Soil Maintenance – the Secret to Healthy Plants!

One of the keys to maintaining native and climate-appropriate plants in your sustainable landscape is the health of the soil.  Plant roots utilize and store nutrients in the soil environment, so it is essential that the soil contains what the roots need!   

Can’t I Just Add Fertilizer?

It is not necessary to spend your money on chemical fertilizers to ensure healthy plants. Besides, chemical fertilizers are not good for the water cycle.  When they get washed off into storm drains and then flow to the ocean, these nitrogen-rich fertilizers cause a rapid growth in algae that negatively affect fish and other aquatic life.  … Read more >>

A Dirty Recipe for Perfect Soil

 

 

One of our recent blogs gave you an idea of why organic soil is better for your plants than dousing your garden with chemicals. Here are the key components of healthy soil, explained:

 

Sand, Silt, and Clay

These materials comprise the texture of soil. While the three are comprised of rocks and minerals, they vary in composition and size. Sand is the largest grain, followed by silt, and then clay.

Organic Matter

Organic matter consists of decomposed branches, leaves, bark, roots, plants, insects, and animals.… Read more >>

Getting Water-Wise about our Cistern!

Is this a scene from a scary movie?

Does an evil clown lurk down here?

 

Is a local acting group doing a cult film reenactment?

 

NOPE. THE TRUTH IS MUCH MORE TERRIFYING.

This is our underground cistern: it provides a smart way to collect and store up to 216,000 GALLONS of rainwater, which we use for park maintenance during extreme heat or drought. The scary thing is, sustainable water technology like this isn’t widespread in Los Angeles; and more frighteningly, we let 100 BILLION GALLONS of rainwater go to waste every year.… Read more >>

A Night to Remember: An Evening Under the Harvest Moon

 

On one of the first fall evenings of 2018, a cool breeze blew through Coldwater Canyon Park, sending the fallen leaves of our deciduous trees dancing down the winding hiking trails.

At the top of the hill, the TreePeople Conference center bustled with energy as our massive cistern was transformed into a grand ballroom under the stars. String lights shone over dining tables, elegant place settings glowed in the soft light, massive bouquets of mauve, blush, and mulberry-colored flowers dotted the scene, and caterers weaved through the gathering crowd with trays of drinks and miniature hors d’oeuvres catered by Schaeffer’s.… Read more >>

The Green California Schools & Community Colleges Summit and Exposition will be in Pasadena October 29-30, 2018!

Attention educators and school administrators! 2018 Green California Schools and Community Colleges Summit and Exposition will be coming to the Pasadena Convention Center October 29-30, 2018. 

The nation’s first statewide green schools event, the conference focuses on the strategies, best practices, and technologies needed to create healthy, high-performance learning environments for California students.

The opening session on October 29 will feature author and Green Schoolyards America founder Sharon Danks while State Architect Chet Widom will speak in a keynote breakfast on October 30.… Read more >>

Imagine a Day Without Water

A message from Value of Water Campaign

For people who work in the water sector, on water protection, or create water technology, you know the importance of water. But most Americans turn on the tap or flush the toilet without thinking twice about the incredible systems that bring water to them and take it away safely, 24/7/365.

That’s were Imagine a day without water comes in. The U.S. needed a designated day for everyone who cares about water to come together with one voice and ask Americans to think… can you imagine a day without water?… Read more >>

The Future of California Water is in Your Hands!

We’re only a few weeks out from election day and we want to remind you to vote YES on Prop 3!

The bond will invest $8.877 billion dollars in California water infrastructure, including key categories like safe drinking water, Sustainable Groundwater Management (SGMA) implementation, watershed restoration, fish and wildlife habitat conservation, infrastructure repair, and many other important water management programs.

Last month, Prop 3 was officially endorsed by The Nature Conservancy, Audubon California, and the California Council of Land Trusts!… Read more >>

Where Will You Save Our Water?

Every year in Los Angeles, we pump 85% of our water to our city from hundreds of miles away. Meanwhile, over 100 billion gallons of rainwater are lost and polluted simply because we don’t have the infrastructure to collect it properly.

This precious, free resource goes to waste and harms the environment as it moves.

Massive issues like this one force us to ask ourselves, “where can I save water?”

 

You can save water here.

Water flows through our streets and across parking lots, picking up trash and pollution as it goes.… Read more >>

Sustainable Gardening- A New Maintenance Reality

As more Angelenos convert their yards from traditional gardens of thirsty plants and lawns to more sustainable landscapes, they are seeing some welcome bonuses. For one thing, weekly, lawn mowing, and hedge trimming can now be a thing of the past!

Believe it or not, traditional yards take up more time and resources than those covered with mulch and climate-appropriate and native plants. Embracing sustainable landscapes will not only help to decrease your water use and the amount of green waste you create, but also decrease the time it takes to maintain your yard.… Read more >>

Forest Aid: TreePeople and Boeing Launch A New Campaign for Healthy Forests and Fire Resilience

“Trees need people and people need trees,” chanted 50 elementary students from Sylmar and Inglewood, making branch shapes with their arms. The students – on field trips to Coldwater Canyon Park for the kick-off event – joined Cal Fire, LA Conservation Corps, Junior Rangers, Spectrolabs, and Sen. Bob Hertzberg on September 7 to cheer at the announcement of the new initiative in mountain forest restoration. With a $1 million legacy gift from our partners at Boeing, Forest Aid will mobilize communities, businesses, schools, and others to mitigate the effects of years of devastating fires and restore healthy forests.… Read more >>