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Water-Smart Garden Tour Photos |
The Davises replaced their lawn with woolly and elfin thymes. They have used many unusual California native and Mediterranean plants
around the perimeter;
there is a shade garden
and the backyard is terraced.
Lots of mulch makes this garden
very drought tolerant.
Winner
Theme Award, Amateur
Creative Lawn Alternatives
The Weiss Garden
designed by Susan Wyche and Barbara Olsen
This is an amazing water-smart garden transformation. Rick and Martha Weiss committed to removing their 4,000 square foot front lawn (right) after they received their first water bill. Susan Wyche from Green Perspectives redesigned the space and drew up the plans, and Barbara Olsen Designs installed the
water-smart Mediterranean-style garden (2nd and 3rd photos).
The area was re-sloped to improve drainage; drip irrigation was installed;
and 3” of mulch was applied.
The Weisses brought their outside water use down by 50%.
Winner
Theme Award, Professional
Mediteranean Plants
Christine and Rick Moran
Beds of tall bearded iris put on a beautiful show every May in this Santa Cruz Mountain garden that graces 2/3 acre in Ben Lomond. The lawn is a deep-rooted drought-tolerant fescue that reaches down to the high water table and never needs to be watered. The tough, delicate-looking annuals require almost no water and are hardy to 0 degrees F, making them ideal candidates for low water landscapes throughout Santa Cruz County.
Their fruit and vegetable garden requires occasional supplemental watering, but the rest of the landscape mimics wild California,
with Manzanita occupying the sunny exposures and Douglas iris, western sword fern, bleeding heart, horsetails, columbine and California poppy filling in the sun/shade mix provided by a healthy stand
of Sequoia sempervirens.
Winner
Water-Smart Award, Amateur
Santa Cruz County
Carra Finn Garden,
Nikos Lynch Landscaper
A petite plot of land is transformed into multiple views for the space-limited and time-constrained gardener: a faux view of the ocean; a gurgling fountain with abalone shell and sea-colored glass; a dozen herbs and veggies; a redwood arbor for shade and texture; cherry, pomegranate and loquat trees; a safe haven for bees; antique pots and stone animals; and a quiet place for someone with a hectic pace to find solace and solitude with a very good glass of champagne and a slice of extraordinary cheese. Aka, “home”.
Susan McDonald
Landscape Designer
This garden is primarily native and includes various grasses, Manzanita, Mahonia, Phormium, elderberry, olive, Little John bottlebrush, yucca, and blue oak. Chalk rock around the border combined with the visually exciting choice of plants complement the stunning views of this mountainside site.
Winner
Water-Smart Award, Professional
Monterey County
Wilmot Garden
This garden shows many simple but sophisticated ideas for water conservation, including an outdoor shower/French drain, downspout diversions, and the use of pavers in sand. Their drought-tolerant plant choices include a bed of succulents for which they won the well-deserved Succulent Garden Award.
Winner
Theme Award, Amateur
Succulent Plants
Jim and Carolyn Bowen
Designer Bobby Markowitz
Earthcraft Design
This 1.5 acre Japanese-style garden is irrigated with rain water that falls on the roof during winter. The blue tile roof drains into rain gutters which channel the water into a holding tank. A pump pushes it through a series of filters and then up to several tanks on the hill that collectively hold 30,000 gallons of water. The plants are then watered through a drip system fed by gravity. The garden is mulched and features many drought-tolerant plants .
Click here to see garden plan (pdf)
Winner
Water-Smart Award, Professional
Santa Cruz County
Sandy Braddock
The owner has used smart water practices to reduce water use considerably
over the past 10 years!
Winner
Water Smart Award, Amateur
Monterey County
Jeb Bishop
Cripple Creek Condos
Brett Graf Landscape
The plants at this location are both drought-tolerant and native; selections include plants for sun and shade.
A special feature is the stream planting that incorporates
water-cleaning natives.
Special treatment has been given to hillsides.
Winner
Theme Award
California Native Garden
Karen Theisen
Brett Graf Landscaper
This waterless garden is filled with colorful natives and Mediterranean plants. Succulents are used throughout. The driveway was recycled into a rainwater cache: old concrete was recycled into stepping stones, and thyme was interplanted. Vegetables and herbs are growing in the
front yard.
Winner
Water-Smart Award, Professional
Santa Cruz County
Golden Love Garden
Love’s Gardens Landscaper
This garden demonstrates efficient use of small spaces. The property has a dry creek bed that is used to mitigate winter flooding. A water cache system stores rainwater for garden use. There are fruit trees and vegetables planted in mounds. Lots of natives and drought -tolerant plants are interplanted with vegetables.
