LC DBM Marketplace, November 2013
Information Request # 267
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Lush but Sustainable
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San Luis Obispo County, on
California's Central Coast, receives almost all of its rainfall
from November to April. Many
residents, like Craig and Mimi
Van Rooyen, are exchanging their
water-hungry lawns for droughttolerant outdoor spaces.
Tey chose Gabriel Frank of
Gardens by Gabriel to design
and install a landscape that was
water-wise but also beautiful with
a focus on clean, curvilinear lines,
strong swaths of plants, and subtle, sweeping movement.
Frank planted native grasses
that are adapted to the lack of water, senecio and agaves that store
water in their leaves, and gaillardias and kangaroo paws that
bloom freely, despite the heat.
Tis garden uses less than half the
Site Amenities
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30
water consumed by a lawn of the
same size.
Other elements include radius benches custom-built with
cedar and ipe by Todd Lewis;
one capped with a smooth slab
of concrete by Maysun Wells of
Wells Concrete Works.
Wells also poured and crafed
a 30-inch fountain water bowl
and a 50-inch fre bowl. A concrete artisan, Wells is proud of his
work's elements of sustainability.
"My mix includes fy ash as a
partial substitute for the cement
content," he says. "Fly ash is the
residue generated in coal combustion in factories and power plants.
I also get wine bottles from local
bars and restaurants, break them
up, and use them in my pieces as a
decorative element."