Did you know?
Did you know that the City of San Diego has mandated watering restrictions?
WATER ONLY THREE DAYS A WEEK!
If you rent your home, you may not be aware that ‘even’ house numbers water Sun, Mon and Wed and 'odd' house numbers water Sat, Tue and Thu. This information was included with the property water bill that renters do not usually see.
What’s New?
The City of San Diego has developed a smart phone application ‘WATER WASTERS’ that allows you to easily report gross water wasters. Have you ever seen a broken sprinkler head and been frustrated as water runs continuously down the street? Have you seen sprinklers come on in the middle of the day and stay on way too long, causing runoff and even flooding (Note: water between 4 pm and 10 am for 7 minutes using a standard sprinkler during Nov 1 - May 31). Use this app to easily report any water wasting problem!
Ocean Friendly Gardens Workshop
What else can be done?
How can you CONSERVE water, SAVE money, REDUCE pollution and CREATE an OCEAN FRIENDLY GARDEN where you live? :-)
Surfrider and G3 Green Gardens Group recently completed a series of workshops that transformed the corner of Montgomery-Waller Park (Palm Ave and Beyer Blvd) from just another piece of grass (turf) to a gorgeous native garden!
We learned that a native garden has 20-30% of the water needs of turf. We calculated how much rainfall runoff was available from the adjacent parking lot based on the area of the lot and the average rainfall (10 inches) ———> more than enough to support a native garden! We learnt about new and efficient irrigation, soil types and drainage rates. The City removed the turf and did the rough grading, including digging a shallow detention basin, at the site. Volunteers then completed the grading, removed and remaining grass roots, added mulch, added rocks to the detention basin and planted!
Before
Rainfall water runs from the parking lot to the street, down a storm drain and directly to the ocean carrying all pollutants along with it. The turf is continuously watered to keep it alive.
Action
With a strategically placed cut in the curb, rainfall runoff water is directed to our newly planted native garden and a rock lined detention basin. The rocks slow the water flow, allowing the rainwater to seep into the ground, where pollutants are filtered and breakdown naturally.
After
The native plant garden has a natural source of water and once it is established, will not need supplemental irrigation from the City’s water supply!
If you are inspired and want to learn and more and/or get hands on experience, please keep an eye out for upcoming workshops!
Native Garden Creation in progress!