Ocean Friendly Garden Presentation - May 20th

Ocean Friendly Garden Presentation
May 20, 2010, 6pm
Don the Beachcomber Restaurant
16278 Pacific Coast Highway, Huntington Beach, CA 92649

“Be a Part of the Solution – Not the Pollution”

The Surfrider Foundation of Huntington /Seal Beach, Ocean Friendly Gardens Program, would like to welcome members and anyone interested to a presentation on May 20th by Sage Landscape Designs. The presentation will discuss Ocean Friendly Gardens and how to create beautiful residential landscapes that add value and pleasure to your home while helping to improve our coast and ocean environment.

Ocean Friendly Gardens is a new Surfrider Foundation program we are launching in our local chapter. An Ocean Friendly Garden includes the three principles of: Conservation, Permeability and Retention – what we like to call “CPR for Our Coast and Ocean.”

- Conservation is a garden design and plant selection that eliminates the need for chemical fertilizers, pesticides and other unnecessary pollutants that can run off your garden and foul our coastal waterways and ocean;
- Permeability is the principle of replacing “hardscape” like walkways, patios and other surfaces, with safe alternatives that allow rainwater to soak into the ground before it “sheets” off your landscape and into the stormdrain – carrying pollutants along the way;
- Retention devices are included in the garden design to capture excess rainwater – again, eliminating polluted runoff from exiting our properties -- while creating an attractive natural look to the garden.

Through these three simple principles, homeowners can create beautiful landscapes that thrive in the southern California climate, provide micro-habitats to make your garden a more pleasurable place to visit, and dramatically eliminate pollution – even in the wet season and years like this one.

Sage Landscape Designs learned their trade on the job and have created numerous beautiful gardens in Huntington Beach and the surrounding area.

Surfrider Foundation’s Ocean Friendly Gardens program includes not only education for homeowners to design and transform their own landscape – but we are coordinating volunteers to help others in need to create these unique gardens throughout our chapter’s area.

Please join us for a great presentation on May 20th, 6:00 pm at Don the Beachcomber - 16278 Pacific Coast Highway, Huntington Beach, CA 92649. Visit us on FaceBook and our website at http://hsbsurfrider.org/

Ocean Friendly Gardens Program - May 20th! Check it Out!

The Surfrider Foundation of Huntington /Seal Beach, Ocean Friendly Gardens Program, would like to welcome members and anyone interested to a presentation on May 20th by Sage Landscape Designs. The presentation will encompass many aspects of converting yards into ocean friendly gardens through creating beautiful landscapes that conserve water, provide micro-habitat by choosing beautiful and fragrant native plants, and eliminating pollution running off your property through simple garden design elements .

Sage landscape Designs can help transform your front or back yard from a drab resource-guzzling lawn into a native California habitat teeming with color and life. By choosing to replace your lawn with native plants, you will:

•save thousands of gallons of water each year while eliminating dry weather polluted runoff

•never need to use toxic chemicals or fertilizer again

•provide vital habitat for native wildlife

•have a beautiful landscape with year-round interest


Please join us for a great presentation on May 20th, 6:00 pm at Don the Beachcomber - 16278 Pacific Coast Highway, Huntington Beach, CA 92649. Visit us on FaceBook and our website at http://hsbsurfrider.org/

Check out Sage Landscape Designs!

This is a great place to see some before and after shots of ocean friendly gardens at work. Kim and Laura will be speaking to the Huntington Beach and Seal Beach Chapter on May 20th - more info to come soon!

http://www.sagelandscapedesigns.com/

Film Premier: The Cycle of Insanity: the Real Story of Water

Hi Friends,
I’m writing on behalf of Surfrider Foundation. I’d like to invite you and the members of your organization to the premiere of our short animated film, The Cycle of Insanity: The Real Story of Water. Here’s a trailer: http://www.vimeo.com/9760124

The event is an open house, so join us for the film and a drink and a nibble, and then socialize with everyone else concerned with one of our region’s most pressing issues: water!

