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A Bay-Friendly Rated Landscape: A Case Study

W I L L O W P A R K

Pocket Park Showcases Remarkable Array of Bay-Friendly Landscape Practices

W illow Park, a

new half-acre

public park

in Union City, California,

may be small in size. But

thanks to committed City

leadership and creative

design, this pocket park is

packed with community

amenities and Bay-Friendly

Landscape features.

“Willow Park serves a lot of functions,” said Robert Mowat, whose landscape architecture

firm designed the park. “There are picnic tables and barbecue grills, spaces for sitting, a

play structure for children, and a lot of habitat” for birds and beneficial insects.

It has also achieved the highest Bay-Friendly Rated Landscape score to date, earning

points for features such as waste reduction, onsite composting, a diverse selection of

plants, a no-mow alternative to turf, and a variety of recycled-content products. Union

City received a $25,000 grant from StopWaste.Org to help fund some of these features.

The park, which is located in the midst of a residential neighborhood, gives local children

a place to play while adults enjoy walking paths and benches situated among beautiful

landscaping. “What underlies the beauty are almost all of the Bay-Friendly Landscaping

techniques,” said Mowat.

For Union City, which was the first of Alameda County’s cities to adopt

Bay-Friendly Landscaping as a requirement for civic projects,

Willow Park provided an opportunity to try many Bay-

Friendly techniques on a small scale. “It’s our responsibility to

educate the public and have demonstration gardens to learn

from,” said grounds supervisor Nelson Kirk, with the City’s

public works department. “This park will be a good indicator

for Bay-Friendly practices.” Other Bay-Friendly landscapes

in Union City include street medians, a fire station, and the

front yards of eight city-owned affordable homes built across

the street from Willow Park.

TOTAL PROJECT COST$307,000

LOCATION120 Blue Spruce Lane Union City, California

PARCEL SIZE23,277 sq. ft.

LANDSCAPED AREA SIZE 13,505 sq. ft.

LANDSCAPE TYPEPublic park

COMPLETION DATEOctober 2008

OWNER/DEVELOPERCity of Union City

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTRobert Mowat Associates San Francisco, California

LANDSCAPE CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTORMcNabb Construction, Inc.Lafayette, California

BAY-FRIENDLY RATERDesign, Community andEnvironment Berkeley, CA

CONTACT FOR MORE INFONelson Kirk City of Union CityTEL 510-675-5422

FAST FACTS

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Conserve WaterAt Willow Park, a variety of strategies work together to reduce the use of irrigation water. To increase the soil’s water retention capacity, planting beds were aerated to a depth of 12 inches and an inch of compost was mixed in. The compost adds organic matter, improving the soil’s ability to retain moisture. To further reduce water loss, a 3-inch layer of recycled mulch covers the soil in the planted areas.

More than 90 percent of the park’s plants are California native and Mediterranean species that thrive with infrequent watering. These species

include trees such as Chinese pistache and redwood, as well as manzanita, penstemon, sage, sedges and native irises. The park’s efficient irrigation system has a smart irrigation controller that adjusts watering schedules and volumes based on the weather.

To provide children and children-at-heart with space to run around, the park has two lawns planted with conventional turf that take up 52 percent of the total irrigated area. Nearly

2,000 square feet of Carex pansa, a turf alternative, was also planted. This native bunchgrass requires no mowing, which helps the City stretch its maintenance budget further. It also needs much less irrigation water than turf.

Establishing native perennial grasses can be challenging due to competition from aggressive annual weeds. “So far lots of weeds have grown in this area,” said Kirk, but “we are still hopeful the Carex pansa will fill in.” If it does well, Union City may plant it in other civic landscapes to reduce maintenance costs and water use.

“We need to wait to see whether it will be as successful as a traditional lawn” said Mowat. “If it works, great. If it doesn’t then we can disseminate information about what we learned.” Teresa Eade from StopWaste.Org notes, “It is great that alternatives to turf are being tried. Carex pansa has been successfully established at the Doyle Hollis Park in Emeryville. By monitoring these efforts we can build up a record of BMP’s that everyone can benefit from.”

