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Eco-Logic Permaculture & Landscape Design

Category: Water and Drought

image: pasadena water
November 30, 2020 0 Comments
Jadene Mayla Buried Treasure: money and other fruits, Water and Drought

Pasadena Water: Lower Your Bill!

Pasadena Water Bills Don’t Need to Be High

Pasadena water bills don’t need to be as high as residents might think.  Most people want a nice-looking front yard, which boosts perceived property value.  But you do not have to use a lot of water to have a green, beautiful landscape.  Permaculture allows any home owner to pay less in water bills by needing less water.  This doesn’t mean that your yard has to be filled with cactus or rocks.  You can have pretty flowering plants and trees.  In fact, your neighbors won’t believe you’re saving more on water than them.

One of our recent clients near Pasadena told us that they used to have the least attractive front yard on their block, but after working with us to lower their water bill, their neighbors told them their yard was now the most beautiful one on the block.

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image: storm water solutions
November 23, 2020 0 Comments
Jadene Mayla DIY: do-it-yourself projects for urban, suburban, and rural life, Landscape Activism: effect change at the root, Water and Drought

Storm Water Solutions for Dry Urban Areas

Storm Water Solutions to Drought

I’ll bet you never think about storm water solutions when walking in your neighorhood.  You may have noticed your local landscape seems stressed out by drought.  A walk can tell you a lot about the outside factors affecting your property.  Working with permaculture is one of the most effective ways to restore soil, increase plant health, add shade, and attract beneficial wildlife.  You can also lower your water and power bills by choosing permaculture instead of traditional landscaping.  But did you know permaculture reverses drought?

You’ll notice when you walk through your neighborhood that some yards are green and lush while others look tired and dry.  Of course some families irrigate and others try to save on their water bill by letting their lawns go brown in the summer.  But there is a lot more happening in the majority of urban and suburban yards than might be obvious at first glance.  Most families don’t realize that they can lower their water bills with a few simple techniques.

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image: california water law
January 23, 2020 0 Comments
Jadene Mayla Buried Treasure: money and other fruits, Water and Drought

How to Keep Plants Alive Under California’s New Water Conservation Laws

New State Water Law Means Preparation Now

image: california water lawTwo recent bills make significant adjustments to water use and costs in California.  Here’s what you need to know and what you can do.

The two big issues we’ll cover are reduced water usage and increased water rates.  Senate Bill 606 and Assembly Bill 1668 went into effect in 2019 but won’t be enforced until 2021, so you have a little time to prepare.  But how should you do that?

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October 9, 2019 0 Comments
Jadene Mayla Landscape Activism: effect change at the root, Water and Drought

How to Use Rainfall to Your Advantage

How to Keep What Rainfall Your Yard Gets

Rain.  Some of us get more of it than others.  In some cities it pours most of the year, while in others total annual rainfall is measured in a tuna can.  You might not need to conserve as much water if you get a lot of rain.  But even in high-precipitation areas of the country (and world), it’s more about infiltration than how much rain falls.

Infiltration is king when it comes to making the most use of rainfall.  In areas where soil is exposed and compacted, water can’t make its way in.  Instead, it sheets over the top of the soil.  This means it ends up in the ill-conceived street drainage system.  I say ill-conceived because the storm water engineering we’re all living with was designed to carry water away, not into, the landscape.

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September 21, 2019 0 Comments
Jadene Mayla DIY: do-it-yourself projects for urban, suburban, and rural life, Water and Drought

Create Green Infrastructure With This Information Sheet

What is Green Infrastructure?

I recently considered how many people have told me they don't know what restorative design really means.  I spend a image: what is green infrastructuregood deal of time answering questions like, "what is green infrastructure," "is a swale paved," and that kind of thing.  And these questions don't only come from my clients.  I've found that a lot of builders aren't familiar with ecology.  They install jobs according to 'traditional' methods.

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Jadene Mayla Landscape Activism: effect change at the root, Water and Drought, Zombie Permaculture

Desertification Reversal Isn’t Only Possible, It’s Simple

How to Easily Reverse Desertification

image: desertificationIn my experience as a designer and an intuitive, forest destruction is the single most dangerous activity of mankind.  The result of taking out trees is the decline of the landscape toward desertification, or entropy.  I’ve always shaken my head at the mainstream tale we’ve been told about entropy being Earth’s natural tendency.  If you’ve spent as much time gazing into Nature as I have, you probably agree that this is a flat out lie.  To anyone watching, natural systems move automatically toward a climax ecosystem state unless they are disturbed to a degree that breaks down the inherent ability of the system to recover.  In extreme cases of deforestation, true deserts occur, such as the Sahara in Africa.

An Egyptian Take On Desertification

Speaking of the Motherland, on the subject of desertification I find the research of those wise and brave enough to disregard Egyptology to be important here.  They are the most fun researchers and writers IMHO (in my humble opinion) because they are boldly willing to pass right by the misinformation campaigns fed to the world.  READ MORE

Jadene Mayla Buried Treasure: money and other fruits, Water and Drought

Backyard Water Features: How I Turn Hills Into Fountains

Ecologically designed backyard water features transform issues into elegant features.Slope Allows Sophisticated Backyard Water Features

If you’ve ever looked at rural property advertisements, you’ve probably noticed that flat is desirable.  It seems like everyone wants a level piece of land, and for good reason, because it’s easier to put a house there.  But what if I told you that a property with some slope is highly valuable?  I have transformed many formerly unusable outdoor spaces by creating innovative backyard water features you wouldn’t expect.

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