Your Green Pal. May 10, 2019. By Gene Caballero: It is no secret, that the American Landscape includes a lot of amazing cities. So we picked a few select cities which really stood out above the rest.
Here are s ome very thoughtfully designed cities and their stories, as told by the people that live there. Read More
Photo: Chris Cimino, City of Sierra Madre
Mountain View News. February 2, 2019. By Deanne Davis: You guys probably know all about bioswales, but until a few days ago, I had never heard of them. Then I saw pictures of our bioswales at work and was enthralled. Read More
Suzanne Haller, a 20 year member of the LA Arboretum’s compulsive gardening class, an Arboretum volunteer, and an active member of the Sierra Madre Garden Club, describes what it took to bring the Authentic Foothill Gardens to life.
This more than 9000 square demonstration garden contains seven separate gardens that exemplify the fire wise, chaparral/sun, shade, rain, edible, IdealMow lawn/meadow and wildlife-attracting foliage authentic to LA’s foothills. Bioswales, rain barrels and the latest smart irrigation systems are helping the city rebuild its water independance and support its resilience to fire, floods, and slides. A pergola, picnic tables, and meandering trails encourage visitors to enjoy the gardens, while clear and ample signage helps those who want to replicate the look.
The gardens were designed by Isara Ongwiseth of FormLA Landscaping, funded by community organizations and residents, and installed in collaboration with more than 75 community volunteers.
Inspiration
Goals
Drivers
Budget
Funders
Challenges
Returns on Investment
Strategies to Replicate
Timeline
Date: Saturday, September 8, 2018
Time: 10:30-12 pm and 1-2:30 pm
Location: Descanso Gardens, Van de Kamp Hall
Tickets: $15, Reserve First Panel, Reserve Second Panel
This multifaceted seminar, hosted by LA’s iconic Descanso Gardens, will explore the many ways in which our public landscapes and private gardens can mitigate or exacerbate LA’s potential natural disasters. The seminar will be comprised of two seminars, each featuring a local Sierra Madre expert, which can be taken together or as individual classes.
10:30-noon, Van de Kamp Hall
Seemingly unstoppable fires raged throughout the west in 2017, and California counted heavy losses in lives and property. Learn what combustible, invasive plant life to avoid, which plants have protective qualities, and which design strategies best protect homes from fire-wise landscape experts including:
1-2:30 pm, Van de Kamp Hall
Our minds often skip over the spaces between our public buildings and our roads, be they expanses of turf grass, weed-filled or paved medians. These places can be harnessed to increase LA’s resilience, mitigating our fire, flood and slide danger, and also increasing our neighborhoods’ social capital and home values.
Learn how to transform the tragedy of the commons into a powerful tool for building your neighborhood’s fortune. Our expert panel represents communities who have successfully transformed common spaces from the foothills to the beach, from the Valley to South LA. Expert panelists include:
Attendees will learn about the processes, people and resources it takes to transform community space, and the various models that have led to success.
Theodore Payne Foundation for Wildflowers and Native Plants featured the Authentic Foothill Gardens at Sierra Madre City Hall on its 2018 tour. People from throughout LA visited the garden to gain ideas and tips for creating their own gardens, both residential and public.
Here are a few highlights!
Have a home with a yard? Then you might be pining to plant something to make it lush. Only problem is, many homeowners are at sea in big-box garden centers, selecting species that just won’t thrive—or even survive—in their yards.
To the rescue, we’ve asked some green thumb experts for the biggest mistakes people make planting (and caring for) trees and shrubs. Read up on these bloopers to avoid before you dig in! Read More
Realtor.com. March 29, 2018. By Jennifer Geddes: What are the best trees for privacy, shade, and your yard in general? Such questions are well worth asking, since not all flora are created equal. For instance, certain trees are yard maintenance nightmares. Other trees give and give—keeping you cool under the hot sun, shielding you from nosy neighbors, bearing fruit, and sprouting flowers—the list of benefits goes on and on! Read More
(This features the Sycamores of the Authentic Foothill Gardens!)
