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Simple Graywater Systems for Landscapes
I attended a demonstration in Petaluma by Daily Acts, a Sonoma County non-profit, of their graywater system, which was the first permitted residential system in Sonoma County. The workshop was given...
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A Greener Lawn & Lawn Mower
As part of our new demonstration garden at our office here in Petaluma we installed a native turfgrass lawn with subsurface irrigation. This represents a leap forward in water efficiency and...
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Saving the Bay
If you haven’t had a chance to see the excellent four part documentary on KQED channel 9, Saving the Bay, it is a great history of the amazing natural feat of San Francisco Bay and it’s trials and...
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A More Sustainable Thanksgiving
For more and more landscape projects a key consideration is the hot topic of sustainable best practices, environmental impact, and how best to green projects. This drive to green everything from...
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The Benefits of Green Roofs
For all those homeowners considering garden roofs, this rapidly developing specialty of landscape construction offers many sustainable benefits beyond just the wow factor of directly integrating garden...
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More on Living Roofs
There was another green roof article in this month’s NorthBay Biz, Up on the Roof, profiling the rooftop installation at the Academy of Sciences in San Francisco and a couple of projects in the North...
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Bay Friendly- Apologizing to the Bay!
After attending a recent Marin County Bay Friendly Landscaper training session, I was so thoroughly impressed with the curriculum of the Bay Friendly Program and the quality of the speakers for the...
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From the Drawing Board: Penngrove Medditeranean Garden
This project in Penngrove had a front landscape that had served its purpose. The design solution integrated a path and seating area, while pulling out the old lawn. A water feature tucked into one...
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An Alternative to Grout
In the past few years there have been interesting developments in alternatives to grout and traditional joint fillers for flagstone and paver installations. Ecosystems Grout sells a Eurogrout product...
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Handling Storm Water Storage
With storm water regulations getting more and more strict, keeping drainage and storm water on-site has become more and more important. The best way to handle storm water on a site is grade the side to...
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Green Building Products- Green Fusion Design Center
A good source for ecologically friendly building products is Green Fusion Design Center in San Anselmo. Green Fusion’s mission is, as described on their website: “to promote the understanding and use...
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Preparing Your Garden for Drought
Click here for an easy to read .pdf version of this article Water agencies across California are bracing for a drought year, and either preparing or have already implemented water restrictions. As...
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Italgreen- An Environmental Option for Synthetic Turf
With the increasing options available with synthetic turf, and the environmental benefits of not requiring watering, mowing, or fertilization, more people are considering synthetic turf alternatives....
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Save Water with Irrigation Upgrades
Concerned about possible water rationing in the near future, a client in Ross that we have done work for over the years wanted to upgrade the old portions of her irrigation system to be more water...
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Heritage Salvage- Good resource for recycled materials
With the high cost of quality lumber and reduced availability of good wood materials for building, Heritage Salvage in Petaluma is an excellent resource for recycled and salvaged building materials....
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Smart Controllers Made Easy- Hunter’s Solar Sync
I just had a meeting with our local rep from Hunter Irrigation. We use Hunter Controllers frequently on our projects. They have just launched a new smart controller module, Solar Sync, which adjusts...
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Bay Area Source for Rubber Mulch
Rubber mulch is gaining popularity in landscapes as an alternative material to woodchips for play areas and for landscape mulching. Rubber mulch has a higher absorption rate for playgrounds and a good...
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Synthetic Lawns & Play Space Installations
We are just working on finishing up a couple of projects in San Rafael and Mill Valley that incorporate play friendly synthetic turf with play structures and basketball courts. The owners of both...
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Sunset Magazine Article- Synthetic Turf
There is a good article and overview in this month’s Sunset Magazine about synthetic turf and the pros and cons of the material versus natural lawn and other alternatives. The author’s experience in a...
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Kentfield Tiered Putting Green
This large synthetic turf putting green for a project in Kentfield featured two distinct tiers and varied hole locations to create a visually interesting and challenging green. One of the keys for...
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