SanJoseGreenHome.com

A small bungalow front yard is reborn as a shady woodland oasis of natives centered by a naturalistic fountain accented with metal sculpture.  As you’ll read on, you’ll notice from the photo tour that this new garden shows that sustainable landscaping can be accomplished through DIY talent and on a shoe-string budget when working closely with a professional landscape designer.

The home owners of this Craftsman style home in College Park area of San Jose already prided themselves living a green and sustainable life style.  But there was still some unfinished business – their water thirsty lawn.  So they decided to say goodbye to their front lawn and concrete hardscape and figure out a way to design a new, water wise yard on a budget.  They were receptive to many sustainable suggestions including: turf rebate programs, lawn removal, water-wise irrigation, flagstone installation, planting natives and storm water management.

Fact is, if you have the time, patience and willing to learn, you can do a lot on your own.  Here is what I mean… Size of the lawn was 900 square feet.  For about $5 a square foot, I designed the plans and coached my clients through their installation.  They did the install themselves but I helped them locate materials and assisted them in receiving an $800 water rebate by removing their lawn.  Total cost?  (more…)

Bay Area water suppliers expect there will not be enough water for their customers by 2018.

Water. It’s difficult to say we lack it during this el-nino year.  You look outside, nothing but rain.  You open your faucet, it doesn’t run out.  It seems like it’s always there in unlimited quantities.  Hence lies a dangerous illusion that water has always been there and always will.  However, there’s been a lot of buzz lately about the shortage of this precious commodity.  Some even call water the next gold.

After all, gold values have risen in the last several years. Will water too? Bay Area water suppliers expect there will not be enough water for their customers by 2018. So what does this mean for us and our homes? It means we can expect the water bill to get bigger.  Much bigger.

Have you seen all the hub-bub being made about the EPA filing on rainwater runoff? You can read the actual filing if you like.  Basically, the tax would be levied on new and newly redeveloped sites that do not meet certain requirements for control of storm water discharge. Closer to home, Deputy GM of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission Michael Carlin indicated that San Francisco Bay Area households that pay $63/mo for water can expect to pay $128 in 2018. To top it off, the cap on the water that can be drawn from the Hetch Hetchy in 2018 won’t be enough for residents – it will be short by (more…)

Credit: Texture from ~diAnNa~, Inspired by this pre-made background by ~vallendesterstock

So Mary, how does it grow?  With wisely planted trees and shrubs, and many sunny days without rain in a row.  It’s called water-wise gardening my friends. 

Did you know an average Bay Area home uses almost 80% of its total potable water for simply watering the lawn and plants?  What would you say if you found out you can have a glorious looking landscape by spilling a drop instead of a bucket to water it?  Just imagine the water savings and your water bill at the end of the month.  In fact, read on and I’ll tell you where you can get a $1000 rebate for going water-wise! 

Don’t be afraid, “sustainable” landscaping doesn’t mean rocks and once a year blooming cactus. By understanding our climate zone, soil type, sun and shade conditions, and the water requirements of your site, you can have lush and beautiful garden if you practice some fundamental principles of water conservation. 

Why Landscape to Conserve Water? 

Drought is a part of the natural weather cycle of the West. Even though we have been able to import water from other areas, our population is rapidly outgrowing existing water supplies. In the years ahead, water conservation and water-wise landscaping will need to become a part of every westerner’s lifestyle. 

Use water conserving plants: The key is to choose plants that are (more…)

It’s been official for months now – California again is facing water crisis. Unusually dry and hot weather had eroded our priceless Sierra snowpack, the supply of much of our water.  Our local reservoirs have been low for years now. In addition, water demand in beautiful state is growing each year and our sources of water are drying up.

Climate change models demonstrate that California will become a much drier place in our lifetimes.  Not only precipitation will likely decrease, but our precious Sierra snowpack is expected to shrink and leave of only with 10% of its current capacity.

Even more interesting, according to the California Energy Commission, 20% of our state’s electricity is used for the treatment and pumping of water.  Groundwater pumping has greatly shrunk our underground aquifers.  Parts of the San Joaquin Valley has now seen soil level drop 50’ from the removal of groundwater. Every single river in California has been dammed, wiping out fish populations, including endangered Chinook salmon. Two out of five most endangered rivers in the U.S. are in California. 

Let’s face it; this is not our grandkid’s head ache. Very soon water will become a treasured commodity.  Sadly, you’d never know it by the way we are dumping it down the drain. A traditional home has potable water piped in from a local water supplier. Amazingly, one half of this water is used for irrigation, where potable water is absolutely unnecessary. Almost all the remainder is used for non-potable water needs in the house, where it is then flushed down the drain to our local sewage treatment plant.

Now that sewage plant spends an enormous amount of time, money and energy treating this so called “greywater” like raw sewage.  This makes no sense, does it?

Here are two ways to re-use water already available to us (more…)