Ocean Friendly Gardens Lawn Patrol This Sunday (the 22nd)!!

Join us this Sunday the 22nd at 10am at Moonlight Beach in Encinitas for our next Lawn Patrol!!

We will visit our 3rd Street GAP installation, a parking strip that was converted from wasteful turf to a native garden and bioswale.  We will take a quick walk up A street and check out some gardens that are mostly ocean friendly and some that are not so ocean friendly and talk about the difference.

Lawn Patrols are a great way to learn about what makes an Ocean Friendly Garden ocean friendly, the impacts that the choices we make in our gardens have on the health of our local environment, and what easy steps you can take to turn your garden into an OFG!  We talk about soil health, plant choices, how to retain rainwater on-site, and how to use organic choices instead of chemical fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides!

Meet us at 10am in the turnaround lot where Encinitas Blvd ends at Moonlight Beach (at the end of 4th/BStreet).

Questions/Directions?  e-mail morgan@surfridersd.org

World Water Day March 22nd!

World Water Day OFG Challenge!

Decrease water use in your garden and create awareness in your neighborhood by doing one or more of the following:

1) Change regular sprinkler emitters to Hunter MP Rotators:  Each emitter only costs around $5 and is 40% more efficient than regular spray emitters.  Available at your local irrigation supply or Home Depot.

2) Remove unnecessary lawn:   Replacing water thirsty turf in your front garden or parking strip with drought tolerant and native plantings can reduce your water use by 70% or more and eliminates the need for water polluting fertilizers and other chemicals.

3) Replace one or more downspouts with a rain chain and rain barrel:  1" of rain can generate several hundred gallons of water coming off of your roof, save that water and re-use it in your garden at a later time!

4) Mulch your planting beds:  Mulching your plants with a shredded mulch helps to soak up rain, prevents plants from drying out as fast, and helps improve soil condition by allowing it to take in more water.

5) Build a dry stream:  creating dips and swales in your garden that allow water to sit and soak in reduce the amount of water pollution generated during rain storms and save water use in the landscape by creating a "water bank" in your garden's soil.

6) Tell a neighbor about the OFG program and how simple changes can make a huge difference in preventing water waste and pollution.

Visit our World Water Day site for more tips and information!

La Jolla Lawn Patrol Notes

Our first Lawn Patrol last fall attracted more than 20 people and was a great way to see how much impact our gardens can have on our coast. 

Our walk through several block of the Bird Rock area started at Bird Rock Coffee Roasters where we loaded up on coffee and tea and then began our walk.  We checked out home and business gardens along the way and rated different homes based on how effectively they demonstrated the basic principals of C.P.R. (Conservation, Permeability, and Retention).   It looks like we have plenty of work cut out for us but there were also some wonderful examples of homeowners who clearly get the message and are taking great steps toward building their own Ocean Friendly Gardens.  The tour ended at Steve Roeder's house, our first OFG home volunteer where we discussed the walk and compared the gardens.  Check out photos from the patrol here.

One of the most striking images along our way, however, was the amount of water running along the street and into the storm drains along the bluff.  Since it hadn't rained for quite awhile that water was most likely "dry weather runoff" caused by over watering and/or poorly installed irrigation systems. 

Now that we have a new OFG just up the street from Moonlight Beach in Encinitas we'll be doing Patrols there as well as in Bird Rock in the upcoming months.

Keep checking the blog for dates for our upcoming events!

Lawn Patrol announced for La Jolla on November 7th!

SurfriderSD is excited to announce our first Lawn Patrol is coming up on November 7th, where we'll take a walk around a neighborhood and check out who's got the right plants, the right design to capture run-off and/or rain-water, and good soil quality.

Meet at Bird Rock Coffee Roasters (5627 La Jolla Blvd., La Jolla 92037-7524) at 9:45am on Sunday November 7th so you can sign in, get a cup of locally roasted organic coffee or tea, and we can get started close to 10am. The walk will take about 90 minutes, include many stops and there is a slight elevation change in a few areas but nothing steep. The overall route is about 1/2 mile and will finish up back at Bird Rock Coffee. Any questions? Please email ofg@surfriderSD.org

OFG in Encinitas

So nothing could be cooler than arriving at the Olivenhain Water Expo after talking about native and sustainable gardens all day and finding a GORGEOUS native OFG across the street!!

