Ocean Friendly Gardens: A Guide to Gardening for Cleaner Waves and Coasts - Surfrider

1. It Tahes All 0", Us
The largest source of water pollution cannot be traced
WATER WISELY· From 30 to 70 percent of your
household's water is used outdoors. Water early in the to anyone point - it's all of us. Pollutants "runoff" our
morning to reduce evaporation. Use sprinklers less on streets, neighborhoods and landscapes. Fortunately,
overcast days and never when it rains.
reducing our impact is easy to do.
GET SMART: Install a "smart timer" on your sprin­ Whenever water leaves a property it has the ability
kler system. These timers can dramatically reduce
to take pollutants with it. Fertilizers, pesticides and oil
water use based on weather and soil moisture. Check
with your water supplier for possible rebates. are easily picked up by the power of water. While this
runoff is greatest during rain storms, urban runoff
GO NATIVE: Use native or climate-adapted plants
and grasses - and adjust your watering to take advan­ occurs all year round as a result of improper irrigation,
tage of the less-thirsty plants. washing cars, and hosing down driveways.
LITTLE AT A TIME: You don't have to replace your en­ Runoff from residential landscapes affects the
tire lawn, just areas not regularly used. Santa Barbara quality of our oceans and the quality of our lives. The
daisy and thyme are just a two of the substitutes for grass.
sediment in water reduces clarity; nutrients increase
SWEEP IT: Instead of blowing or hosing leaves and algae populations and red tides; bacteria close
clippings, sweeping is better for the ocean. Don't for­
beaches; debris can choke and suffocate aquatic
get to get the gutters in front of your house.
species; and pesticides picked up off a landscape can
ECO PEST CONTROL: Instead of pesticides and her­
poison fish consumed by humans - all of which
bicides, ask your nursery about plants that attract
beneficial insects and non-toxic home remedies to degrade the natural beauty, and our enjoyment, of
rid the garden of existing problems. the ocean.
HEAP IT ON: Put a layer of mulch around trees and The good news is that you can help bring back
plants. Chunks of bark, peat moss or gravel slow evap­ healthy coasts and oceans though CPR<1J - Conser­
oration.
vation, Permeability and Retention. It is a way for all
FILL IT IN: Rills and gUllies are signs of fast-moving of us to design and maintain our gardens so that we
water and erosion. Fill in these crevices with rock and
can reduce urban runoff - and the pollutants that go
then identify the sources of water to stop or slow the flow.
with it.
E CRE-TIVE: A garden responds to energy and
creativity - like surfing, the more fun you have, the
better your time and results will be. CPRc breathes li'e
To learn more, visit: www.bewaterwise.com
into the coast.

2. Apply CPR" decomposed granite. Creating an irregular ground
b Your LandscaDe
surface will also improve permeability by putting
CPR© is a method of gardening that protects coastal obstacles in water's path.
waters. It is a technique that not only reduces resi­
dential runoff, but also helps purify the water that
does leave. CPR<l> revolves around Conservation,
For either infiltration or use, retention involves
Permeability and Retention.
strategies that help landscapes collect water. Bio­
retention basins and infiltration trenches are com­
, ,
monly constructed devices for rainwater collection
Conserving the use of water, fertilizers and pesti­ and eventual infiltration. A rooftop, rainwater collec­
cides can reduce and improve runoff. Using less tion system, designed to capture and store water, is
water creates a drier landscape, allowing it to hold another example of retention.
more rainwater. Applying fewer fertilizers and pesti­
cides, and/or using non-toxic alternatives, improves PI o
the condition of the water that does run off a land­ brear:nes lire tl
scape. Restricting grass to the living areas, planting the coast
with a diverse range of plants, and selecting plants
adapted to the climate are all conservation-orien­
tated design strategies.
A landscape's ability to slow and hold water is relat­
ed to the amount of permeability. Any increase in the
amount of permeable surfaces, however small it may
seem, will reduce the amount of runoff. Permeability
is increased by changing surface materials, such as
SUbstituting concrete areas with brick, stone, or