Coastkeeper Garden

• Why? Urban landscapes contribute significantly to coastal pollution mainly through inappropriate gardening practices such as over-watering, poor run-off management, and over-use of pesticides and fertilizers. The California Friendly ® and native plants featured at the Coastkeeper Garden will require less water, fertilizers, and herbicides than our typical landscaping choices. The Coastkeeper Garden will also highlight new and improved technologies such as ET controllers, drip irrigation, alternative turf, and reservoir style patio containers that decrease water use. Other Garden features include:

• Education: A wealth of educational opportunities exists at the Coastkeeper Garden.  The purpose of the Garden is to teach the community about the importance of individual stewardship in protecting our natural resources. Activities will range from field trips for school children to college research projects, drought tolerant landscape demonstrations and classes on local natural history.

Vision:

According to the California Urban Water Conservation Council (2005), demonstration gardens “increase the public’s awareness of the importance of landscape water use efficiency and inspire them to action.”   Our vision is that Garden visitors will adopt a new gardening culture. Our sustainable Garden will: promote self-sufficiency with regard to materials and maintenance, increase public access to open space and gathering places; increase urban canopy cover and ecological habitats; reconnect residents to our native habitats; and create new standards for aesthetic and landscape management in parks and urban landscapes.

Our Objectives:

• Preserve our Natural Heritage- As Orange County moves closer to build-out, native species of plants, birds, butterflies, and wildlife will be negatively impacted. Local residents will become more disconnected from the natural environment. The Coastkeeper Garden will increase public awareness of the importance of preserving our native habitats by representing them in a public garden. It is our hope that garden visitors will encourage their public leaders to utilize public space in order to preserve our natural heritage.
• Promote Drought Tolerant Landscaping- Over fifty percent of Orange County’s water is used for landscaping, including parks, urban lawns and golf courses.  As options for increasing imported water supplies dwindle, residents will need to adopt a conservation lifestyle to meet future water needs. Experts agree that outdoor use can be reduced up to forty percent with proper irrigation technology and drought tolerant plants. The Coastkeeper Garden will offer practical landscaping advice on how residents and public agencies can significantly reduce their water use.
• Reduce Urban Runoff- Inefficient landscape water use generates urban runoff that pollutes our waterways and coastal areas. Beach postings and closures due to bacterial laden urban runoff have plagued Orange County for years. Volunteers and visitors to the Coastkeeper Garden will learn how their current behaviors could be negatively impacting our coast and corrective actions that can be taken to improve the environment.

Major Supporters of the Coastkeeper Garden:

Thank you to our other Garden supporters: