The 6th Annual Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase

The 6^th Annual Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase is Saturday, April 26 from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. This Earth Day celebration presented by the Mar Vista Community Council, provides useful information and inspiration for transforming your garden. 

There are some changes this year. There are fewer gardens and each is located in one of a few walkable/bike-able clusters. Each garden has one or more of the following sustainability features: California native/drought tolerant plantings, edibles, water catchment systems, and chickens. VIsitors will have a chance to talk with landscapers and meet do it yourself gardeners who share knowledge and experience. Special guest presenters at many gardens will enhance your knowledge of sustainability in daily living. You can visit school gardens and learn how they contribute to a more sustainable future.

The Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase seeks to empower Angelenos to adopt environmentally conscious living solutions. With many people walking or biking their tours, there is a tremendous sense of community as garden enthusiasts from throughout Southern California join our neighbors to celebrate our shared vision for a greener life.

Please be patient as we transform this blog from the 2013 Showcase. We'll be posting information about 2014 Showcase gardens and special events soon.

Mar Vista can make a difference!

For more information please email gardens@marvista.org

Media is welcome.

Should your garden be on the tour?

The 5th Annual Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase

Please help us recruit gardens for the tour! 

The Mar Vista Community Council invites you to participate in the FREE fifth annual Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase - a citywide Earth Day celebration on Saturday, April 20th, 2013 from 10 am to 4pm.       

The tour showcases drought-resistant landscapes and urban farms with sustainability features ranging from composting techniques to water capture practices and chicken coops. The tour places special emphasis on the critical need for ocean friendly gardens and California native gardens that support much needed pollinators such as honey bees and monarch butterflies. See how creating outdoor rooms provides much more useful livable space than a traditional lawn and creates a sense of community. 

This giant eco-festival will be broken into 6 compact self-guided walking tours throughout Mar Vista. The Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase seeks to empower Los Angelenos to adopt environmentally conscious living solutions. With most people walking or biking their tours, there is a tremendous sense of community as residents throughout Southern California come to Mar Vista to celebrate our shared vision for a greener life.

Have questions? Check out our FAQ's here! To submit your garden or for more information, please email gardens@marvista.org

Mar Vista can make a difference!

Media is welcome.

Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase Highlights Building Community with Gardens

3201 Butler Ave.

People replace their turf lawns for many reasons: to help the environment, to use less water, to make room for fruit trees and other edibles, to create a beautiful outdoor space to enjoy with family, friends and nature. A perhaps unexpected benefit expressed by many participants in the Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase is creating community.

The do-it-yourself gardener at 2554 Federal Avenue calls his front yard a Victory Garden. He says “Often when a neighbor walks by or shows interest in the garden, I can pluck a sprig of rosemary or share a vegetable in the garden. With sharing becoming more scarce, I feel my garden has the ability to act  as a vehicle for people to re-connect and share.”

The grass area in front of 3201 Butler Avenue is being transformed into a veritable farm. According to the homeowners, a surprising side benefit of this conversion is the social aspect. They’ve met more people in the neighborhood than ever before. Neighbors stop by on the weekends to see what's going on…sometimes leaving with some excess zuchinni.

3201 Butler Ave.

Growing edibles to share helps, but is not required for building community with gardens. Just puttering or sitting and enjoying the garden are often enough. Barbeques with friends, bird and insect activity, and encounters with friendly neighbors have all increased since completion of the garden makeover at 2561 Barry Avenue. The owner says he’s “met more neighbors in past year than in the previous 15 due to time spent enjoying the front yard and lower rise wall.” At3749 Redwood Avenue, a swing bench is the perfect place to meet the neighbors on a hot afternoon.

The do-it-yourselfers at 11375 Matteson say, “Now that the biggest physical part of the work is done, we are discovering the many joys of puttering in the garden and growing some of our own food. Plus since we're out front for all to see, a side benefit has been connecting with neighbors and building community!”

