Beautiful, Sustainable, Cardiff Carpentier Parkway Uses 75% less Water

Carpentier Parkway proves it is possible to provide beautiful, lush,  flowered garden landscaping while using 75% less irrigation water without resorting to using desert plants.

This park in downtown Cardiff by the Sea,  covers  the area between  San Elijo and the railway tracks from Birmingham to Chesterfield  and used to be an ugly patch of weeds.  Linda Lee, Quality Plantscapes, with the help of local volunteers,  put together this park five years ago to show that a non-chemical approach could provide beautiful landscape and save water.

The savings began after year two.  Once the soil health began to get established and the plant root structure became more fully developed the water was reduced 20-30%.  The 75% savings came after year four.

The products used are worm castings, worm castings bioponics tea, local and bagged compost mixes, local mulch without eucalyptus, blood meal and bone meal.  No chemical fertilizer and no pesticides are key to the system and means there is zero chemical run-off.  The beneficial insects are in abundance.  Drought tolerant and non-drought tolerant plants are both used.

Irrigation water is now applied only once per week for 20 minutes (July thru October).  January thru March gets zero water and the other months get water once per week for only 15 minutes. Each sprinkler has flow restricter that cuts the amount of water 31%.  The overall  water  savings  is over 75%.

The water shortage has forced all of us in Southern California to find new ways to conserve water and yet keep our homes and communities looking beautiful.  This beautiful park is a five year application that shows how a non-chemical approach can save water, save money, and help the environment.   20 local homeowners have chosen the same approach and are seeing similar savings in water.  The neighbors of these properties watching their landscaping go brown are sure their neighbors are cheating on the water use.

Dan Dahlager, city councilman and former mayor, has stated this system needs to be a guideline for other Encinitas parks due to the significant savings.  The Encinitas Water Board has installed a 24 hour telemetry meter to provide confirmation of the limited water application.

The below images demonstrate the amazing results from 2002 to 2009.