Matilija Ojai School Yard Habitat
Posted on 23. Dec, 2011 by pamela in Build Habitat, G3 Associates, G3 Blog, G3 Community, G3 Design Studio, G3 Media, G3 Partners, Living Soil, Ocean Friendly Gardens, Rain Gardens, School Yard Habitats, Ventura County, Video
G3 Qualified Trainer, and NEW Ventura County Regional Coordinator, Renee Roth, has been working with the Matilija Junior High School in Ojai, CA for more than two years to transform a pesticide-adled lawn area into a US Fish & Wildlife School Yard Habitat.
Renee Roth at Matilija Ojai SYH
Renee gave G3′s Pamela Berstler a tour to show off the sheet mulching, grading, and drainage that already has been done. An examination of the mulch pile, made as G3 recommends, with fresh tree trimmings, yielded a couple of surprises including the iPod video (above) and millions of FUN-GUYS (mycorrhizal fungi) building their soil-food-web.
Renee has secured funding for this transformation from a US Fish & Wildlife School Yard Habitat Grant. School personnel and students contribute time and energy to move the project along. The objective is to have a completely CA native landscape that absorbs all of the rainwater generated by adjacent hardscape surfaces. So this project is also an Ocean Friendly Garden!
For more information about the Matilija Ojai School Yard Habitat, check out Renee’s website. http://matilijasyh.com/home/
65 Cooks In Garden Making Soil Lasagna
Posted on 06. Dec, 2011 by pamela in G3 Blog, G3 Community, G3 Design Studio, G3 Education, G3 Partners, Homeowner, HOWs, Living Soil, Los Angeles/South Bay, Ocean Friendly Gardens, Professional, Rain Gardens, School Yard Habitats, Speaker Series, Surfrider Foundation, Watershed Notes, West Basin
Making Soil Lasagna At Torrance West High
A huge and enthusiastic group joined G3′s Pamela Berstler at Torrance West High School’s Sheet Mulching Hands-on Workshop, sponsored by City of Torrance, West Basin MWD, and Surfrider Foundation’s Ocean Friendly Gardens Program. This landscape transformation is the brainchild of two teachers at Torrance West High- Betty Burkhard (AP Environmental Studies) and Ann Cortina (AP Biology) – who started this process a year ago by attending a Watershed Basics Class in the City of Torrance.
AP Teachers Ann Cortina and Betty Burkhard
The West High AP students are integrating the real-life experiences of building an Ocean Friendly and Schoolyard Habitat (under US Fish and Wildlife’s Schoolyard Habitat Program grant) in the approximately 12,000 sq. ft. area between two buildings (totaling approx. 17,000 sq. ft. of roof space for runoff) into their classwork. Chuck Schaich, Conservation Coordinator of the City of Torrance is spearheading the city’s support of the project. For this HOW, the City of Torrance provided tools, wheelbarrows, free city mulch (from fresh tree trimmings), and the invaluable expertise of Omar, a Torrance Public Works employee (shown in group picture in middle wearing orange).
Soil Lasagna Covers 2,000 Sq. Ft.
This area was previously turf/weed covered, so sheet mulching is the most cost and effort-effective way to convert the weedy greenery into luscious loamy soil. We call the process “Soil Lasagna“. Look at the steps below, and you’ll see why. Check out our Resources Posts for more information about how to Sheet Mulch and where to find the materials used to make “Soil Lasagna.”
G3 Mama’s Best Recipe For Soil Lasagna: 
- Call Dig Alert or other service that will mark where electrical, plumbing, and cable lines come on to the property.
- Start with grass or low-growing weed-covered damp soil. If lawn is cool-season turf, mow to lowest height, leaving clippings in place and proceed to #3. If lawn is warm-season turf, like Bermuda grass, remove as much of the organic matter as possible. If hand removal is not practical, then at the very least, use a sod cutter to remove the upper growth. Hand removal of warm-season turf is preferred, with digging out as many rhizomes as possible.
- Flag all sprinkler heads. Remove soil around them and, if they are on swing joints, make sure the heads are 2″ or more above existing grade.
- Remove the soil from all hardscape surfaces and between planters or other lawn areas that are not to be affected. Cut away at least 12″ – 24″ wide x 6″ – 10″ deep. Be careful of irrigation lines that might be placed against the hardscape surfaces. Dig carefully!
- Sculpt the site for capturing rainwater (See Building Sponge Gardens). Pour Aerobic Compost Tea or a 2″ or more layer of good compost or worm castings into the catchment areas.
- Broadcast Premium Humate from Tri-C Enterprises on top of the damp soil. Follow instructions on the bag for coverage (approximately 50 lbs./1,000 sq. ft.). Alternatively, you can apply Aerobic Compost Tea or a 1″ layer of good compost or worm castings.
- Cover the soil with Painters’ Paper or Cardboard, being careful to overlap any edges by at least 6″ – 8″ and to cover every part of soil with paper/cardboard — no gaps, even at the trenched edges!
- Water the paper/cardboard thoroughly so it is completely wet. Be careful not to step on the paper/cardboard and rip it!
- Cover immediately with 4″ – 6″ of living mulch (fresh tree trimmings comprised of both wood and leaves, predominately no larger than 1″ – 2″ in diameter).
- Water mulch thoroughly so it penetrates to the bottom layers. Use your hands to push away mulch to be sure it is completely wet.
- Cook for 4 – 6 months, if possible, watering occasionally when the mulch dries out.
- Every 30 – 45 days, check progress of decomposition. If the lawn is not decomposing, add worm castings, good compost, or Aerobic Compost Tea, water thoroughly, and cover with another 1″ – 2″ of living mulch.
