REGENERATIVE LANDSCAPING

Regenerative landscaping includes practices for sustainability but goes deeper by prioritizing practices that improve the ecosystem and land. These are ways to combat climate change.

There are many strageties for regenerative landscaping. Some of our favorites:

Smart irrigation controllers
Drip irrigation systems with hydro-zones defined by plant needs
Earthworks and subsurface water infiltration systems to manage stormwater runoff and erosion
Generous amount of compost layered onto the soil before planting and topped by a thick layer of wood mulch
Water features to for habitat
Biodiverse plantings of native and mediterranean species

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THE BENEFITS ...

SOIL HEALTH: By rebuilding soil and increasing organic matter, regenerative landscapes can help rebuild the soil ecosystem, and replace soil carbon that has been lost to the atmosphere.

WATER MANAGEMENT: Regenerative landscapes can improve the water cycle, reduce water consumption, and help with stormwater and flood resilience.

PLANT HEALTH: Regenerative landscapes can support native and drought-tolerant plants, and reduce the need for pesticides.

BIODIVERSITY: Regenerative landscapes can increase biodiversity and support better habitats.

MAINTENANCE: Regenerative landscapes can require less maintenance and have lower capital construction costs.

IRRIGATION

Its imperative to have an optimally designed water-wise irrigation system. The majority of plants can best be watered with drip irrigation (not sprinklers) to minimize evaporation and runoff. With hydro-zones designed for plant needs, each plant will get no more and no less water than it needs. In urban spaces with mixed planting areas, i.e. trees & shrubs, perennials, and possibly even annual vegetables, this often means overlapping these zones.

Final part of this water-wise system is to use a WiFi-based smart controller which follows your local weather real-time, adjusting the watering programs as needed.

WATER INFILTRATION BASINS

100+ YEARS OF EROSION ...

The property below had a slope of ~30% from the street to the rear property line, and the slope continues in numerous directions onto the downhill 3 neighboring properties. These Cragmont, Berkeley lots were "developed" in the late 1800s. Fast forward to 2023, this homeowner sat atop a washed out hillside (full of old failed attempts to retain the soil). They needed the space to be accessible to all ages and not chopped up into terraces so the dogs could run freely.

We graded the main hillside into a dominant slope, adding a retaining wall along the side perimeter, then added a wide curving pathway down the hillside. At the upper patio (level with the most uphill downspot from the cottage roof), we dug our first subsurface water infiltration basin. We created basins stepped down the hillside, under the path. There are 7 basins total fed by stormwater from 6 downspots on the cottage roof. As storm water fills the basins (~ 8' x 4' x 2"D), it has an opportunity to slowly seep back into the earth. If a basin fills, it overflows into the basin below, preventing excess at the surface. The water holding capacity of these basins is vast; not only is their landscape protected from erosion but they've been accountable to the properties below. And the beautiful side-effect is that less water is needed by plants during the dry season.

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Allowing rain water to seep back into the earth is one of the most powerful things we can do to restore the climate, especially in urban environments with so many cars and concrete (with oily toxic runoff) stopping most of this recycling.

The traditional solution for home drainage problems is to drain the water "away", tto the street and munipal drains. This is ridiculous. We need this water in the land.

But what about rain and stormwater that cause problems? If we can slow down the flow, allowing this water to infiltrate the ground, we create spongy soil that will continue to absorb more rain, storing it for when our plants need it (and preventing mudslides). Slowing the flow is improved directly by the amount of water that can be slowed and stored, thus greatly reducing erosion problems AND nurturing the land.

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DID I MENTION THAT NONE OF THIS IS VISIBLE ABOVE GROUND?

FLAT LAND APPLICATION

Similar concepts and techniques can be applied on flat land. Creating a dry creek bed, fed by downspots, moves stormwater away from the home, slowing it down to allow for recharing the groundwater.

This first example shows the dry creek ending at a self-contained pond.

Photography: Earthly Sites, Jacob Giddens

SOIL AMENDING + PERMEABLE SURFACES

We must feed the earth. In our small urban spaces, most of the "native" soil is actually construction in-fill (junk), heavily compacted and has had all the life sucked out of it. Using permeable surfaces allows not only water to infiltrate but air and other organisms. Adding nutriend dense organic matter is the key to revitalizing soil. Many different forms of organic matter exist, even liquids that take little room.