Easy being green

Sunset, July, 2005 by Lauren Bonar Swezey

Landscape designer Shirley Watts is on a mission to green up her gardens. That doesn't mean she packs them with foliage. Watts is committed to green solutions that benefit the environment by preserving resources and by recycling materials.

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For her redesign of Christine McCargar's Oakland, California, backyard (above), Watts recently earned Alameda County's Green Business certification. The site was challenging: a small, irregular space (only 12 ft. wide at the rear, 20 ft. wide close to the house, and 54 ft. long) hemmed in by houses.

"Since the garden was enclosed by buildings, it already felt like a room," Watts explains. "So I treated the garden like an extension of the house and split it into two living areas." Watts turned the rear "room" into an intimate space for relaxing and barbecuing. Recycled-steel trellises planted with climbing Asparagus retrofractus and papyrus screen views from neighboring windows. In the front, she created a stroll-through garden also meant to be viewed from McCargar's house. Raised beds, framed with the same recycled steel used for the trellises, overflow with colorful foliage. To separate the front and rear areas, Watts created a divider from two box-like steel-framed racks used to store firewood.

The entire yard is paved with gravel--a permeable surface that allows rainwater to seep into the soil instead of running into the street.

DESIGN: Shirley Alexandra Watts, Alameda, CA (www.sawattsdesign.com or 510/521-5223)

RELATED ARTICLE: Tips for an eco-wise garden

Here are a few ways to make your own garden a more environmentally friendly space.

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* Go organic. Apply mulches on garden beds, use organic fertilizers as needed, and avoid toxic chemical pesticides.

* Irrigate with drip. To conserve water, install drip irrigation.

* Use permeable paving. Gravel, decomposed granite, and other porous materials allow water to be collected on-site.

* Recycle materials. Look for recycled steel, wood, and other building materials at local salvage yards, or check out green building resources online. The cast-concrete bench shown above is ornamented with upended wine bottles.

* Switch to electric. Avoid power tools that pollute the air; switch to an electric leaf blower, mower, and string trimmer. For small lawns, use a push-type reel mower.