Perhaps most immediate impact of the landscaping project at 13001 Morningside Way is the profound sense of wellbeing that the homeowners experience. A tire swing in the parkway encourages kids and parents to pause and view the garden while walking in the neighborhood. The owners encourage people to help themselves to fruits and veggies, always leaving some for the next person.

The edible garden at 4106 Marcasel Avenue provides much more than produce. The homeowners say, “It is a great learning experience for the kids and a way to meet neighbors.” Their garden is connected to a neighbor’s garden that gets different sunlight, so they grow different things and share.  “It has been one of the best parts of the garden,” they say. In the summer, they all sit out back between the gardens, enjoying a glass of wine and whatever delicious dishes they can create from their bounty. The children play and the parents have some grown up time together. 

On Saturday, April 21, 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., the community of Mar Vista celebrates Earth Day by inviting the wider community to visit some of its wonderful gardens. At the free 4^th Annual Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase you’ll see a wide variety of mostly turf-free outdoor spaces and meet professional and do-it-yourself landscapers as well as presenters from various environmental organizations. Learn the stories behind the gardens. Share gardening tips with owners and guests. Save the date! Come and experience community.

January 31st is the deadline to add your garden to the tour!

Why not bus & bike to the Green Garden Showcase?

Do you live too far away to bike to the Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase? Are you wondering how to navigate such a large area without using your car? Consider bringing your bike on the bus to reduce your carbon footprint for this Earth Day celebration!

Ride & Bike

St. Andrews Church—in Zone 2 and bordering Zone 3—has 30+ parking spaces for those who want to drive to Mar Vista and then bike through the tour.

Big Blue Bus

Line 14 starts at Church Lane & Sepulveda and heads south right down Bundy/Centinela. Zone 2—North Mar Vista—is an easy bike tour from the Ocean Park stop. You can get off the bus at National and cruise through Zones 3, 4 and 5 (it will be mostly down hill), boarding the bus again at Washington. There are buses about every 20 minutes

Line 8 runs from Santa Monica’s 3^rd Street Promenade to UCLA, passing by Zones 1, 2 and 3. There are buses about every half hour.

Line 12 runs from Pico/La Cienega to UCLA, with many stops in Zone 1. The stop on Sepulveda at National is convenient to Zones 2 and 3, and the one at Palms to Zones 3 & 4. There are buses about every half hour.

For more details, go to http://bigbluebus.com/home/index.asp

Culver City Bus

The Culver City bus system offers a Trip Planner. Line 6 has stops on Sepulveda near gardens in Zones 1–5. Line 1 has stops on Washington Blvd. near gardens in Zones 5 & 6.

For More Details go to http://www.culvercity.org/en/Government/Transportation/Bus/BusStopLocations.aspx

Metro Line

In addition to a Trip Planner and route and schedule maps, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Authority has a webpage dedicated to bike/bus options. Line 33 connects Downtown Los Angeles and Downtown Venice via Venice Blvd.; stops include one near the Learning Garden. Other Metro buses connect with Santa Monica and Culver City buses.

While taking the tour, enjoy some insight into the history of Mar Vista!

The beautiful craftsman home at 3658 Mountain View was built circa 1914.  In 1907 the lot on which it sits was purchased by Freeman G. Teed, the Los Angeles City Auditor from 1886-88.  After his promotion to City Clerk in 1889 Teed became embroiled in an infamous sweetheart deal in which a sewer that was to be built on land owned by Anderson Rose – the man after whom Rose Avenue in Mar Vista is named – at an outrageous price to the tax payers and the great profit of Rose.  The contract was supposed to be submitted to and singed off by the mayor, but was instead endorsed through the back door by Teed.  The underhanded deal was exposed and the contract nullified.  Teed survived the scandal to become president of the Los Angeles City Council from 1892-94. 