I’ve attached our invitation, directions, an event synopsis. I’d very much appreciate it if you would forward any or all of this information to your members. If you have any questions, please feel free to call me at (949) 636-8426.

The media has been invited, and we’d love for you to tell them what you think of our vision for water management, so stick around, and share your thoughts. Our goal is to get a conversation started.

The event is on campus at UC San Diego, and there’s PLENTY OF PARKING because it’s spring break! (Directions attached.)

Please RSVP with who’s coming, and the quantity in your party to water@surfridersd.org

We have gotten a very positive response to the film and seats are starting to fill up, so please reply as soon as possible. We may add an additional showing if there is enough demand.

Thank you, Joe

Joe Geever
Surfrider Foundation
CA Policy Coordinator
8117 W Manchester Ave., #297
Playa del Rey, CA 90293
(949) 636-8426

A less green Orange

A less green Orange
L.A. Times-3/4/10
Editorial

The remarkable charm of the city of Orange, whose Old Towne is the largest district on the National Register of Historic Places in California, is the result of its steadfast refusal to change with the times. Walking through its 140-year-old central plaza or strolling nearby neighborhoods with their immaculate Craftsman bungalows, it's easy to feel you've been sucked into a time warp.

Of course, as residents Quan and Angelina Ha discovered, living in a time warp can have its drawbacks.

Realizing that their front lawn was soaking up tens of thousands of gallons of water, the Has did the environmentally responsible thing and tore it out in 2008. With the state in the midst of a prolonged drought at the time, some cities were encouraging residents to replace their lawns -- but not Orange. The Has were in violation of a city ordinance requiring that at least 40% of a house's frontyard be landscaped predominantly with live plants.

After being cited, the Has spread wood chips, built a wooden fence and, last summer, planted drought-tolerant greenery. Unappeased, city officials charged the Has with a misdemeanor and ordered them to appear in court Tuesday, though after Times staff writer Amina Khan chronicled the Has' travails, they said the case would be dropped. That would be wise, but it would be wiser still for city leaders to revisit the landscaping law.

Although El Niño-fueled storms have ended the drought for now, anyone who has lived in California for long knows the good times won't last. Population increases combined with a changing climate are expected to worsen water shortages in the future, which is why the Legislature passed a law last year mandating a 20% cut in per capita urban water use by 2020. Cities should be rewarding residents who help them achieve this goal, not taking them to court.

Orange, unfortunately, isn't the only city living in the past. Times columnist Steve Lopez has described the woes of environmentally conscious homeowners in Glendale, which requires at least 52% of frontyards to be landscaped. Homeowners associations, meanwhile, are an even bigger problem than cities, with some actually forbidding landscaping with drought-tolerant plants.

It's understandable that cities and homeowner groups would want to maintain high neighborhood standards, which in turn maintain high property values. But the days when arid Southern California could support endless acres of lush green lawns are over; what's more, it's possible to landscape with native plants in ways that actually enhance home values and neighborhood aesthetics rather than harming them. A water-wiser Orange would still have appeal.#

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-orange4-2010mar04,0,7962201.story

Calif. couple who tried to save money by removing their lawn plead not guilty L.A. Times-3/2/10

A California man who tried to save water and money by removing his front lawn is being taken to court. Quan Ha pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to a misdemeanor count for violating Orange city code. He faces up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Ha and his wife replaced their grass with wood chips in 2008. They said they'd just had a baby and began to think about her future.

At a time when Southern California cities fine people for overwatering thirsty lawns, the Has say they've saved hundreds of thousands of gallons of water and slashed their bill.

The city cited them for violating a law requiring live landscaping to cover 40 percent of the yard.

The couple planted drought-tolerant plants last year. The city says it isn't enough.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-us-odd-grass-clash,0,2094189.story

The Dry Garden: 'Ocean Friendly Gardens' is a guide to reining in runoff

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/home_blog/2010/02/ocean-friendly-gardens-douglas-kent-surfrider.html