Lawndale Library OFG Stays Cool In Summer!
Posted on 04. Aug, 2011 by pamela in Build Habitat, G3 Blog, G3 Community, G3 Design Studio, G3 Partners, Lawndale Library, Los Angeles/South Bay, Ocean Friendly Gardens, Rain Gardens, School Yard Habitats, Surfrider Foundation, Watershed Notes, West Basin
Lawndale Library OFG August 2011
An Ocean Friendly Garden, like this one at Lawndale Library gets cooler as temperatures rise. Although the spring wildflowers mostly have finished blooming, the Erigeron glauca ‘Cape Sebastian’ (beach daisy) is going strong.
Erigeron Glauca Lights Up The Summer Garden
Both Encelia californica (coast sunflower) and Epilobium (California fuchsia) are moving around the garden, seeding freely and setting up shop in crannies more nurturing than where they were originally planted. The Cercis canadensis ‘Forest Pansy’ provides a deep burgundy color and spreads its branches, while the Rhus integrifolia (lemonade berry) and Prunus ilicifolia ssp. lyonii (Catalina cherry) hedges are shooting up like rockets. Why does anyone plant ficus when these amazing California native shrubs grow just as rapidly and provide a deep green, low-maintenance, habitat-creating, no-water alternative.
Cercis Canadensis 'Forest Pansy' Welcomes You To Lawndale
In the edible garden, grapes and blackberries are crawling all over the fence, turning the space into a secret garden.
Birds Love The Prunus Lyonii Hedge
The Library’s addition of two wood benches, hand-crafted by local Lawndale craftsman, Chris Swain, provide a welcome place to sit and be restored by the bounty and beauty of this people-friendly urban oasis.
The Lawndale Library Ocean Friendly Garden is located at 14616 Grevillea Avenue, Lawndale, CA. Parking is available on the street and in the adjacent Lawndale Library parking lot.
ELLE Aveeno Surfrider Volunteers Build OFG At Franklin Elementary
Posted on 03. Mar, 2011 by pamela in APLD, ELLE/Aveeno/SF @ Franklin Elementary, G3 Associates, G3 Blog, G3 Design Studio, G3 In The News, Homeowner, Los Angeles/South Bay, Ocean Friendly Gardens, Photo Gallery, Professional, School Yard Habitats, Surfrider Foundation
Elle Magazine, Surfrider Foundation’s West LA/Malibu Chapter, and Aveeno volunteers came together Saturday morning to build an Ocean Friendly Garden at Franklin Elementary School in Santa Monica, CA. G3 was responsible for designing and installing the garden, and assisting Surfrider Foundation in implementing the Volunteer Workday.
ELLE/Surfrider/Aveeno Workday Begins
The invites read: RAIN OR SHINE. After the previous day’s relentless rain, the much-prayed-for sunshine was a welcome gift. But sunny skies didn’t reduce the “MUD FACTOR,” and the intrepid volunteers braced themselves for getting down and dirty! For the cameras, though, everything seemed to go without a hitch.
G3 Associate, Tom Stout Leads Volunteers
G3 Associate and CA licensed landscape contractor, Tom Stout, managed the installation of the garden and preparation of the site for the Workday. Tom also couldn’t resist the opportunity to be an expert in front of 50 female volunteers!
Aveeno rewarded the volunteers with a trip to Santa Monica’s Miramar Hotel for lunch and pampering at the Exhale Spa. The best part of the whole experience was one of the aestheticians at Exhale telling us that, “[the group] had built a garden that holds on to all of the stormwater from the building next to the garden and needed very little water for the plants to grow.”
Another chimed in, “When they were told that [the garden] was being planted with native plants, people thought it was going to be all cactus and succulents. They were surprised to see plants with flowers and green leaves.”
That kind of knowledge transfer is what the Ocean Friendly Gardens Program is all about!
Lawndale City Council Applauds Teens’ OFG
Posted on 09. Feb, 2011 by Pamela Bee in Build Habitat, G3 Blog, G3 Community, G3 Design Studio, G3 In The News, G3 Media, G3 Partners, Lawndale Library, Los Angeles/South Bay, Ocean Friendly Gardens, Rain Gardens, School Yard Habitats, Surfrider Foundation, Watershed Notes, West Basin
Lawndale Library OFG Teen Friends
Teen Friends of the Lawndale Library were back in City Council chambers Monday evening, almost one year from their first visit to gain approval for building their garden dream. This visit was not to speculate on how much water would be conserved by converting 1,200 sq. ft. of turf into a sustainable landscape, but rather to receive commendations for their perseverance in building and maintaining an Ocean Friendly Garden that reached their stated objectives. The Teens showed the Council how the new landscape accomplished C.P.R. (Conservation, Permeability, and Retention) having reduced water consumption by 80%, and virtually eliminated all dry-weather and stormwater runoff. Director Donald Dear of West Basin MWD presented the City with a grant check for eliminating the stormwater runoff from the adjacent Community Center and directing it into their new garden. Teen Friends presented the City Council with their Thank You picture and offered an Ocean Friendly Gardens Yard Sign.
Master Gardener, Kim Lauritson, Dennis Yamashiro of Yamashiro & Sons landscape contractors, Surfrider Foundation, G3, and members of the community helped build the OFG through a series of hands-on workshops and volunteer workdays. The garden now features a native edible landscape as well as a vegetable garden tended by the Teen Friends, yielding lots of vegetables for cooking and learning about healthy food choices.