Just across the street from 3635 Grand View is a roomy, well-preserved craftsman home built in 1911 by John L. Fleming, one of the most prominent pioneers of Mar Vista.  Fleming began practicing law in 1900 and became a Los Angeles Superior Court judge in 1914.  He was appointed advisory counsel to the original Mar Vista Chamber of Commerce, organized in October 1924, and two months later he opened the first known gas station in the community, near the northwest corner of Grand View and Venice – today roughly the site of the Grand View Cleaners and the liquor store next door. In 1923 Judge Fleming tried a divorce case involving legendary silent screen star Barbara LaMarr, the most scandalous actress of her time.  During an age when a divorce could brand a woman scarlet, Barbara went through five husbands before her drug-induced death at age 29.  This Hollywood jezebel seems to have broken up a few marriages as well: in the divorce proceedings in which she appeared before Fleming she was “the other woman”.

          The judge was no stranger to controversy himself.  In 1931 he resigned as bank president during a receivership scandal.  And charges of professional impropriety were leveled against him several times during his 19 years on the bench.  In 1933 he was recalled from office for wielding improper influence in a trial involving Pauline Starke, another Hollywood silent starlet.

The oval shaped neighborhood surrounding 11819 North Park Avenue was, until 1909, a lima bean field owned by John J. Charnock. Designed by eminent landscape architect Wilber David Cook, the oval opened to the public in 1912 as Palm Place, a "suburb of refinement and distinction" where "culture predominates." Contrary to wide-spread belief, the oval was never a race track. Watch for the wild flocks of birds overhead. Parrots? Parakeets? Read this article by Roseann Herman and photos by Stephen Boskin and then see them for yourselves and tell us what you think!

photo by Stephen Boskin

photo by Stephen Boskin

         Rancho La Ballona, the 14,000 acre Spanish land grant given to the Talamantes and Machado families in 1819, was a nearly square tract of land whose approximate boarders were Pico Boulevard on the north, the Pacific Ocean on the west, Jefferson Boulevard on the south, and Hughes/Manning Avenues on the east.  At almost the exact center of the former Rancho is the intersection of Centinela Avenue and Venice Boulevard.  It was around this intersection that Mar Vista sprouted up in a 15-month frenzy of subdivision activity that began in the summer of 1904 – a full year before Abbott Kinney’s Venice of America opened to the public July 4, 1905. Check out the many gardens around 3440 Cabrillo these are part of the old Mesa Ballona tract, laid out in 1904. This area was planted with crops until the late 1940s.  

Mar Vista Carrot Fields 1927 - photo courtesy of Mar Vista Historical Society

In 1947 the eastern-most 5.5 acres of this field was purchased by the L. A. School District, which built Beethoven Elementary School on the site. The first classes were held on December 1, 1947. The following year the other 14.5 acres of the field were bought up and Mark Twain Middle School opened on September 12, 1949.  There is something wonderful about land that was once home to fields of lima beans now coming full circle to be a home to so many edible gardens.

       The original version of the house at 3406 Keeshen Drive was purchased in July 1956 by a couple named Almon and Florence Dibble.  Florence has been given credit as Mar Vista’s first librarian.  She opened one of two small library sub-stations in her home at 12425 Gilmore Avenue in 1927, a time when that area was still considered Mar Vista territory.  The other sub-station was also established in 1927 in the Busby Building, today the home of Floyd’s Barber Shop at Grand View and Venice.  The Dibble home was modified into its current look in 1979-80.

       Historical information was provided by the Mar Vista Historical Society. The Mar Vista historical society provides walking tours of two of these historic neighborhoods – Ocean Park Heights and Venice View Heights (Mormon Hill).  For information about these tours and to make reservations, visit our website at www.marvistahistoricalsociety.net and click on walking tours.

3518 Federal Avenue

This is a sustainable play and learning environment! The owners are developing ideas for families with children that are sustainable and functional. The result is a garden that maximizes the use of all the outdoor spaces for gatherings, parties, and exercise.

