Ecological Concerns Incorporated » Ecological Landscapes

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.

San Jose Flea Market North Village Mitigation

ECI — Mon, 21 Dec 2015 19:29:12 +0000

Along Berryessa Road in the City of San Jose, Coyote Creek winds its way through a heavily impacted urban corridor. KB Homes South Bay Inc. was building a new housing development along the creek and were required to fulfill CEQA requirements because of the proximity to the creek. H.T. Harvey and Associates wrote the the Bological Assessment determined to build a riparian set back and storm water retention basin for the new roads and neighboring flea market.

The stormwater from the new neighborhood is intended to drain into the basin and infiltrate into the creek or water table. The basin is actually constructed of two retention ponds lined with upland native grasses. There are riparian trees and shrubs propagated from local watershed sources along its banks.

ECI was hired as the maintenance contractor to ensure the riparian plants and upland grasses survive through their establishment period. The maintenance on these stormwater basins is critical in the first few years. Many landscape contractors neglect these sites after install and they end up failing in purpose and function. The team at ECI was also hired as a consultant to write the maintenance manual for this basin.

Rosicrucian Park Habitat Enhancement Project

ECI — Mon, 16 Nov 2015 21:56:22 +0000

The Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum in San Jose has been stepping up to water conservation by removing acres of turf from various gardens in and around their beautiful park. Management at the park has been working with ECI for over five years to slowly transform several of their gardens into wild native habitat gardens with Egyptian themes. ECI has converted at least 75% of the property’s landscape to native landscaping with low water Egyptian themed gardens. One of the previous turf areas is now an alchemy garden where students study ancient alchemic plants. Other gardens are populated with native woodland under story plants such as native strawberry, juncus and dogwoods. There is also a large labyrinth surrounded by a young oak grove.
Making the switch to natives has saved the park millions of gallons of water per year. The drought tolerant gardens are surrounded by buildings designed with Egyptian and Moorish architecture and offer visitors a constant reminder of the elegance of Egyptian style. With several fountains, intimate seating space, and native gardens, visitors are pleased to find a sanctuary amid the Silicon Valley hustle.

Rolling out the sheet cardboard before covering with 4″ of recycled wood mulch.

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.

Hurley Evergreen Forest Design Grow Build

ECI — Wed, 23 Sep 2015 23:41:04 +0000

ECI had the privilege to design and build a rainwater harvesting system that supplies a native evergreen forest in Scotts Valley. ECI was hired in 2014 to develop a custom plant palette for a client looking to provide erosion control to a steep slope. ECI’s lead botanist developed a native plant palette and had Central Coast Wilds propagate and grow the plants. Four months later, ECI installed a mix of native evergreen forest plants at client’s house. A year later a rainwater system was designed and installed to irrigate the native plants.

This rainwater harvesting system features two connected 660-gallon above-ground tanks creating a total capacity of 1,320 gallons. The tanks are tucked into a small space along the side of the house so that they are hidden from view. A level pad was made for the tanks by installing a small retaining wall. The tanks also specified to be low profile, to give the owner the option of building above them in the future. Rainwater is filtered in multiple stages to keep the storage tanks free of debris, and filtered again before being delivered to the irrigation system.

The landscape planting palatte was designed by lead botanist, Ellen Uhler. The landscape and rainwater harvesting system was designed by ECI landscape architect Bobby Markowitz and landscape designer Dakotah Bertsch, The installation by was done by ECI’s crew led by foreman Spencer Dillon.

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.

Willow Glen Ecological Landcape Design Build

ECI — Fri, 15 May 2015 17:31:21 +0000

Ecological Concerns Incorporated was hired to oversee and manage the construction of a backyard landscape that had a distinctive Moroccan design. ECI worked with the owner to improve the design so that it included native habitat areas and drought tolerant planting. Extensive stone and tile walls were installed with trees, large ornamental planters and perennial flowers to surround their poolside paradise. The installation was a success and ECI has been contracted to maintain the estate’s entire landscape. The maintenance is minimal because of the natural aesthetics and the use of natives. ECI continues to receive praise from the homeowner and their guests.

Crazy Horse Canyon Sub Station Native Landscaping

ECI — Tue, 09 Dec 2014 17:06:35 +0000

ECI worked under Pacific Gas & Electric Company on landscaping a new substation in Crazy Horse Canyon in Monterey County. The substation sits in a windy valley 13 miles east of Moss Landing and will serve the growing community’s energy needs. The landscaping at the entrance and surrounding the facilities is a palette of wild natives including Valley Oaks, Coast Live Oaks, and Blue Blossom Ceanothus. The landscape architect for the project used native varieties from the surrounding hills.

CEMEX Quarry – Revegetation

ECI — Fri, 04 Apr 2014 01:14:13 +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 larger goal is to maintain local plants’ genetic resources. Meeting all 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).

CEMEX Quarry – Contract Grow

ECI — Fri, 28 Feb 2014 01:25:35 +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).

Schapiro Knolls Restoration

ECI — Fri, 21 Feb 2014 22:52:33 +0000

Mid Peninsula Housing Coalition constructed an 88 unit residential apartment complex. The project included an upgrade to a culvert that drains a riparian corridor on the undeveloped portion of the property. Due to these associated impacts to protected waterways, habitat mitigation was required. HT Harvey and Associates prepared the Mitigation and Monitoring Plan. Dillon Design Associates created the landscape plan, which included invasive exotic plant removal, new wetland creation, native riparian and wetland planting and irrigation. ECI implemented the plan by eradicating invasive vegetation, light grading for wetland creation, installation of biofiltration sod at stormwater outfalls and the replanting of native riparian woodland and wetland plants. Central Coast Wilds Nursery propagated the plants from collections within the watershed. Planting was complete in April 2013. Maintenance will continue through 2016.

Redwood RV Resort Restoration

ECI — Fri, 21 Feb 2014 22:41:41 +0000

While upgrading several of the camping sites parking areas the owner was required to restore a small creek that runs into San Leandro River. The requirement came from a permit needed from the California Fish and Game to continue construction so close to the creek. The main portion of the creek being worked on receives runoff from Hwy 9 and will potentially keep pollution from entering the river. Large swaths of English ivy and Himalayan Blackberry were removed by non chemical methods. Then creek was replanted with riparian and redwood understory plant palettes. ECI will be performing continued maintenance to ensure the invasive species are eradicated and the new plants are established. After the successful creek restoration, the owner is planning on restoring more of the property. He says customers and staff enjoy the experience of a seeing the redwood understory restored.

Dodero Spring Creek Backyard Restoration

ECI — Fri, 21 Feb 2014 22:41:08 +0000

The homeowners requested a planting plan using native plants to demonstrate compliance with City code, for doing restoration work on a spring-fed creek that flows through their property. Our landscape designer consulted with the clients and created a Layout and Planting Plan, which included riparian setbacks, stream bank improvements, fence repair, stonework, and native planting. Upon approval of the design, our ecological landscape crew worked to remove invasive plants and restore the stream banks with native plants, mulch, and stones.

Residential projects to restore riparian corridors, while small at the individual scale, can have a profound cumulative impact by creating a network of habitat that spans urban environments. In cases such as this, they may also be the only opportunity to affect critical habitat in urban streams that have largely been confined to channels and culverts. Completed in 2013.