Not only were we stoked to see this garden but the homeowners just happened to be in it and they've agreed to come to our next workshop series to share their experiences in taking out their lawn and converting to a native landscape!

This garden was like a gem in a neighborhood full of dull turf front yards and it was full of beautiful flowers, cool stones, lighting and wildlife!

Here are a few photos of this fantastic garden which, we found out, was designed by Dave Buchanan, a native Californian and landscape designer who has been designing native landscapes since 1985!

(sorry the photos are a bit blurry, it was dusk :) If you would like to see the garden in person it is right across from the Village Creek HOA Recreation area in Encinitas but please do not disturb the homeowners...better yet, come meet them a week from Tuesday at the next OFG series!!)

Ocean Friendly Gardens are easy to implement. Here's the latest on our program in San Diego.

If you've been participating in our Ocean Friendly Gardens program, you started by attending an OFG Basics Course which is a classroom style lecture, and then a hands-on workshop.  Up next is our garden assistance day when we will actually implement an Ocean Friendly Garden with the help of our volunteers!  We chose member, Steve Roeder's home for this workshop series.  He's a long-time surfer, and although not a gardener,  very supportive of what Surfrider is trying to accomplish through our new Ocean Friendly Gardens program.  

A few weeks ago, people from all over the county met up for the hands-on workshop at his home to evaluate the yard before we change it.  It was good because other folks who want to implement Ocean Friendly Gardens could come over and review the process with Steve before they do it themselves. 

What was interesting about Steve’s yard is that it is very typical for San Diego: lots of lawn that sucks up water; gutters, downspouts and a driveway that carries runoff right into the street; and old juniper trees and other plants that aren’t native, and require lots of water.


We got together with a bunch of volunteers, and our friends at G3, The Green Gardens Group who are the experts in this field, and are helping us with the program.  After going through their site evaluation worksheets, we realized just how much water Steve was wasting, and all the things we could do to prevent run-off, and add water back to the watershed.  It was unbelievable how much water was being wasted.  Steve realized this about a year ago, and had actually stopped watering his lawn!


We measured the site, did a soil and compaction test, evaluated the irrigation set-up and requirements, and figured out a plan to help Steve go from a polluting waterhog yard, to a sustainable, Ocean Friendly Garden. Essentially he’ll be restoring the natural processes, and native habitat, which means more butterflies and wildlife will populate his yard while native plants thrive.  How cool is that?

After our evaluation, and hands on workshop, Steve decided to hire a professional landscape designer, Jeremy from Artemesia Landscape Design because it’s helpful to have someone draw up the plans, help with plant selection, and understand the implementation process.   Jeremy is a long-time Surfrider member and has been an amazing resource for folks who want to create Ocean Friendly Gardens.  His service is not free, however what is invested upfront in the design service will be saved with lower water bills, and a beautiful landscape that is low or no maintenance.

The other interesting part about this entire project, is that next door is a home that has a tropical landscape that must be costing a fortune in water bills.  I wonder if they would compare water bills with Steve when our make-over’s complete?

If you would like to help us out on the day of transformation, please email Dylan@surfridersd.org, our volunteer who runs the program locally, or if you would prefer to just check out what we're doing, simply stop by and say "hi" on 6/6 sometime between 10a.m. - 4p.m.

Oh the Insanity!!!

World Water Day marked the premiere of Surfrider's new short film, the Cycle of Insanity, as well as the official kickoff of the Know Your H2O and Ocean Friendly Gardens Programs.

The animated 20 minute film addressed with humor and clarity the differences between the water cycle as we learn it in elementary school and the much darker and more complicated water cycle that really brings water into our homes and landscapes.

Funny and sometimes scary the film easily slides from runoff pollution to desalination to rain barrels and, in SchoolHouse Rock style, presents in layman's terms all of the problems and solutions that must be addressed with our current water cycle.

Click here to view this must see film: http://vimeo.com/10328536

Or you can access it through Surfrider San Diego's website at: http://www.surfridersd.org/

ALSO: Stay tuned for more info on OFG's NEW series of garden workshops starting April 7th or click here for more info and to sign up!! http://www.surfridersd.org/ofg.php