Kathryn Dressendorfer & Kai Craig: Ocean Friendly Gardens – Nov 7, 2022

Join us at 7:30 on November 7th.  Water runoff is the #1 source of ocean pollution in urban areas, contributing to flooding and wasting water that can irrigate landscapes and replenish groundwater. Ocean Friendly Gardens is the Surfrider Foundation’s sustainable landscaping and education program that provides beautiful, inexpensive, and natural solutions to reduce polluted runoff and to support resilient coasts.

Surfrider’s Southern California program coordinator, Kathryn Dressendorfer, will be giving an overview of the program and its goals to support biodiversity, water capture, and climate resilience through community and individual action. Local program leader, Kai Craig, is a landscape designer, contractor, and long time Surfrider volunteer. He will be discussing site contouring and native plant selection using examples from Ocean Friendly Gardens designed and built by his landscape firm, California Eco Design.

OFGs apply CPR – Conservation, Permeability and Retention – to landscapes, hardscapes and streets. They allow soil to act like a sponge to help restore the helpful functions of watersheds like protecting local water supplies and preventing pollution from reaching the ocean. They also reduce flooding during storm events, pull carbon from the air and into plants and soil, and create wildlife habitat.

You can stay in touch with Surfrider’s OFGs through their national OFG Facebook page or through their web site https://www.surfrider.org/programs/ocean-friendly-gardens

Watch a video of the meeting: https://youtu.be/vjN_qAchWlo