They started with a dried out weed infested front yard 3 years ago and have been creating play and learning  environments for children. In the front yard, they replaces the dirt with artificial turf that sustains dogs, cats, and many children in play. A 20 foot tall teepee is a sustainable play structure that uses very little hardware and no plastic. Its design allows them to change the activities for different needs. They used the scraps from the artificial grass to create a giant chess set and have 3 raised garden beds for the children to experiment with. Attractive low water plants grow along the low fence and on the parkway.

In the backyard, they are developing an outdoor classroom prototype for young children with  Walls for exploring science, water play areas, mud kitchens, mounds for rolling. 

3464 Grand View Boulevard

A Surfrider-LA Chapter OFG rep and an APLD-LA District rep will be tabling at this Ocean Friendly Gardens, pointing out how they apply the OFG principles of CPR (Conservation, Permeability & Retention).

After 30 years of maintaining a traditional garden of annuals, shrubs, large expanses of lawn, and never-ending weeds, the homeowners decided it was time for a complete makeover.

With almost a quarter acre from the front pavement to the back fence, the time had come for these homeowners to re-imagine their garden in a more contemporary, water-efficient manner. Under the guidance of Ted Vorster (Plan-TED Landscape), a licensed landscape architect, they decided to embark on a redesign of every square inch of their front, back, and side yards to address a variety of longstanding problems that beset the sloping, narrow lot.

Ted designed the comprehensive landscape renovation and contractor Jose Martinez (Arrow Sprinkler & Landscape) installed it. The design incorporates many drought-tolerant plantings as well as water saving and capture features. Hardscape materials include recycled concrete.

A gravel parkway and a washed concrete surface replaces the old driveway; a series of planting strips intersect it, increasing the permeability of the parking area and help create a wider, more open feeling to the yard. A planting area that features a specimen olive tree and is bordered by a low berm topped with a mix of drought tolerant California native and Mediterranean plants replaces the ole front lawn. A small, new decomposed granite terrace serves as an informal sitting area.

A lawn once dominated the back yard. Now a series of discrete terraces of wood, concrete and decomposed granite, bounded by stuccoed concrete walls and planters, gracefully ease the transition from the strong lines of the two-story house to the increasingly organic forms of the garden beyond. A meadow-like expanse of California Dune Sedge (Carex pansa) adjoins the shady understory of a mature Chinese Elm; it features a mix of California natives and a sunny perennial border backed by flowering shrubs and ornamental grasses. Beyond this lies the “working” garden of fruit trees and vegetables that includes a storage shed, potting bench, and compost area.

Replacing the outmoded and inefficient sprinklers, state of the art drip technology coupled with a new smart controller will help realize water savings as well as the peace of mind that comes with a fully automated, self regulating system.

Landscaper Ted Vorster will be on hand to answer your questions.

3214 Malcolm Avenue

The homeowners designed this garden after 2 years ago after building the house. They were very concerned about saving water; the desire for no grass, low maintenance and low water drove plant choices. Drought tolerant Australian and African species were also an inspiration. They selected lots of succulents and cacti, added some sedum ground cover and various interesting trees. A drip system provides irrigation.

In the blooming season, the garden is vibrant. The owners love the sound of the gravel under their feet when they walk around and inspect the plants. They love picking fresh leaves from the verbena shrub to infuse into an herb tea to sip while sitting in the corner of the garden in pure contemplation.

3417 Cabrillo Blvd

This beautifully designed garden has inspired many neighbors to pursue a lawn-free front yard.

The owners bought their home in 2006 and wanted to create a low maintenance front yard with a natural and woodsy feel.  The use of natural and organic materials was very important to their plan.  The have pebbles and boulders from Indonesia mixed into the landscape with recycled furniture from their far-flung travels to complete the idyllic feel.

The garden has morphed into a wonderful space where they make use of a private deck with beautiful succulents and Podocarpus Henkelii on the side and Silver Sheen Pittosporum in the front. 

The front portion of the yard has a small cluster of birch trees with red kangaroo paws flanking a rock fountain.  The elegant fountain has become a playground for birds. The garden also boasts regular visits from hummingbirds.

