La Tercera Park Landscape Transformation

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

In December of 2024, Daily Acts staff and volunteers transformed 12,160 square feet of lawn at La Tercera Park into a water-wise pollinator paradise. Located on the east side of Petaluma, this park now has a beautiful garden that uses 90% less water per year, provides habitat and food for pollinators, and helps draw down atmospheric carbon. 

Prior to the Community Planting Day, Daily Acts worked with the Sonoma Resource Conservation District who helped design the rain garden and with Conservation Corps North Bay to sheet mulch an area of existing lawn..

Throughout the installation process, we engaged the community by gathering input on project areas, desires, and concerns to ensure the park meets the needs and expectations of all users.

This project was made possible through Daily Acts’ collaboration with the Land Resilience Partnership Program.

📍La Tercera Park, 1645 Peggy Lane, Petaluma CA 94954

Community Engagement Session, August 2024

Interested in the types of plants that have been installed?

Take a look at our Project Plant Palette by clicking the button below. Also, learn even more by viewing out La Tercera Park Project Presentation for more information about the transformation.

During our design and implementation process, we took the opinions of the community into consideration. In August, we hosted a listening session and conducted a survey, which led to the selection of this zone. Check out the survey results HERE.

TYPES OF PROJECTS INSTALLED AT LA TERCERA PARK

Rain Garden

Stormwater is water that falls onto the landscape during a storm, and often runs off into storm drains, picking up pollutants on its way. Benefits of capturing this water within your landscape are: improved air quality, habitat enhancement, extreme heat island effect mitigation, and higher property value. Rain gardens are small basins made in the landscape that help to retain water after a storm, allowing for deeper soil penetration and better soil health.

Lawn Conversion

Lawn Conversion is the removal of a monocrop landscape and planting low water or native plants. The shallow roots of turf grass compact soils limiting water absorption when it rains. Runoff picks up any chemicals or fertilizers from your yard and transfers them to local streams. With the installation of native species or low water use plants, roots are given a chance to grow deeper and create systems that hold water in the soil and lessening runoff.

Increase Shade Canopy

Increasing shade canopy on any landscape means more than just planting trees, though that is the most impactful solution. It can often mean the implementation of a variety of plants that decrease the amount of sunlight exposure on the soil. This can result in lowering the temperature of the area and increased soil health. With more shade on the ground, water retention in the soil increases, resulting in homeowners having to irrigate less than before.