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.

12517 Mitchell

This is our drought-tolerant turf replacement project. We added a flagstone walkway to the front door, with an open area to enjoy our morning cup of coffee. We replaced the sprinkler system on the main part of the yard with drip irrigation, and plan to do the same to the parkway and driveway strip when time and budget allow.

We irrigate once a week, when necessary. We use wood chip mulch to retain moisture and provide nutrients, and we apply compost tea seasonally. Our garden is designed to attract monarch butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds and provides some of our favorite foods and herbs.

Colors are chosen to suggest the iconic California sunsets. Our 3-year old garden is a work-in-progress, as we discover which plants do well and which do not, and as we take inspiration from neighboring gardens during our morning and evening dog walks. We are delighted to share our gardening journey with our neighbors, many of whom have taken the time to stop and chat, appreciating our contribution to the neighborhood.

11969 Woodbine Street

Inspired by prior Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase events, we resolved that 2015 was the year in which we would remove the old lawn and transform the outdoor living space into a drought-tolerant oasis. The result has cut water usage by more than 50%, and provides interesting colors and textures throughout the year.  Maintenance time in the garden is about the same as before, but gone is the noise of the lawnmower, replaced by the appreciative humming of bees.

Master Gardener Sara Saxonberg will be with us at our garden...so be sure to stop by. And Landscape Designer Linda Levine will be visiting as well.

Resources: 

Rose in Bloom Gardens

David Kent, deck contractor

Go Pavers hardscape

Volt Lighting LED landscape lighting 

3610 Ocean View Avenue

This fantastic 120-foot deep front yard was an uninspiring swath of half-dead lawn. The homeowners asked Kevin Connelly of Park Connelly Landscape Design to make it into something welcoming. The aim was to make the long access to the house a pleasant stroll through a park-like setting, with various areas for lounging, entertaining, meditation and vegetable gardening. 

The design incorporates an existing Chinese Elm and a mature pine. A rectangular concrete patio which was cracked and displaced was recycled into a more gracious, wandering and “softer” walkway leading from the sidewalk to the front door. 

The homeowners' favorite feature is a yin-yang symbol constructed with white and black river stones as a 6ʼ diameter “junction” midway in the yard. A secondary gravel path leads from here to a quiet area bench and continues on to the raised vegetable planter box. It also helps to visually break up the distance to the house. A water feature near the deck entrance also reflects the welcoming aspects of a Feng Shui design. 

Landscape designer Kevin Connelly will be on site all day to answer your questions.

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!