To add color, they planted a short row of Hot Cocoa Roses in front of the low wall.  These plants can get by with watering 1 or 2 days per week depending on the time of the year.

Other plants used: Dymondia for the ground cover and Flax for the front strip. The Landscape Designer is  Mike Mendoza Arborist of M&M Gardens.

3983 East Boulevard - UP House

Urban Permaculture House

UP House is an urban permaculture farm and an intentional health and homesteading community education and activities center. They practice what they preach on a daily basis. For example - 

Local organic food sourcing

They are learning to grow as much food as is ecologically sustainable on their large suburban plot of land while also supporting local organic food initiatives in our community. 

Currently they have fruit trees (avocado, orange, tangerine, bananas, persimmon, peach, fig), several garden areas, self-seeding edible “weed” areas, monthly bulk local organic food, distribution and pick up location for the California CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), and two members working a booth for a vendor at the Mar Vista Farmer’s Market ( Dey Dey’s Best Beef Ever).

Future and Ongoing Projects – Building an efficient green house system, chickens, bees, aquaponics, and vending value-added products from our urban farm at the MV Farmer’s Market.

Intentional Community

These householders are highly involved with volunteer and activism in the realms of health, art and sustainability. Many members of the 11-member community are founders of, or highly involved in some of the most active and productive philanthropies in LA.

To name a few: Habitat for Humanity, Label GMO’s Initiative, LA Unified School District, Tree People, Venice Art Crawl, The Joyful Activist, Venice Community Gardens, City Repair, LIVIN’, and The Big P Project.

Label GMO's will be a guest presenter at this garden

Health and Sustainability Efforts

• Six of the eleven members do not own cars and a seventh commutes to work by bike every day.
• Converting the front yard into a cityrepair.org style public space project with a COB bench, an activities/events kiosk, a community garden and an herb spiral.
• Built an outdoor kitchen and an amphitheatre out of re-purposed materials to host gatherings, potluck events and workshops.

Learn more. Check out their facebook page!

3904 Michael Avenue

When these homeowners go into their garden, it's not just a place to look at pretty plants… it's to create an actual adrenaline rush.  Their backyard is a true sportman's destination that includes a regulation size half-pipe skateboard ramp, firepit, raised veggie bed, dry dock for their ocean-worthy catamaran, outdoor shower for after surfing and a large communal table and grill for entertaining friends who come by the beach almost every weekend.  

So for this couple, a traditional lawn bordered with water thirsty plants was definitely out of the question.  After turning off the water and letting the lawn die, in the fall of 2010 they hired landscape designer Joel Lichtenwalter of Grow Outdoor Design to help create a mostly CA native and Mediterranean landscape that is a feast for the senses:  including the scents, colors and textures of their adopted home.  In place of the lawn, the ground is a pattern of large expanses of DG (decomposed granite), modern square concrete pavers and shredded bark mulch which nourishes the soil.  The vegetation includes CA native salvia clevelandii, manzanitas, leymus and deergrasses, ceanothus and a fast-growing native Sycamore tree.  Mediterranean plants include colorful leucadendrons, Euphorbias, agaves and a bronze-red Dodonaea border along the perimeter.  An existing pomegranate tree and new raised veggie beds and citrus trees make eating locally really mean local. 

The next spring the designer tackled the front yard, again removing the dead lawn and replacing it with a geometric path to the front door using square concrete pavers.  Along the journey, one encounters more native grasses, salvias, avocado and camphor trees, golden sedums border the pavers, cistus, ceanothus and the native coyote brush groundcover are quickly covering the shredded bark mulch.  The parkways are planted with more sycamores, avocados and ceanothus.  The landscaping is a perfect synthesis of homeowner and location.  When they walk into their yard, they truly feel alive.

Joel Lichtenwalter of  Grow Outdoor Design will be at the garden the day of the tour. A Surfrider-LA Chapter OFG rep and an APLD-LA District rep will be tabling at this Ocean Friendly Gardens, pointing out how they apply the OFG principles of CPR (Conservation, Permeability & Retention).

