Resilient-and-Sustainable-Landscape-Design-for-School-Campuses-1

Playa Vista Elementary • High salinity along with border-line high Boron and off the charts Sulfate readings • Normal soil pH • Provide a list of reclaimed water tolerant plants • Apply

Resilient and Sustainable Landscape Design for

School Campuses

Presenters:

Gary Lai, Senior Associate, ASLA, RLA, LEED BD + C Katharine Rudnyk, Urban Horticulturalist

We Californians have a few water issues

MOST CALIFORNIANS GET OUR WATER FROM AFAR

WATER IS A FINITE

RESOURCE

•California receives 200 million Feet

Acre-•78 million Acre Feet is run-off

•(Acre Foot of water =325,851 gallons)

•(Acre Foot services 5-8 people, but does not include deliveries to

Agriculture or industry)

•Current Population of CA: 37.7 million

•Projected Population 2050: 50-60

million

CALIFORNIA SNOW PACK

CURRENT CALIFORNIA GROUND WATER SUPPLIES

HISTORICAL RAINFALL TOTALS IN LOS ANGELES

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA POPULATION

GROWTH

Ventura San Bernardino

Riverside

Orange

Los Angeles

DWELL ON DESIGN - LOS ANGELES, CA

19th Century landscapes

wrapped around 21st Century schools

STANDARD UNDERSTORY PLANTING

DIRECT UNDERSTORY SUBSTITUTION

WATER REQUIREMENTS

Current standards:

862,400 gal / acre / year

Revise plant species:

388, 080 gal / acre / year

Revise plant species, revise irrigation:

269,500 gal / acre / year

Average annual savings:

$60,000 acre / year

50% OF WATER IS WASTED DUE TO IRRIGATION

INEFFICIENCY.

US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Case studies

Playa Vista Elementary

Playa Vista, CA

Playa Vista Elementary

Agapanthus africanus

Lily of the Nile

Playa Vista Elementary

Soil Analysis

Playa Vista Elementary

• High salinity along with border-line high Boron

and off the charts Sulfate readings

• Normal soil pH

• Provide a list of reclaimed water tolerant plants

• Apply gypsum to scratched soil per soil analysis report Drench to leach out salts

Where did all of the irrigation heads go?

Playa Vista Elementary

What We Found Recommendation

• Inefficient irrigation system • Repair or replace pressure regulator

Playa Vista Elementary

What We Found Recommendation

• Rough turf • Repair irrigation system

• Organic only campus; therefore tough to use weed and feed

• Define best practices for turf care

Playa Vista Elementary

David Starr Jordan High School

Los Angeles, CA

David Starr Jordan High School

What We Found Recommendation

• Poor soil performance in Bioswale

- Plants leaning

- Plants growth inhibited

• Soil samples taken to lab

• Lab submitted report to general contractor for review and submitted to LAUSD

David Starr Jordan High School

Hemerocallis x ‘Strawberry Candy’

Strawberry Candy Daylily

David Starr Jordan High School

Ceanothus griseus var hortizontalis

‘Yankee Point’

Yankee Point California Lilac

David Starr Jordan High School

What We Found Recommendation

• Irrigation system accidently left turned off

over the summer and restarted in Fall

• Request an authorization for fungal treatmentafter removal of dead and diseased plants

• Replace dead and diseased plants

• Check irrigation system timers regularly

• Advised Landscape Contractor to instruct facility maintenance supervisor on irrigationtimer

David Starr Jordan High School

Muhlenbergia rigens

Deergrass

David Starr Jordan High School

What We Found Recommendation

• Muhlenbergia rigens (Deergrass) color off • Soil lab test to confirm proper soil blend

• Feed with Nitrogen or incorporate Nitrogen fixing plants within the planting area to

improve foliage color

David Starr Jordan High School

Mt San Antonio College

Walnut, CA

Mt San Antonio College

Pittosporum tenuifolium ‘Golf Ball’

Golf Ball Kohuhu

What We Found Recommendation

Pittosporum tenuifolium (Kohuhu) removed • Water was on too long; landscape contractor

was unfamiliar with the drought tolerant plant

• Fungus on plants

Mt San Antonio College

Lessons Learned

• Post irrigation maintenance audit results regularly for facilities maintenance team and principals to view.

• Seek professional advice for the on-going care of drought

tolerant and native plants.

• Determine how to make your campus a living laboratory;

partnering with local universities on landscape performance.

• Develop a campus action plan whenever the landscape system shows signs of underperformance.

What would a 21st Century California school look like?

TEXT

Current California school landscape design trends

Naturalist landscape design intent

Wonderful College Prep Academy

Delano, California

Low water using plants

Claremont McKenna College –

North Mall

Claremont, California

Bakersfield Northridge

Breeze™ Dwarf Mat Rush Lomandra longifolia 'LM300'

Outdoor learning

Cal Poly Business Administration

Pomona, California

Playa Vista Elementary

Playa Vista, California

Outdoor modern amphitheater

LAUSD San Pedro High School Olguin Campus

San Pedro, California

Wonderful College Prep Academy

Delano, California

Community nodes

Los Angeles Southwest College

Los Angeles, California

Pasadena City College Technology Arts Pasadena , California

Synthetic turf and less lawn

Claremont McKenna College – North Mall

Claremont, California

Maywood Center for Enriched Studies

Maywood, California

Creative design with hardscape

Robert F Kennedy Community Schools

Los Angeles, California

Blair International Baccalaureate Middle School

Pasadena, California

Future Opportunities and Solutions

• Overall District Water Policy

• M&O Buy In

• Individual School Buy In

• Training

• Belief

Questions?