San Mateo County has officially entered a severe drought phase according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. After the area’s last drought in 2015, residents throughout the county sought ways to integrate water wise practices into their gardening and landscaping practices.
Here’s an example from one such resident who was kind enough to share her story and project pictures with Flows To Bay. Marlene from San Mateo writes:
“From 2015-2017, we attended sustainable landscape workshops in the Peninsula, South Bay, and East Bay. In 2017, we redesigned our back and front yards merging Asian design elements with sustainable practices. For the backyard, we sheet mulched our lawn, reused existing bricks and sidewalk, acquired rocks from a neighbor’s disassembled rock wall, and channeled the downspout rainwater to a dry creek.
We also added California native plants to attract birds and bees as well as a lemon bush that was sized to reduce green waste. No chemicals were used during or after the landscaping. During the rainy season, the dry creek fills up and acts like a giant rain gauge by the amount it fills up and the rate it empties.
The ground surrounding the dry creek stays quite moist and our large tree stays much greener throughout the year because of the water saturation from the creek.”
Have Your Own Water Wise Project You Would Like To Share?
Simply fill out the form below and upload your images. You can also email your story and images directly to info@flowstobay.org.