Planning for Climate Change

Just found this informative (and somewhat unnerving!) website by the Calfornia Energy Commission that tracks the projected effects of climate change on local climates and how this influences how we plan our cities.  There was also a recent NPR show about Climate Action Plans in cities around the world: Preparing for a Warmer Planet.  Many of their recommendations include the same sustainable practices we recommend:  using permeable pavement, climate appropriate and drought tolerant plantings, and rainwater harvesting. 

Check out the website, lots of interactive maps, articles, and other info!

Measured and Projected San Diego Temperatures

Digging DIG!

My new favorite garden resource!!  DIG Gardens in Santa Cruz has such great, creative ways to use reclaimed materials.  Now if only they were a bit closer.....

Ah Spring!

Just watered my in my new spring plantings with my Rain Vessel!! Squash, strawberries, and herbs!  Loving that recycled rainwater and especially loving that I have an attractive way to save it!

Visit Rain Vessels Blog for more info and to get one for your yard!!   Also check out our website for more info on why saving rainwater is so important!!

World Water Day March 22nd!

Tomorrow is World Water Day!

Celebrate your love of clean water and spread the word by doing one or more of the following:

1) Change regular sprinkler emitters to Hunter MP Rotators: Each emitter only costs around $5 and is 40% more efficient than regular spray emitters. Available at your local irrigation supply or Home Depot.

2) Remove unnecessary lawn: Replacing water thirsty turf in your front garden or parking strip with drought tolerant and native plantings can reduce your water use by 70% or more and eliminates the need for water polluting fertilizers and other chemicals.

3) Replace one or more downspouts with a rain chain and rain barrel: 1" of rain can generate several hundred gallons of water coming off of your roof, save that water and re-use it in your garden at a later time!

4) Mulch your planting beds: Mulching your plants with a shredded mulch helps to soak up rain, prevents plants from drying out as fast, and helps improve soil condition by allowing it to take in more water.

5) Build a dry stream: creating dips and swales in your garden that allow water to sit and soak in reduce the amount of water pollution generated during rain storms and save water use in the landscape by creating a "water bank" in your garden's soil.

6) Tell a neighbor about what you are doing and why.

 

7) Sign up for the Surfrider Foundation's Ocean Friendly Gardens program to learn more about how you can save water and prevent water pollution by making these and more simple changes in your garden!

Planty Globes

While garden design can certainly be called an art, local container designer Britt of Tend has truly found the perfect blend between art and landscape!   Working with a local glass blower who blows each globe by hand, she then picks the perfect blend of succulent or bromeliad, sand and stone to fill each piece with a delicate but perfect contained landscape.  Too much fun!  I think I'm going to need one of these myself!!

Now available at Bliss 101 in Encinitas, Pacific Station (next to the soon-to-be-opening Whole Foods!)

Potholes or Road Pottery?

British artist/designer Pete Dungey has found a colorful and organic way to deal with potholes in his area!  I wonder if CalTrans will pick up on this idea...

Check out the full article with more photos here!

Favorites From the Home and Garden Show (Part 1)

The greatest part of the Home and Garden show is that every designer brings out their best ideas and the bar is set a little higher every year.   No matter who is involved though there is always one garden that I look forward to most and that is the garden by Falling Waters Landscape and they definitely win my "Best In Show" this year!

Their recycled wood fencing shows that even the scrappiest piece of lumber can still be put to gorgeous use, their simple water feature fits any garden from natural to modern, and their firepit is a metal sculptors dream come true (I am definitely finding a use for some of those steel spheres!!). 

Check out the photos from this year's show, amazing as usual!