Sustainable Urban Landscape Conference

The Cuyamaca College Horticulture Program, in conjunction with the University of California Cooperative Extension Service and the Cuyamaca College Botanical Society, is proud to present the Third Annual Sustainable Urban Landscape Conference. The conference will be held on Thursday March 10th at the Performing Arts Theater at Cuyamaca College.

The conference theme for this year is Sustainable Landscapes in Action. The program is dedicated to presenting examples of how landscape professionals in the San Diego area are responding to the needs of a changing landscape environment. Highlighting the list of distinguished speakers are Bob Perry, Landscape Architect and Professor Emeritus from Cal Poly Pomona, and author of Landscape Plants for California Gardens, and Nan Sterman, an award-winning writer and author of California Gardener's Guide, vol II.

For more information click here.

OFG Meeting Tonight in Solana Beach!

The OFG meeting is tonight in Solana Beach so come on by to help us plan our year!

The meeting is at 7pm at a new LEED rated building at 420 North Cedros in Solana Beach.

Since we won't be at a restaurant this time it will be nice and quiet but unfortunately we won't be able to order our own food so we'll bring some snacks but if everyone can bring their own water bottle so that we can avoid the single use plastic bottles that would be great!

See you there!!

Nasa Article on Lawns

Check out this awesome article written by a NASA scientist!!  It's a few years old but what it covers is pretty up to date.  Did you know that turf is the single largest irrigated "crop" in America, more even than corn?  

While she notes the obvious about lawns impact on our water supply she does note that it is useful for carbon sequestration which is being used as an argument by the turf industry for why lawns are actually environmentally friendly.  Unfortunately they don't mention that ALL plants sequester carbon and the overall surface area of leaves from a 5x5 drought tolerant shrub is bound to be more than a 5 sq. foot patch of lawn and it takes less water, less maintenance, and doesn't need fertilizers, pesticides, or herbicides to thrive!!

Check out the article here.

Reporting Water Waste

A common question that has come up during our Ocean Friendly Garden meetings is how to report water waste when we see it. 

Most of our municipalities have a source on their website for reporting water waste and you can call or send an e-mail with the address and time that you noticed the waste.  Ironically, it is often the municipality itself that is the major source of leaking pipes and inefficient irrigation.  Personally, I can hardly count the number of times I have driven San Marcos Boulevard or Leucadia Boulevard late at night and seen our sidewalks and gutters getting a nice bath from the inefficient irrigation systems along those roads.  HOA's and large business parks are also a common source as many of these tend to have large landscaped areas that are not always up to date in sustainability.

Next time you see our roads being washed by wasteful irrigation systems take a note of where and when you saw it and visit your city's Department of Water website to let them know about the problem. 

Example:  City of San Diego 

Also, check here for the County of San Diego's Watershed Protection Program Home Page.