There’s a Sea Change in Gardening
Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel hold the exclusive rights to the following copyrighted material. For permission to reprint or excerpt it and/or link it to another website, contact them at surfwriter.girls@gmail.com
First in a series of SurfWriter Girls features on Ocean Friendly Gardens
Even if you don’t have an ocean view you can still have an ocean friendly garden. SurfWriter Girls Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel have been gathering the information you need – from the Surfrider Foundation’s Ocean Friendly Gardens specialists, landscaping experts, and other resources.
You might not realize that your garden is connected to the ocean. But, it is. Choosing what to plant and where to plant it can have a major impact on the quality of our oceans. By choosing plants and ground cover with minimal water needs and paying attention to drainage, fertilizers and pesticides, you can help to preserve our water supply and keep pollutants from contaminating the ocean.
At the Surfrider Foundation’s Huntington/Seal Beach Chapter’s January meeting on Ocean Friendly Gardens everyone learned about the dangers of water runoff.
Residential water runoff – and the pollutants that go with it – is a major threat to the environment. It eventually ends up in the ocean, damaging its beauty, making it unfit for recreation and poisoning the sea life.
As noted on the Surfrider H/SB Chapter’s website (www.hsbsurfrider.org), sediment carried in water runoff reduces the ocean’s clarity. Nutrients increase algae populations and red tides. Bacteria make it necessary to close beaches. Debris can choke and suffocate aquatic species. The pesticides can poison fish…which are later consumed by humans.
As noted on the Surfrider H/SB Chapter’s website (www.hsbsurfrider.org), sediment carried in water runoff reduces the ocean’s clarity. Nutrients increase algae populations and red tides. Bacteria make it necessary to close beaches. Debris can choke and suffocate aquatic species. The pesticides can poison fish…which are later consumed by humans.
But, it doesn’t have to be like this. Ocean friendly gardens are low in water usage, low in maintenance…and, best of all, they’re beautiful – for you to enjoy and for what they do for the environment
Surfrider Member Seth Matson’s Ocean Friendly Garden
Leading the Ocean Friendly Gardens discussion were Surfrider Foundation members Greg Goran and Paul Herzog, joined by Lenica Castner, City of Huntington Beach Water Conservation Specialist, and Pamela Berstler of the Green Gardens Group (G3).
Greg Goran
To breathe new life into your garden and save the coastal environment, Greg Goran explained that it’s “important to know CPR – Conservation, Permeability and Retention – gardening methods” created by the Surfrider Foundation.
Conserving the water, fertilizer and pesticides you use keeps waste to a minimum. Using permeable (porous) landscaping surfaces, such as gravel and biologically active soil, reduces water runoff. Focusing on retention techniques – basins, trenches and rain water barrels – enables you to collect and store water for reuse.
Paul Herzog
Paul Herzog added that you also “need to know your H20 and have an integrated water management program” in place that looks at your water usage and what happens to the water. He recommended that people check out the website www.beachapedia.com to access the Ocean Friendly Gardens Activist Tool Kit.
Your Lawn
In planning your ocean friendly garden the panelists agreed that the first place to start is by looking at your lawn. When it comes to wasting water, lawns are the biggest offenders. “The typical California lawn uses 45,000 gallons of water a year,” said Goran.
Thomas Kostigen, author of The Green Blue Book, also singles out lawns as water-wasters. He notes that of the water used in residential landscaping 70% is for our lawns. What’s more, 50% of that water is wasted due to runoff and overwatering. “Our homes may be our castles,” says Kostigan, “but we don’t need to create moats to go along with them.”
In addition to all the water we pour on our lawns each day, we use tons of fertilizers and pesticides to keep them green, said Goran, adding that “lawns take up more of this than any crop in America.” Echoing this is Stephen Kress, of the National Audubon Society, who estimates that homeowners apply 78 million pounds of pesticides a year to their lawns, much of which ends up in our waterways and oceans.
So, serious consideration should be given to reducing the size of your lawn and replacing some of the grass with other types of vegetation or permeable hardscape.
There’s help available to do this through government programs, including the Municipal Water District of Orange County’s Turf Removal Program.
Lenica Castner
Lenica Castner explained that homeowners can receive $1per square foot of turf that is removed and replaced with California friendly/native plants and other permeable materials. To find out more, check the program’s website: www.mwdoc.com/services/turf-removal
In our research SurfWriter Girls Sunny and Patti learned that even the height of your grass can make a difference. “Two inches is about the best height for grass,” writes Kostigan. “Shorter grass requires more water.” Just as over watering is a problem, so is over mowing…not to mention the fuel it takes to run the mower.
SurfWriter Girls Patti and Sunny
Since tackling the subject of ocean friendly gardens we’ve found out that one of the reasons that homes have such large lawns is because they are linked to the American culture. USA Today Contributor Laura Vanderkam writes that, possibly in a nod to British country estates, large lawns came into fashion as part of the American Dream of an idealized suburban home…“and now 21 million acres of the USA are covered with grasses that wouldn’t grow well here if left to their own devices.”
Pointing out that “the fight to maintain this unnatural state (of green) exacts a toll…on the planet and our time,” Vanderkam calls on us to “change the fashion.” SurfWriter Girls seconds the motion.
Pamela Berstler
For help in creating an ocean friendly garden check out the information and workshops available through the Green Gardens Group (www.greengardensgroup.com).
Pamela Berstler noted that the group’s goal is to “share G3’s core concepts on creating sustainable environments.” G3 is also a partner with the Surfrider Foundation in its Lawn Patrol Program in which volunteers walk in their neighborhoods to evaluate homes on the basis of their Conservation, Permeability and Retention techniques.
Pamela Berstler noted that the group’s goal is to “share G3’s core concepts on creating sustainable environments.” G3 is also a partner with the Surfrider Foundation in its Lawn Patrol Program in which volunteers walk in their neighborhoods to evaluate homes on the basis of their Conservation, Permeability and Retention techniques.
You Can Do it!
Creating an ocean friendly garden isn’t just something to think about; it’s something to do – for yourself and the environment.
According to landscape designer Mitch Kalamian with the Solena Landscape Co. (www.solenalandscape.com ), “As we nurture the garden, the garden nurtures us." Kalamian, who’s been featured on HGTV shows Landscapers’ Challenge and The Seasoned Gardener, has worked with the Surfrider Foundation on ocean friendly gardens.
Mitch Kalamian
Kalamian told SurfWriter Girls Sunny and Patti that planting an ocean friendly garden not only saves water, but does much more. "Outside of following the principles of ‘CPR’, adding in some character; like rain chains, a dry creek bed and yard art, can make a statement that goes beyond reducing your carbon footprint and is a unique conversation piece.”
In our next feature on ocean friendly gardens SurfWriter Girls will look at ways to have a beautiful garden – minus the lawn. It’s time to get our hands dirty…and we’re ready to get started.
Pictures courtesy of the Surfrider Foundation and Chapter Members
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good stuff! Thanks!
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