In Fall of 2024, and through the Land Resilience Partnership, Daily Acts worked with homeowners throughout Petaluma to convert seven irrigated lawns to low-water use landscapes by sheet mulching, converting irrigation, and planting climate appropriate native plants. Following two successful projects in their neighborhood in 2023, two inspired homeowners in the east side of Petaluma applied with hopes that their front yard may be next.
During their initial site assessment, Daily Acts identified their 1,200 sq ft front lawn as a high-water use landscape, applying about 36,100 gallons of water per year, while a climate appropriate garden with drip irrigation of the same size would reduce that to about 3,570 gallons per year. Additionally, the homeowners reported significant flooding near their foundation in the front, where a downspout drained directly to the landscape. By installing a drainpipe to carry water to a rain garden, this nuisance stormwater has now been transformed to a precious resource that is stored in the soil and passively irrigates native trees, shrubs, and grasses. Through this lawn-conversion and raingarden installation, the landscape will save about 32,530 gallons of water per year while supporting habitat for pollinators and growing edible and medicinal plants for the residents and neighbors alike.
As Daily Acts’ second project on their street and fourth in the neighborhood, we hope to demonstrate the potential of neighborhoods to collectively transform their landscapes to care for the watershed and restore contiguous parcels of land that provide refuge for birds, insects, salamanders, and other keystone creatures. This project could not have been possible without engineering design from the Sonoma Resources Conservation District, plant design by Angelia Rossi, irrigation support by Permaculture Artisans, and the hard work by Conservation Corps North Bay.
