Evaluating your site will help you understand it, whether you can do the work yourself or hire a professional. It's also good to have a sense of what you want when working with a professional.
Here is link to a complete retrofit handbook. Though it was created for the County of Los Angeles, CA, the steps are transferable across the nation (excluding the plant lists).
These guides are based on the handbook above and, like it, were created by Surfrider OFG partner, G3/The Green Gardens Group:
- Making a Site Plan - your final design drawing can be something as simple as the one pictured at right. It can be drawn on graph paper, with each square representing one foot or more.
- Creating a Rain Garden - meaning, a planted basin fed by a rainwater
Other steps to retrofitting your landscape include:
- Converting to Drip Irrigation
- Determining your soil type (helps with choosing the right plant) and see if the soil is compacted