A sustainable house and neighborhood uses water, building materials, and fuel efficiently, enhances sustainable recreation and transportation, and doesn't burn up in a wildfire. All are worthy goals that are hard to achieve for individuals and communities. There are resources available to help in all these areas.
Your first step may be to look at thoughtful outdoor garden designs that protect your home and neighborhood with fire-resistant plants and trees. The California Native Plant Society (CNPS) is an incredible resource, particularly its Firewise Garden Design site. Share this resource with your neighbors during the annual block party, Town Hall, or City Council meetings.
An excellent resource that helps save water, use plants native to your area, and mitigate harm due to wildfires is Calscape, another work of love created for us by the folks at CNPS. Here's what it says on the Calscape homepage:
Cultivate California's wild side in your backyard with Calscape. We make it easy for you to select, find, and grow locally native plants that support California's unique biodiversity and wildlife.
There are endless resources on the Calscape site. You can begin by browsing all of the above, then perhaps start planning your new garden, redo, or lawn replacement. The garden planner will have you choose an emphasis from a list that includes low water, easy to maintain, friendly to pollinators, and bird-friendly. You'll pick your garden's level of sun exposure and choose your ecoregion and local landscape: chaparral, coastal scrub, desert, riparian, meadow and grassland, or woodland. Click here for photos of each local landscape. Then, you download your list of appropriate plants based on your values and see examples of proper garden designs.
On the site, you can find native plants based on water use, sun availability, and availability at nurseries in your area. You can get design help to save water, support wildlife, and more. Click on Find Nurseries to find nurseries that share your commitment to sustainable, climate-friendly, and beautiful yards. You can find landscape professionals who will help you design and care for your garden sustainably. More suggestions are in our 2023 article "5 Firewise Landscaping Tips for A Safer and Beautiful Yard."
Sign up and start your planting adventures!
Photo by Michele Nikoloff
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