Common Mistakes with a Planting Plan

One of everything Overplanting Focusing solely on flowers, not on shades of

green, form and texture Wrong plant, wrong place Mixing water needs within one hydrozone Not maintaining the garden

From Video How to Design Your Conceptual Plan by Deva Luna: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HT94Md27br8

How to Visualize Your Planting Plan

Create a model from paper Use your concept plan and add paper plants to

create a plan See the handouts

Hands-on Class Activity

HOW TO REMOVE UNWANTED PLANTS (LAWN!)

Lawn removal

Herbicides – Boo! Hiss! Mechanical – sod cutter

Remove or Flip

Sheet mulch Other methods

240

241

Sheet MulchingSeveral methodsTypes of ‘sheets’Types of mulch

242

Bermuda Grass Warm season grass,

turns brown in the winter

Grows by stolons Very difficult to

remove Grows only spring

through fall then goes dormant

Bermuda Grass Removal-Fast Method• Two passes of sod

cutter• Lightly till• Rake & pick out all

roots• Sheet mulch• Plant on top of sheet

mulch• Hand weed any strays

immediately

Bermuda Grass Removal –SLOW Method• Sheet mulch in spring• Do not water all

summer• In fall, plant on top of

sheet mulch• Hand weed any strays

immediately

Sheet Mulching Lawn

Newspaper Sheet Mulch – 4- layers

Sheet Mulching“Plant First” Method

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Sheet Mulching“Plant After” Method

248

Sheet Mulching Steps

Knock down weeds Install irrigation Add optional compost, natural pre-emergent Apply weed barrier (permeable!)

Newspaper (4-6 layers), cardboard (2 layers), paper rolls (2 layers)

Apply mulch – 2-3” or more Keep weed barrier and mulch 6 inches away

from trunks and stems

Small Areas

Weedy Areas

Types of “Sheets”

4-6 layers of newspaper 2 layer of cardboard box material 2 layers of recycled content cardboard rolls (4’

x 250’ at Urban Farmer Stores) 2 layers of Builder’s Paper (hardware stores in

paint department)

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Types of Paper

Mulch Types Arbor chips Wood chips free from

SmartStation for Mt View, Palo Alto, and Sunnyvale residents

Shredded leaves Purchased bark mulch Purchased recycled

mulch

Premium arbormulch

Shreddedleaves

Mulch Amounts

3” deep = 0.25 feet or ¼ of the square footage of the area

1000 square feet requires 250 cubic feet of mulch

250 cubic feet/ 27 = 9.25 cubic yards Or almost 10 cubic yards of material!!!!

Detail of Sheet Mulching

Budgeting

Costs Assume 1,200 square feet of garden Cost using professionals $15-22 per square

foot or $18,000 - 26,000 ~1/3 materials, 2/3 labor Doing it yourself may cost $5-7 per square

foot 1,200 square feet would be ~$6,000 – 8,000

1,200 square feet 20 feet deep by 60 feet wide front garden Plants $12/ one gallon retail, $35 for five gallon,

$100 for 15 gallon 60 plants * $12 = $720 Mulch Premium arbor $32/ cubic yard, you’ll need 11

cu yds = $352 Rent a sod cutter Stepping stones, gravel path, decomposed granite

path, etc. Boulders Fountain/ bird bath

How to Save $ You provide the labor Buy 4-inch or one-gallon plants Grow plants from seed or cutting (see cutting

and seed exchange in October) Sheet mulch instead of removing the lawn Use FREE arbor chips from tree service Shred leaves to use as mulch Use recycled newspaper Get a rebates from the water district and city =

$1,200-2,400

CASE STUDIES

Falling Leaf before

Laundry to Landscape

JAMES RESIDENCE BEFORE

James Residence Before

After

Before

Case Study – East San Jose

Before

After

Drought tolerant landscapes –Case study bird sanctuary

Pondless waterfall on timer for birds

Before

Before

Drought-tolerant landscape Case study lawn replacement

After: 18 species of native plants

Drought-tolerant landscapesCase study front yard

Beach Strawberry

Fragaria chiloensis

Laundry to Landscape

Before circa 1994

Before circa 2007

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Bay Area Native Nurseries Local CNPS chapter sales at Hidden Villa in Los

Altos Hills, 1 x per year for non-members, monthly for chapter members

Yerba Buena Nursery, Half Moon Bay Bay Natives, San Francisco Native Here, Berkeley East Bay Wilds, Oakland Summerwinds Nurseries – look for native section Mission Blue Nursery – TODAY! Complete list for California:

http://www.calscape.org/plant_nursery.php

RESOURCES

Go to: CNPS-SCV.ORG for videos of: What to do in your Garden by Peigi DuvallHow to Design your Garden by Deva Luna

Go to: sustainable-landscape.com, under “Articles and News” for:27 pages of sample designsList of low- and very-low water natve plantsList of lawn alternatives and sheeting mulching detailPdf of this presentationHandouts of Class exercises

THANK YOU!

Slides of this presentation are available on the website: www.sustainable-landscape.com under Articles and News