Winner
Water-Smart Award, Professional
Santa Cruz County
Designed by Brett Graf
of Habitat Gardens
Owner, Sumita Jaggar
The garden does well with very infrequent hand watering. There is no irrigation system.
Designed by Brett Graf
of Habitat Gardens
Owner, Ed Rutter
The landscape in the front yard of Clinton St. is a very drought resistant landscape with wonderful mix of Mediterranean plants, California native plants, and fruit trees. The entire landscape requires very little water and maintenance. The landscape was installed in the Fall of 2005 and is already full and lush. The drip irrigation system is controlled by the automatic timer and is programmed to use the least amount of water necessary. The watering schedule is updated regularly to keep up with the seasonal changes. All the planting beds are completely mulched to retain moisture and keep down weeds.The back yard has a typical lawn, but is surrounded by the same plant selection and mulch as the front yard.
Denise Weatherwax
Raised beds and groupings of California natives and Mediterranean plants meet the challenges of this coastal garden located half a block from Monterey Bay. Ceonothus and African daisy occupy a small part of the front yard beneath a Monterey pine, while shade loving, frost-tender plants create interest beneath a second story deck. The rest of the front yard consists of Salvia, lavender, and Buddleia grouped around an olive tree. The backyard lawn has been replaced by dry-stacked stone raised beds lined with gopher wire. The beds accommodate a variety of perennials, reseeding annuals and vegetables. The soil is fortified with homemade compost and is irrigated by drip as needed.
Winner
Theme Award, Amateur
Mediterranean Plant Garden
Karin Grobe
The Worm Doctor
This residential garden is a thriving food producer that goes easy on natural resources. In spite of having a heavy clay soil, the garden yields a wide variety of annual and perennial vegetables, as well as dry-farmed fruits such as apples, pears, oranges, persimmons, lemons, figs and avocados. Salvias, fuchsias, Penstemon, Alstromerias and lavenders provide color and texture. The difficult soil conditions were modified with an initial amendment of topsoil followed by the ongoing use of conventional and worm composting. All of the green prunings from the garden are composted in bins, and the family’s food scraps are composted in worm bins.
Winner
Water-Smart Award, Professional
Santa Cruz County
Hudson Residence
Designed by Wade Petrini
Artificial Lawns Direct
Last year this front yard had a thirsty grass lawn. It was replaced with very real-looking artificial turf and bordered by drought tolerant plants on a drip system. It now uses only about 60 gallons of water a month. This summer the homeowner will notice a significant reduction in water use since the lawn will need no water.
Honorable Mention, Professional
NOT ON TOUR
Last year Bill replaced his lawn with drought tolerant flowers. The process involved covering the grass with cardboard and newspaper until it died and then amending with fresh soil and compost. Wow, what a transformation! After comparing last year’s water use to this year’s, we can see his outdoor watering was reduced by about 50%!
Winner
Water-Smart Award, Amateur
Santa Cruz County
Jan Palia
This garden exhibits “rooms” of different themed plants that provide visual interest; plants are also grouped by water needs. This year the Palia garden was certified a wildlife habitat by the National Wildlife Federation because of it's diversity of flowering plants that attract such wildlife as birds and bees. It is watered by hand or with soaker hoses and drip irrigation.
Water-Smart Award, Amateur
Santa Cruz County
Owner Marilyn Sterle
This is a beautiful example of what one can do with a typical, small suburban back yard. This hot and sunny location is perfect for the very low maintenance Australian, New Zealand and Mediterranean coastal natives . Winner of the Lawn Alternative category for the Dymondia patch.
Winner
Theme Award, Professional
Creative Lawn Alternatives
Design by
Karen Runyan Gardening Owner Patmat Matuezewski
Emeralds and Gold Garden
This garden demonstrates a creative combination of bright, shade-loving plants combine with a dramatic water feature to show how to bring light into a dark garden area. The side garden is filled with drought-tolerant plants and contrasts nicely with the other areas.
Winner
Water-Smart Award, Professional
Monterey County
Design by Wade Petrini of Artificial Lawns Direct.
Owner the
Wellstone
This large property is located at the top of a hill and has been terraced to prevent runoffs. Native stones are used as retaining walls to terrace the gardens. Fruit trees and drought tolerant plantings can be found along meandering paths and a vegetable garden is planted in mounds and raised beds. Part of the lawn was removed and replaced with artificial turf to create a small putting green that uses zero water.
