Wilson Environmental Contracting and Martin & Elizabeth Stevenson were honored September 25, 2016 at the Music Academy of the West at the annual Santa Barbara Beautiful awards ceremony. The 2016 annual Native Choice Award is sponsored by the Santa Barbara Botanical Garden.

The SB Beautiful 2016 Awards Program can be viewed here.

The Stevenson property converted lawn and sprinklers to lush native garden with about 40 SB-originated native plants, plus other CA-appropriate plantings and fruit trees, infrequently irrigated with drip irrigation and onsite rainwater, passively collected, filtered and stored for gravity watering. Their garden is a haven for wildlife, including birds, insects and lizards.

Situated between two forks of San Jose Creek, the Stevenson's approximately 10,000 square foot property has been planted with at least 40 native plant species (primarily Santa Barbara-South Coast genetic stock), including both terrestrial and aquatic. These natives provide year round form, function and food for people, animals and insects alike. This property was formerly landscaped with non native ivy groundcover (front yard), nonnative hedges and a backyard lawn, and irrigated with sprinklers.

Much of the garden's supplied water comes from carefully redirected roof runoff into sculpted soils and harvested to cistern-stored rainwater. All supplemental irrigation, when irrigated (approximately every 22-25 days), is via drip emitters. All landscape hardscape is permeable (cobble driveway, DG path, unit paver patio and paths, mulched paths). The entire garden is heavily mulched with onsite recycled tree mulch (non native London Plane tree was removed and mulched).

Some of the natives include the following: giant chain fern, holly-leaf cherry, ironwood, currant, chaparral currant, mountain mahogany, quail bush, old-man sage, white sage, 5 kinds of buckwheats (CA, desert, island, sea-cliff, St. Catherine's lace), 2 kinds of dudleyas, monkeyflower, 3 kinds of manzanitas (densiflora H.McMinn, d.sunset, Carmel creeper), groundcover ceanothus, textile rush, deergrass, hummingbird sage, woodmint, island alum root/coral bells, scouring rush, iris-leaved rush, yucca, snowberry, barberry, 4 kinds of aquatic plants (eleocharis, rush, cattail, sedge), scouring rush and CA poppies.

Stevenson aquatic life and native habitat

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Several additional photos and a brief description are included at Edhats site and can be viewed here.

Santa Barbara Beautiful promotes a vibrant and healthy urban forest, art in public spaces, educational programs and 'Neighborhood Pride.' Learn more here.

The Santa Barbara Botanical Garden is a living museum and dedicated to research, education, and conservation of California native plants. The SBBG's announcement and their website can be viewed here.