• TABLE OF CONTENTS
• REDUCE YOUR WATER NEEDS
• Use Drought Tolerant Plants
• California Native Plants
• Climate Zones
• Reduce or Replace Lawn
• Artificial Turf
• IRRIGATE EFFICIENTLY
• Water Needs of Plants
• Before You Design
• Types of Irrigation Systems
• Weather Based Irrigation Controllers
• Working with an Irrigation Contractor
• DEVELOP ALTERNATE SOURCES OF WATER
• Harvest Rain Water
• Recycle Gray Water
• RETAIN WATER IN THE LANDSCAPE
• Build Retaining Walls
• Mulch to Reduce Evaporation
• Install Permeable Hardscapes
• Amend Soil with Organic Materials
• KEEP YOUR WATER PURE
• Drainage
• Eliminate Runoff and Overspray
• Slow it, Spread it, Sink it
• Ocean Friendly Gardens
• Rain Gardens
• Swales
• Keep Your Watershed Beautiful
• Soil
• Pests
• Select Plants that Don't Need Chemicals
• ADDITIONAL GARDENING RESOURCES
• UC Master Gardeners of Monterey Bay
• Creating a Planting Plan
• Gardening for Fire Safety
• Working with Landscape Professionals
• Water Conservation for Vegetable Gardens

Ocean Friendly Gardens

The Surfrider Foundation initiated the Ocean Friendly Gardens Program (OFG) to help its members and the general public to take some steps at their own homes to clean and prevent pollution reaching the ocean and start to restore urban watersheds. Water that leaves residential and other developed sites can carry away and/or pick up pollutants on its journey to the ocean. This urban runoff has become the #1 source of ocean pollution.

Ocean Friendly Gardens and parkways "apply CPR to the landscape" to significantly reduce wet and dry-weather runoff entering our watersheds and ocean. CPR stands for:

• Conservation of (a) water, (b) fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides, (c) energy (moving water around the state is the #1 user of energy), (d) and reduce the use of gas-powered maintenance machinery (air pollutants) through the use of native and/or climate-adapted plants.
• Permeability increased - utilizing materials for a driveway, walkway and patio that allow water to percolate into the soil.
• Retention devices like rain gardens, rain barrels and rain chains as well as bio-swales, dry creek beds and dry wells.