B Ay-FR IENDLy LANDSC APINg PRACTICES

LANDSCAPE LOCALLY

• Site analysis was completed to maximize benefits of Bay-Friendly Landscape practices

• Laboratory soil analysis provided recommendations for organic soil amendments and fertilizers

LANDSCAPE FOR LESS TO THE LANDFILL

• Plant species installed will not require shearing and will grow to mature size within space allotted; overplanting and tight spacing was avoided

• No invasive species were planted

• Maintenance task list requires grasscycling (leaving grass clippings on lawn after mowing)

• Areas under tree and shrub canopies that are least 10 feet away from hard surfaces and storm drains are used as a leaf repository

• 3-cu. yd. compost bin used to compost plant debris onsite

• Educational signposts are made with recycled composite lumber

• Flyash displaces 50% of cement in cast concrete tables and benches and poured concrete paving

• 100% of compost and mulch used was produced from urban plant waste

• 44% of non-plant landscape materials are salvaged or recycled

• 100% of construction and demolition debris was diverted from landfills

• Plant debris was taken to a facility that produces compost and mulch

B Ay-FR IENDLy AT A gLANCE

Bay-Friendly Rated Landscape score:

H 129 H

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Landscape for Less to the LandfillIn Alameda County, construction, demolition and plant debris account for nearly 11 percent of the material that winds up in landfills. Bay-Friendly Landscaping practices include a variety of methods that reduce landfill deposits while offering other benefits such as saving money and improving plant health.

When building Willow Park, nearly 100 percent of the construction and demolition debris was diverted from landfills. An existing concrete masonry wall was broken up and taken to a recycling center for processing into roadway aggregate. Plastic plant containers were returned to the nurseries for reuse, and the City’s Public Works Department ground up the wood boxes that trees arrived in, turning the wood into mulch.

While recycling is important, its counterpart—buying products made with recycled content—is just as necessary in order to create viable markets for recycled raw materials. All the compost and mulch used at Willow Park was made from recycled urban plant waste. The cast concrete picnic tables and benches as well as the poured concrete walkways contain a high volume of flyash, a recycled byproduct created when coal is burned to generate electricity. The resilient paving surface under the play structure contains roughly 50 percent

recycled rubber. Sixty-two percent of the traditional lumber was replaced with a plastic composite lumber made from a blend of recycled plastic and reclaimed wood. There is even a small

amount of recycled material in the play structure, barbecue grills, water fountain, and the headers that divide the lawns from other planted areas.

The park also makes good use of salvaged materials. Interlocking pavers removed from repaved crosswalks in Union City were salvaged from a storage yard and

NURTURE THE SOIL

• Soil was not worked when wet

• A stormwater pollution prevention plan was prepared for the site

• Topsoil on site was removed, stored during construction and re-spread

• Fencing was installed and maintained during construction to protect soil from compaction by cars and heavy equipment; valuable trees were protected with fencing during construction

• An area was designated during construction for staging materials

• Compost socks were used to control erosion during construction

• Soil in all landscaped areas was aerated to 12 inches and amended with compost

• As part of ongoing maintenance, turf is topdressed with finely screened, quality compost after aeration

• Fertilizers prohibited by Organic Materials Research Institute were not used

CONSERVE WATER

• All soil is protected with 3-inch layer of recycled mulch

• 1 inch of compost was tilled into all planting areas

• Over 90% of all plants are California native or Mediterranean species that require little or no summer water

• No turf was planted for purely aesthetic purposes; turf has a water requirement equal to tall fescue

• High efficiency irrigation system includes a smart irrigation controller, dedicated meter and schedule for reporting water use

• Irrigation plans were reviewed by an Irrigation Association trained irrigation specialist

• Maintenance specifications require checking soil moisture content with soil probes before watering, adjusting the watering schedule based on weather conditions and immediately replacing broken irrigation equipment

CONSERVE ENERgY

• 46% of paved areas will be shaded by trees within 15 years

• 50% of the landscape materials were produced within 150 miles of the site

PROTECT WATER & AIR QUALITY

• Integrated pest management (IPM) was used during construction and will be used as part of the park’s long-term maintenance; one landscaping staff member is trained in the use of IPM

B Ay-FR IENDLy AT A gLANCE

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used to create the circular picnic area around the willow. With a limited number of salvaged pavers available, Mowat designed the area so that rings of the pavers alternate with bands of recycled-content concrete.

Inspired by Antoni Gaudi’s mosaics in Barcelona’s Park Güell, Mowat surrounded the willow with benches surfaced with a mosaic of broken tiles he purchased as seconds from a local tile manufacturer.

[Sourcing recycled and salvaged materials can take extra effort, Mowat said, but it is time well spent. “The initial R&D of the design is time intensive,” he said, “but you take that knowledge with you into the next project.” Since completing Willow Park, he has persuaded public sector and private sector clients to include more recycled-content materials in their landscapes.

