Ecological Concerns Incorporated » Featured Projects

CSUMB 5th Ave Landscape Beautification

ECI — Fri, 27 Jan 2017 18:46:17 +0000

ECI was selected out of many skilled contractors to install the ecological enhancement project and water conservation design on California State University Monterey Bay’s main entrance along 5th avenue. They were able to secure the bid due to the years of experience installing similar projects across the Monterey Bay Area and their strong resume of past performances. The project consisted of thousands of native grass plugs mixed with drought tolerant succulents. Most of the planting was in the medians along pedestrian paths. The highlight of the project was the roundabout in the center of CSUMB’s main entrance.

Upper Westside LID Landscape Design Grow Build

ECI — Tue, 10 Nov 2015 17:41:57 +0000

This residential client, with a home overlooking beautiful Moore Creek Preserve in Santa Cruz, requested ECI’s help to transform their small front lawn and patio into a more ecological landscape. The client’s goals were to remove the lawn, reduce the footprint of the hardscape patio, create more space for gardening, and to use native plants to extend the natural beauty and habitat of the Preserve into their own yard.

ECI’s landscape designer, Dakotah Bertsch, worked with the client to develop a plan to incorporate their goals into a cohesive vision for the landscape, working in additional ecological features such as a rain garden to harvest stormwater, permeable decomposed granite paths, and a rain water harvesting tank for water storage. Grade changes for the rain garden were achieved using boulders and dry-stacked stone retaining walls, and all soil was kept onsite in order to minimize waste and enhance the sustainability of the project. The lawn and excavated soil from the rain garden were recycled in place to create planting mounds for a palette of carefully selected native plants. Much of the nursery stock used was grown at Central Coast Wilds, ECI’s nursery division, with seeds and cuttings collected from local watersheds.

The installation took a couple of weeks to complete, and included demolition of their older landscape, light grading for the rain garden, construction of the paths, and planting. The landscape was polished off with wood chip mulch to help retain moisture and build soil. Since installation, the plants have started to grow in wonderfully, and we have seen butterflies and other insects enjoying the new habitat. The client has been very involved in gardening and maintenance, and has even opted to get their landscape rated as a Monterey Bay Friendly Landscape – certifying that their landscape is ecologically beneficial, and qualifying them for numerous local discounts. We are excited to see this project continue to serve our client and the community at large!

O’Keefe Open Space Preserve Restoration

ECI — Fri, 02 Oct 2015 18:46:47 +0000

The Town of Los Altos Hills was awarded a large grant for the restoration of and educational outreach about the town’s O’Keefe Open Space Preserve. The funds came from the Santa Clara Valley Water District’s Environmental Enhancement Implementation Grant Program and were used to restore the native riparian habitat of Purisima Creek while teaching students the value of habitat quality along this wildlife corridor. This is the second grant to be awarded to the Town of Los Altos Hills for environmental enhancement of their open spaces with help from Ecological Concerns. Two and half years ago, the funds were directed to Edith Park along Adobe Creek. The restoration at O’Keefe Open Space Preserve was similar to that done at Edith Park. Both creeks had become choked by invasive species, compromising the area’s biodiversity. Most of the grant funded the removal of invasive plants and subsequent revegetation efforts along Purisima creek. This project did not face many problems becuase of the in-house collaboration. ECI is a full service design, grow, build company that can offer a higher level of customer service and quality control. That quality control comes from having one ecological landscaping firm with an in house collaboration between landscape designers, botanists, wildlife biologists and restoration professionals. ECI supports each other as a team and making sure all goals are met.

UCSC Wellness Center Rainwater Harvesting Design

ECI — Tue, 15 Sep 2015 18:27:40 +0000

UC Santa Cruz hired ECI to design a prototype rainwater harvesting system to supply water that flushes the toilets at the Wellness Center. This small scale pilot project will give the
UCSC community an opportunity to evaluate the effectiveness of rainwater harvesting and re-use at an educational facility. It is expected that this will serve as a prototype for other rainwater catchment systems on UC campuses.
The location was chosen not only for the small-scale applicability but also because the site is accessible to the campus community. The educational benefits include increased awareness about water conservation, rainwater catchment systems, and sustainability as well as reduced municipal water consumption and energy use.

Stevens Creek Corridor Restoration Phase Two

ECI — Mon, 14 Sep 2015 16:23:44 +0000

The restoration of the Stevens Creek Corridor has been a huge success since it’s initial planning in 2006 with the development of the Stevens Creek Corridor Master Plan. The project has recently been recognized four times with awards in various environmental categories. The project included 60 acres of upland oak woodland habitat restored along newly shaped Stevens Creek between McClellan Rd to Stevens Creek Blvd in Cupertino. The work was done in two phases, both of which ECI had the pleasure to preform the habitat establishment portion. The entire project was a tremendous effort by several state and local agencies all working together with the assistance of dozens of contractors. Phase 2, completed in 2014, has been under restoration maintenance by ECI with a focus on ensuring plant establishment and control of invasive weed species.

Rosicrucian Park Labyrinth Project

ECI — Fri, 22 May 2015 21:30:48 +0000

The Rosicrucian Order of the English Language Jurisdiction has built a beautiful new Labyrinth with the assistance of Blach Construction, Prodis Associate Architects and Ecological Concerns Incorporated. The new Labyrinth is based on the design of the Chartres Labyrinth, which has inspired spiritual wayfarers for at least 750 years. The paths will be surrounded by native plants which create the outline of the labyrinth design. Around that will be an oak grove, sacred in many of the ancient mystery traditions. The entrance to the Labyrinth is also filled with cacti and succulents set into a gravel rock garden.

The new Labyrinth at Rosicrucian Park, will require little or no irrigation, resulting in a savings of hundreds of thousands of gallons of water each year. There were more than 1,000 new trees, shrubs and grasses planted in the Labyrinth,including many that attract and provide habitat for local birds and butterflies.

Quail Hollow Quarry Habitat Restoration

ECI — Fri, 28 Feb 2014 01:00:52 +0000

Ecological Concerns Incorporated started working with CEMEX in 2005 in accordance to their reclamation and revegetation of diverse native plant habitats of the Bonny Doon Quarries lands. A native plant salvage, seed collection, propagation and increase program has been initiated to provide site-specific plant materials for future revegetation work. Monitoring and performance standards are included to assess project performance and compliance. Revegetation maintenance will occur until planted areas are revegetated and established trees and herbaceous plants are self-sustaining. The plan was prepared in compliance with the California Surface Mining and Reclamation Act of 1975, as amended (SMARA): all sections, including Section 2729 and Section 2733 as specifically designated in the draft EIR (July 2007),Santa Cruz County Mining Regulations, Section 16.54.05, and California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).