same.  Gardens are dynamic, the challenge for owners is to be aware of what’s happening, and sometimes, just go with it.  This garden is a mix of new California natives and some non-native plants introduced years ago by the original owners.

One of the oldest California Avocado trees in the neighborhood is in their backyard. It has its own set of challenges and they've landscaped around it accordingly.   The garden is hand-watered and includes rain barrels and a rain garden.  It is a Certified Wildlife Habitat, Xerces Pollinator Habitat and Monarch Waystation.

Birds are an important part of the Coolidge

Garden. They are welcome!  This is the Year of the Bird, as designated by National Geographic Society and their partners the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, National Audubon Society, and BirdLife International. 

One of the garden owners is the former Executive Director of the Friends of Ballona Wetlands as well as a landscape designer (Giardino della Vita).  She is now the Dan and Susan Gottlieb Environmental Leadership Fellow in the Center for Urban Resilience (CURes) at Loyola Marymount University.

Organizations Lisa Fimiani is affiliated with or knows something about:

·         Center for Urban Resilience at Loyola Marymount University:  CURes works with faculty, staff, students and community members to develop research and other interventions that lead to more resilient and just communities.  The goal is to pair the study of urban ecology with local issues that can benefit from the talents and resources at LMU:  http://cures.lmu.edu/

·         Friends of Ballona Wetlands  – they not only do tours in the Wetlands, but also provide expertise on how to put in pollinator, rain, and edible gardens, as well as provide Summer Camp opportunities:   http://www.ballonafriends.org/

·         Los Angeles Audubon Society – their “Kill Your Lawn” cartoon book drawn by children will be available as handouts:  http://losangelesaudubon.org/photo-galleries-section/photo-galleries-category/kill-your-lawn-comic-book-gallery

·         Los Angeles Audubon Society –Tree Trimming Guidelines:  https://losangelesaudubon.org/tree-trimming-guidelines

·         Monarch Waystation Certification – through Monarch Watch

·         National Wildlife Federation – Certified Wildlife Habitat Program

·         SoCal Water $mart Residential Turf Removal Program –Bewaterwise.com

·         Xerces Society – Pollinator Habitat Certification

 How to register your garden as a Wildlife Habitat Yard

• Audubon At Home http://audubonathome.org/
• National Wildlife Federation http://www.nwf.org/gardenforwildlife/create.cfm?CFID=7177856&CFTOKEN=176461acda590e96-4839F373-5056-A868-A0F00601F3124B08
• Monarch Waystation Program http://www.monarchwatch.org/waystations/certify.html
• Xerces Society http://www.xerces.org/

Lisa Fimiani Contact Information:

Board Member, Friends of Ballona Wetlands  http://www.ballonafriends.org/

Treasurer, Ballona Discovery Park Partners  http://cures.lmu.edu/our-programs/education/ballona-discovery-park/

Gottlieb Fellow, Loyola Marymount University, Center for Urban Resilience  http://cures.lmu.edu/

Master Gardener and Restoration Specialist, Giardino della Vita  http://giardinodellavita.com/

Wetlands Restoration Principles Coalition Partner  http://wetlandsrestoration.org/

 Cell:  (310) 339-2737 lisa.fimiani@lmu.edu; lisafimiani@gmail.com

Visit my website: www.giardinodellavita.com “Garden of Life”

12833 Rose Avenue

Special Guest:  Cindy Hardin of the Los Angeles Audubon Society

Friends and neighbors have told me while visiting my garden that it's a slice of heaven in the neighborhood.  On days when the sunlight hits the garden just right—I definitely agree with everyone, the garden is breathtaking.

The majority of the plants in the garden are succulents, South African and Australian plants. Almost every plant is from a cutting, a seed or a volunteer. At one point I had a strict color palette, but I let that go when I found beautiful volunteer flowering plants brought courtesy of seed deposits from the birds. Happy accidents happen in the garden all the time. Once in a while I'll reward herself with a plant purchase when an amazing plant is too hard to resist.

I don't use any fertilizers or pesticides—which is greatly appreciated by all kinds of butterflies, insects and birds. My only watering method is hand watering and rain from Mother Nature. I do all the maintenance, which is great exercise, rewarding and therapeutic. Another added plus is that since I'm outside all the time, I get to meet all my neighbors and make new friends. I love to give away plants and offer gardening tips and information—after all isn’t that what a garden is for? Great help from XYZ Designers and Best Solar.

13014 Morningside Way

Come sit on one of these bonafide Dodger Stadium seats.

There's a lot to see and learn in this garden!  

On an average residential lot, these garden owners have used every inch to incorporate chickens, bees, vegetable garden - especially heirloom tomatoes and herbs - succulents and mostly low water California native plants. It's their "urban farm."

About 15 years ago, one took a class at Theodore Payne to learn about California native plants and was hooked. They removed the backyard lawn and installed an all CA native landscape complete with a fountain for birds and other animals. Recently they replaced one section with succulents.

Seven years ago, inspired by the tranquility of their new backyard, the homeowners decided to transform the front as well, incorporating a dry-rock river bed that serves as a swale into the design. They left several existing trees and a few camelia bushes, then filled in with drought-tolerant plants. Ceanothus, manzanitas, fairy duster monkey flower and blooming sages grow along the dry river bed.

The parkway has less dense plantings and decomposed granite to ensure easy access from a car parked on the street. A six-inch wide rock drainage around the parking strip to control water run-off from the sidewalk solved an erosion problem and also adds a design element. 

The areas that were once thirsty lawn now use almost no water except in severe drought. Irrigation is almost completely by underground drippers and individual bubblers.  

The owners keep two compost bins going, utilizing the chicken manure. They have several bird feeders and big pots with milkweed for the Monarch butterflies. The house has solar panels installed by Sungevity.

The garden owners will have information about free mulch locations and can help with questions about chickens and beekeeping. They'll also have forms for certifying your habitat with the National Wildlife Foundation.  There will be a beekeeping demonstration, as the homeowner is part of HoneyLove, and strained and comb honey for sampling.  

 

3784 Redwood Avenue

Photos by Renee Tondell

This is this garden's sixth Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase and visitors have watched it go from newly planted to paradise! About half the plants are  California Natives and half are Mediterranean climate plants from Australia, South Africa, Chile, The soil in these gardens - both edible & ornamental beds - is maintained exclusively with compost and compost tea. The owners have become such believers in compost tea and this biological method of garden maintenance that it has become the main thrust of their design and maintenance business - Compost Teana.  

They also added a grey water system to the backyard and took the beds next to the house off of the main irrigation line. These plants have been maintained exclusively with washing machine gray water since April 2011. They use drip irrigation - once every two weeks on one line and once a month on the other.

After tearing out the turf in the front yard, these homeowners created a Mediterranean style courtyard, with a small fountain in the middle encircled by a 3’ high berm. The berm is planted with climate-appropriate plants, focusing mainly on California natives. They removed two very thirsty birch trees and replaced them with two  beautiful, unthirsty, summer-flowering Chitalpa tashkentensis trees - which they received from the ‘Million Trees LA’ program.

Look for the surprise visitor!

11615 Francis Place

This is a DIY designed garden (2010) with drought-tolerant landscaping.  Watering is minimal and only really consistent during the hottest months of summer. 

A variety of succulents, ground covers, and agave provide visual interest and a beautiful verdant frame for the home.