The property operates as a working farm with 30-40 acres of row crop production fields with crop rotation, cover cropping and sustainable grazing practices in place. The farm prides itself on sustainability; building healthy soils for healthy plants; and its mission to provide organic produce to charity.

As of 2015, the rich habitats of PNF are now permanently protected by an affirmative agricultural conservation easement executed with Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST). ECI implemented many of the strategies suggested in the habitat management plan and trained employees of the farm to properly execute the restoration practices. The relationship between ECI and PNF continues to grow as the farm’s many habitats show success in their management.

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.

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

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!

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.

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.

Success is ensured by using an integrated approach to removing cape ivy, Pittosporum, ice plant and other invasives from the coastal scrub habitat just above the mouth of the creek. Manual removal—ECI crews manually removed over 49,000 pounds of invasive vegetation from the creek—was combined with targeted herbicide applications. After the soil in the cleared areas was secured with erosion control blankets, ECI planted over 700 foredune and coastal scrub plants such as Eriogonum latifolium, Eriophyllum staechadifolium, Baccharis pilularis, Fragaria chiloensis, Elymus triticoides and other natives. Volunteers have been indispensable to the restoration process by assisting with planting.  because this restoration was considered a successful pilot project, the Parks Department is seeking grant funding to replicate this type of restoration effort elsewhere in San Mateo County.

The collection of GIS data of weed populations on the Star Creek Property will help inform and prioritize future removal and control efforts. The areas that receive greater priority are ones that have a heavy invasive population surrounding more sensitive plant populations.

Bobby Markowitz was hired to consult on a closed loop rainwater and greywater system for new home being built in Palo Alto. He calculated that they could collect an average of 25,000 gallons during the rainy season with a reservoir of 3,000 gallons stored for the summer vegetable garden. The system was designed to utilize harvested rainwater for the family’s domestic non-potable uses, such as toilets and washing machine. He then calculated their average greywater output from the washing machine and sinks to design their landscape with what’s called a net zero water use. This means that the landscape should not require more water than what can be produced on site.  The entire home’s design and construction has surpassed the LEED assumptions for the project.

All irrigation and planting were performed by ECI. The plant maintenance included reconstructing plant basins, weed control, and hand watering plants. These measures were in order to meet find cost effective measures for the mine to meet reclamation standards put forth by federal and state reclamation regulations. They eventually did meet the standards in accordance to their reclamation and revegetation compliance with the California Surface Mining and Reclamation Act of 1975, as amended (SMARA) and California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

ECI crew would hike an average of 10 miles a day while scouting areas for invasive species. Many of the patches of invasives were hidden off the trail and difficult to find. ECI continues to work with MROSD on several of their other properties and has enjoyed seeing the results of the work.

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.