• 135,000 gallons of water is saved per year by planting low water-using plants and turf alternatives in 48% of the irrigated areas

• 100% of C&D debris was diverted from landfills

• 100% of compost and mulch is recycled urban plant waste

• 90% of plants are low water users

• 85% of runoff is treated onsite• 50% of cement was replaced

with recycled flyash

• 50% of landscape materials were produced locally

• 46% of paved areas will be shaded by trees in 15 years

• 44% of non-plant landscape materials are salvaged or recycled

Crunching the NumbersEven a small park can make a big difference using Bay-Friendly Landscape practices. At Willow Park:

Be Innovative Bay-Friendly Landscape design and construction techniques offer many benefits, such as healthier soils, water conservation, waste reduction and pollution prevention. To make the most of these benefits, a landscape also needs to be maintained using Bay-Friendly practices.

Nelson Kirk, the grounds supervisor for Union City’s civic landscapes, is a Bay-Friendly Qualified landscape professional, as is the staff member who oversees the crew that maintains Willow Park. When working at Willow Park, the crew uses a Bay-Friendly maintenance checklist that outlines practices such as using integrated pest management (IPM), pruning methods that avoid shearing, aerating and grasscycling of turf, using compost and natural soil amendments, and maintaining a layer of recycled mulch at least three inches deep in all planting areas.

Kirk is enthusiastic about the Bay-Friendly techniques on display at Willow Park. “I think it’s a good start with good intentions. We want to help promote low maintenance, drought tolerance and sustainable practices,” he said. “We are hopeful that these new techniques and plant materials will save on maintenance time and help heal our environment.”

Tiles that were seconds were selected for a mosaic

bench and sourced at Heath ceramics in Sausalito.

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W illows typically love moisture, so it

might seem surprising to plant one

at the heart of a water-conserving

landscape. But Mowat’s design challenges

assumptions about what civic landscapes may

look like in the future as freshwater supplies grow

scarcer in California.

Mowat designed Willow Park to be graded so

that rainwater runoff flows into a depressed basin

in which the willow is planted. The basin serves

multiple functions. It keeps stormwater runoff

where it belongs—in the soil—rather than letting

it flow into storm drains. It concentrates moisture

for the thirsty willow. And it creates a distinct

focal point and inviting gathering spot for the

neighborhood.

Permeable pavers in the circular picnic area

around the willow provide an additional path

for water to reach the tree’s roots. The willow

will still need supplemental irrigation during

periods of drought, but it is served by a separate

irrigation valve so that it can receive adequate

moisture without overwatering other parts of the

park.

As Willow Park shows, a Bay-Friendly Landscape

can include some water-loving plants—in this

case by retaining stormwater runoff, creating

drought-resistant soil with compost and mulch,

and featuring a plant palette dominated by low

water-using species.

Where There’s a Willow, There’s a Way

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Ask about our FREE resources:

Available online at www.Bay-Friendly.Org:

• Bay-Friendly Civic & Commercial Landscape Scorecard

• Bay-Friendly Landscape Guidelines: Sustainable Practices

for the Landscape Professional

• A Bay-Friendly Landscaping Guide to Mulch: Save

Money, Control Weeds, and Create Healthy Landscapes

(Available in English and Spanish)

• A Bay-Friendly Landscaping Guide to Grasscycling: Save

Time, Save Money and Create Beautiful Lawns (Available

in English and Spanish)

• A Bay-Friendly Landscaping Guide to Recycled-Content

and Salvaged Materials: Add Value, Reduce Greenhouse

Gas Emissions and Create Attractive Landscapes

• Fact Sheet on Recycled Content Park & Recreation Products

in Alameda County

• Bay-Friendly Model Landscape Maintenance Specifications

Also check our website for information on the Bay-Friendly Landscape Professional Qualification and Training for both landscape design and maintenance professionals at www.bayfriendly.org/bf-qualified.

This case study was written by StopWaste.Org as part of its Bay-Friendly Landscaping program. For information about waste reduction, recycling and sustainable landscaping, visit www.BayFriendly.org

About the Agency The Alameda County Waste Management Authority & the Alameda County Source Reduction and Recycling Board is an integrated public agency whose mission is to provide the most environmentally sound waste management program for the people of Alameda County. The authority and the Recycling Board produced this case study to aid developers in creating and building sustainable landscapes

WWW.B Ay-FR IENDLy.ORg