Chaparral.

Drought-resilient Rockridge — natives, gravel, restraint.

Plate
12
Location
Oakland Rockridge, California
Site
0.28 acres
Scope
II · Design + build

Status

Design + build · Scope II · year-round Stewardship

Begin a similar brief All plates

I.PLATE 12 · INTRODUCTION

The brief,
in short.

A small Rockridge front yard, replanted as a chaparral palette. Manzanita, ceanothus, salvia, gravel paths. No irrigation after Year 2. The water bill dropped 38 percent in the first full year on the new plan.

II.I. THE BRIEF

The brief

A working couple. Newer to the house, frustrated by the water bill on the prior owner's lawn. They wanted something native and dry-tolerant that would still read as cared-for from the street.

PLATE 12.A · Manzanita drift, year three

III.II. THE SITE

The site

Twenty-eight hundredths of an acre, mostly front yard. Sun half the day. The prior planting was lawn over compacted clay — we removed eight inches of clay before any new planting went in.

Path stones — PLATE 12.B · Salvaged sandstone path

IV.III. THE INTERVENTION

III

The intervention

Lawn out. A stepping-stone path from sidewalk to porch in salvaged sandstone. Drifts of Arctostaphylos 'Howard McMinn' and Ceanothus 'Yankee Point' provide the structure. Salvia clevelandii at the porch edge for the smell. The whole thing is mulched with crushed gravel; rain percolates instead of running.

V.IV. THE PLANTING

The planting

Chaparral palette. Manzanita is the spine; ceanothus is the bloom; salvia is the smell. Eriogonum and Achillea fill in. We held back on accents because the structure does the work. Year three we added one Quercus agrifolia at the back corner — a slow promise.

VI.V. MAINTENANCE PLAN

Maintenance plan

Year-round Stewardship. Monthly through the growing season; quarterly in winter. No irrigation after summer of year two. The water bill ran $84/month before; first full year on the new plan averaged $52. Owner reads the meter.

VII.MATERIALS · PLANT SCHEDULE

4 MATERIALS · 6 SPECIES

MATERIALS