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04.11.11

“Garden Raising” Brings Out Neighbors & Surfrider Members

After the the owners of this Long Beach home (pictured at right) had worked with landscape professional to create a asses their site, create a design and come with a list of materials to purchase, they worked with the Long Beach Surfrider Chapter's OFG Sub-Committe to organize a Garden Assistance Party (GAP).

The professional with G3/The Green Gardens Group work with the owners and Surfrider volunteers to create a plan for the Saturday workday:

  • Finish up the redirection of the rain gutter downspout into the garden;
  • Build healthy soil through “sheet mulching” - opening up the soil to let air in, applying compost tea, laying down painters paper, piling on compost and mulch;
  • Install plants and drip irrigation.

The G3 professional acted like the teacher of an adult education class, plus a coach, leading everyone through each step of the workday so it was a learning opportunity. It was great to see other landscape professionals attend and learn how they could lead such workdays.

Funding to cover the cost of hiring the G3 professional came from a trio of sources:

  • The Chaptef Sub-Com't put up $100 because this was the first site they worked on and they wanted to ensure a good training event for new volunteers and also a CPR-applied demonstration to which to return for Lawn Patrols (neighborhood walks);
  • Attendees were asked to make a suggested donation of $10 since they were learning, like at an adult education class;
  • The owners paid the difference between what was raise from the donations from the Chapter and participants. This was well worth it, since the owners were getting free help!

Now it's a beautiful Ocean Friendly Garden! Address: 2636 Maine Ave., Long Beach, CA 90806. Read about the planning that went into this transformation here.