The Windward Garden 11350 Palms Blvd

Students harvesting onions

The Windward Garden, located at the eco-friendly school of the same name, was the brainchild of some very committed students and their advisor, Samantha Lyon, who is a certified Permaculture Designer. The Green Club and the Community Service Committee were interested in composting the food waste from the cafeteria, recycling, and starting an edible garden. This hand-watered garden was started in the fall of 2010. It is an elective class for both middle and high school students, and meets twice a week to do garden projects. Art teacher Hannah Northenor teaches the middle school gardening class, and Samantha the upper school's. It’s also an opportunity for students to have fun! The school garden movement is growing at an amazing rate, and Windward is committed to green initiatives and interactive learning for students. Because it is linked to the Community Service Department, students are encouraged to be active in their community through gardening as well. Check out a video of the garden  and a video from last years tour!

Need a rain barrel? As part of the day’s festivities, TreePeople and SustainableWorks will be there with rain barrels for sale for a reduced cost.  Check out details on the program here.

NOTE - PLEASE ENTER ON BUTLER - SEE MAP

3587 Mountain View Avenue

This 8  year old garden designed by Katherine Spitz, AIA, ASLA, LEED AP (landscape architect),  sets a beautiful stage for this craftsman, in a "compound" layout (there are a couple other compound Craftsmen houses on Grandview as well).    The front garden is  casual and naturalistic, featuring large drifts of geometrically placed ground cover and shrubs, and a decomposed granite car court. It has grown in very well.

The owner wanted to have a garden that had a fresh, green and lavish feel yet drought resistant and easy to maintain and that is exactly what was achieved! This is one of three gardens in a cluster on Mountain View that were all designed by Mar Vista resident Katie Spitz.

3658 Mountain View Avenue

This newly planted garden all started because the southern portion of the yard (near the driveway) was such an eyesore!  It was unruly and separate from the main lawn so it didn't even look like it was part of the yard. Lucky for them that they knew that friend and neighbor Katie Spitz is a wonderful landscape architect.   

All of the broken concrete is reclaimed from an old demo of a garage floor/foundation and was piled in the backyard, so it was put to excellent use!  Now they arrive at the house via their wonderful pathway instead of taking the side walk.

They wanted to water less, so 70% of the grass was removed, giving them a greener footprint and taking advantage of native plants.  Although they  love color, they felt that keeping with hues of colors and some variegated were a nice contrast to the house as it has bold, deeper craftsman colors.  The look of the front is clean without looking too sterile and now everything is pulled together.  All of the plantings are only a few weeks old -  we can't wait to see how wonderful this will look in another year.

This Craftsman  house was built in 1914 and is one of the oldest houses on the block.  The same builder did the two houses to the south of them the following year, both in brick. This is an original lot with a 116 foot frontage. This front garden was designed by landscape architect Katherine Spitz, AIA, ASLA, LEED AP. This is one of three gardens on this block designed by Katie (one of them her own!)

Learn a little about the history of this house here.

3411 Cabrillo Boulevard

When Jim Matsuo designed the front yard the homeowners requested a low maintenance and beautiful front yard.  There are two screens made of silver sheen trees that block the view from other homes and they love the results.  There rocks instead of grass in the front yard and two hammocks swings which are quite inviting and relaxing when one is sitting below the old magnolia tree.

They back yard has grass for the three dogs.  They just couldn’t deny them opportunity to frolic around the grass.  There are wonderful areas of azaleas and hydrangeas from Trader Joe's that have really grown into the yard.  They also have a wonderful gas fire pit that has become a great hang out place for friends and co-workers to sip on vodka and smoke cigars.  

The Jacuzzi on our back deck and it is completely screened with silver sheen trees. Who could ask for more!?

Behind the back building a surprise : 3 raised beds for flowers, vegetables and herbs and 3 citrus trees, which are all finally bearing fruit.