With generous support from East Bay Municipal Utilities District’s Water Smart Program we redesigned the event lawn at the hub of the garden. We reduced our amount of turf grass and replaced it with a large area of permeable pavement and mulched beds planted with replacement plants consisting of drought tolerant species. We also replaced our inefficient irrigations system with new low water use irrigation systems.
The project was designed by a team of students, garden staff, volunteers and a professor from the Landscape Architecture department. It was built over 9 months by a large team of students, staff and volunteers.
The project was complicated to construct because of the site’s popular location. It is centrally located on the property where there are views into other parts of the garden and also there is a stunning view of the bay and the Golden Gate Bridge. For this reason we wanted to keep the area open as much as possible during construction. We often got help and advice from neighbors and visitors when we encountered building issues as we were constructing the new lawn area.
The Landscape Architecture students taking a materials and construction class in the Landscape Architecture program are designing and building a bench to be included in the design. (See Bench Postings)
