Press Release: Replace Your Lawn

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 19, 2008

Replace your Lawn with California Native Plants:
Workshop Series at Tree of Life Nursery

December 19, 2008, San Juan Capistrano – Despite recent rains, the water crisis in California continues to force individuals to make behavioral changes in water consumption.  Many are realizing that lawns cost far too much in water, time and labor to justify what is little more than “outdoor green carpet”.  Increasingly people are turning to California native plants as the natural choice for Southern California landscaping.

There is a growing need for individuals to learn how to responsibly remove water-wasting lawns and replace them with water-efficient gardens that are attractive, functional and even provide habitat for local birds and pollinators.  Tree of Life Nursery is offering a three-part workshop entitled “Replacing Your Lawn with California Native Plants” in both February and March 2009.  The workshop series covers three of the basic steps for replacing a lawn: Lawn Removal, Design Elements, and Plant Selection.

Replace Your Lawn Workshop I: Kill the grass! – February 14 and March 14, 9:30 AM
Replace Your Lawn Workshop II:Design Elements–February 21 and March 21, 9:30 AM
Replace Your Lawn Workshop III: Plant Selection: Thirty Plants – February 28 and March 28, 9:30 AM

While staff will lead most of the workshops, Tree of Life Nursery has also invited guest speakers for the second workshop in the series.  Landscape designer Orchid Black will discuss Design Elements in the workshop on February 14, 2009.  Ms. Black is an accomplished landscape designer and owner of Pitcher Sage Design.  She has been involved on numerous native plant projects including Washington Park, in Pasadena, where she worked with the city and other organizations to install and maintain natives there.  The park won an ASLA award for best park restoration in 2007.  

Landscape designer Pat Overby will present the Design Elements workshop on March 14, 2009.  Ms. Overby is an accomplished designer and sought-after speaker on the topic of native plant gardens.  Her business specializes in landscape designs featuring California native plants.  She regularly speaks about natives for Sea and Sage Chapter of the Audubon Society in support of their efforts to promote naturalistic landscaping practices that will in turn provide feeding and nesting opportunities for our local birds.

More detailed descriptions of the topics covered in each workshop can be found on Tree of Life Nursery’s website.  Tree of Life Nursery is the largest grower of California native plants in the state.  Specializing in a line of plants from the Southern California region, Tree of Life is dedicated to providing the finest quality of commercially available plants to the landscaping trade and to the public.  Tree of Life Nursery believes in creating spaces that look and feel authentically ‘Californian’.

Tree of Life Nursery
33201 Ortega Highway
San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675
www.CaliforniaNativePlants.com

Contact: Debbie Evans, email