Two years after residents, city workers, and FormLA Landscaping installed the Authentic Foothill Gardens at Sierra Madre City Hall, they have become a cherished resource and destination point.
“We regularly see kids coming through the garden with their parents, stopping to check on the plants they planted,” noted Rebecca Silva-Barrón, Acting Community Services Manager, City of Sierra Madre. “It also gets regular visits from Kensington residents on their strolls.”
Suzanne Haller joined an anniversary celebration hosted by the city, and described how the Sierra Madre Garden Club and Sierra Madre Community Foundation brought the project to life.
“Glenn Putnam had a vision for what this space could be. It took a lot of work to get people on board at the time, but this is it. We now have what he envisioned,” noted Suzanne Haller, whose work with the Garden Club was instrumental to getting the garden project started and funded.
Haller went on to note, “Elisa Cox, our assistant city manager at the time, was a very effective champion for the project. I’m happy she’s here to celebrate with us today.”
The anniversary celebration kicked off with a tour of the gardens led by its designers, Cassy Aoyagi and Isara Ongwiseth of FormLA Landscaping. Ongwiseth noted the care he gave to respecting Sierra Madre’s well established treeful, leafy aesthetic and the region’s history as a breadbasket, while Aoyagi noted the importance of plant selection to the resilience of the region.
Aoyagi speaks to KABC about how plant choice at the Authentic Foothill Gardens helps Sierra Madre mitigate fire danger: 10-21 at 32:18
“This lush, leafy, green aesthetic is truly authentic to this region,” said Ongwiseth. “It unifies nature with our modern sensibilities and needs, our past and our present as a community.”
The garden also addresses practical needs of the city as well as the region. City of Sierra Madre Management Analyst James Carlson, who also represents the Rio Hondo and San Gabriel Valley Water Quality Group, demonstrated the importance of the gardens’ bioswale features to the region’s water quality. “The decisions we make now, here, impact everything from the quality of our drinking water to ocean health and whether or not we experience flooding.”
There are so many stories to tell here, noted Haller. “People need to know we can transform our communities.”
The Theodore Payne Foundation for Wildflowers and Native Plants, the San Gabriel Municipal Water District, West Coast Arborists, and the US Green Building Council were all on hand to answer resident and visitor questions. The Sierra Madre Girl Scouts, many of whom helped install the garden, provided refreshments and joined the tour as well.
The Compulsive Gardeners Class, a sold-out gardening class hosted by the LA Arboretum, included the Authentic Foothill Gardens as one of its Fall 2017 programs.
Class members include garden enthusiasts who travel from throughout the LA area to attend, first met at the Arboretum to discuss the vision behind the gardens. Designers Cassy Aoyagi and Isara Ongwiseth of FormLA Landscaping outlined their approach, which requires unifying a community’s modern aesthetic with the look and needs of its authentic natural environment.
“In Southern California, we’ve become disconnected from what is natural and authentic to this place. Many associate LA with imported foliage – palm trees, cacti, birds of paradise, roses. The truth is our natural look is lush, leafy, and treeful. That is very compatible with Sierra Madre’s modern aesthetic,” noted Ongwiseth.
Class members then toured the gardens.
FormLA Landscaping President Cassy Aoyagi detailed the gardens’ intended impact as attendees walked paths through the vibrant, blooming gardens. She emphasized the control residents have in preventing what are often viewed as inevitable natural disasters.
“Each feature and plant supports Sierra Madre and the region’s resilience,” said Aoyagi. “We want our gardens to act as sponges to prevent flooding – bioswales and planted space address that need. We need to avoid invasive, flammable plants and choose natives that thrive in our high heat and natural rainfall. Those choices mitigate fire danger.”
The tour was coordinated by Suzanne Haller, a member of the Compulsive Gardeners, the Sierra Madre Garden Club, and a resident involved in bringing the gardens to life. Haller noted, “People need to understand just how much we can accomplish with our gardens. I’m hopeful others will be inspired to follow Sierra Madre’s lead.”
Thank you for joining us to celebrate the second anniversary of the Authentic Foothill Gardens! Stay tuned, we’ll be posting photos of the event soon.
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