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OCEAN FRIENDLY GARDENS
All drains lead to the ocean. Saving water and preventing urban runoff begins in Ventura's own backyards.
The Problem
From unnecessarily treating our gardens and lawns with chemical fertilizers and pesticides to applying too much water, we’re killing all the beneficial life in our soils that support beautiful and healthy plants, and creating polluted runoff. Landscaping chemicals don’t stay where they are applied. Instead, they can leach into groundwater or be washed away by runoff when it rains or when misdirected irrigation runs off our properties. The resulting stormwater and road runoff pollutes local waterways and harms coastal ecosystems by causing harmful algal blooms and killing fish and other aquatic animals. Water affected by runoff is dangerous to swim and play in.
The Solution
The best way to protect clean water is through a more natural landscape that supports a diversity of native plants, and mimics nature.
Ocean Friendly Gardens are shaped naturally to capture rain and runoff to act like a sponge. OFG also provide native habitats for bees, birds, and butterflies, and can even help mitigate climate change as healthy plants and soil combine to capture and store carbon from the atmosphere.
Volunteer with us! Email ofg@ventura.surfrider.orgfor information on upcoming events!
Our Ocean Friendly Garden program sees landscapes and streets as solutions to water pollution.
We have these standards to accomplish this:
- Contour landscapes for rainwater retention
- Create living soil to sponge up water
- Filter pollution and sequester carbon
- Install climate-appropriate plants to create a wildlife habitats
Signs, Brochures, and Educational Resources
- To order an Ocean Friendly Garden Sign, please email Lindsey Koning, lkoning@surfrider.org
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To order Ocean Friendly Garden Brochures, please email Lindsey Koning, lkoning@surfrider.org, or click here to download the PDF version
- Intro to Ocean Friendly Gardens Slideshow
- Tips for Making Your Yard More Ocean Friendly Blog
- Clean Water Tips Handout – things you can do at home to protect water quality at the beach
- Surfrider’s short, animated film about a holistic approach to water called “The Cycle of Insanity” (Disponible aquí en Español)
Toolkits and Online Tools
- Toolkit for Planning an OFG Program & Activities – tabling, walks, talks, workdays, policy meetings, plus sample flyers/hand-outs.
- Insurance coverage – request form for hands-on activities.
- Participatory waiver – PDF version (request .doc version to customize it). Not a substitute for insurance coverage.
- Workday info
- Workday Agreement Form (Residental & Public Site)
- Walks – example from West LA/Malibu Chapter.
- Interactive Map of Current Ocean Friendly Gardens
Program Criteria
Benefits of Healthy Soils and Ocean Friendly Gardens
Guidelines and How To’s
- Surfrider’s Ocean Friendly Gardens How-To Gardener’s Guide Book
- California Watershed Approach to Landscape Design
- Guidebook following the watershed approach – how to evaluate your site, remove turf without chemicals, grade for rainwater capture, sheet mulch, and more. It was created by G3/Green Gardens Group and applies to areas beyond Southern California (unlike what the title suggests)
- Steps to Creating an OFG – template for identifying resources in your area
- Install rain barrels and be a part of the “Get Barreled” Program
- Get involved!
- Volunteer – Contact us at ofg@ventura.surfrider.org or locate the Surfrider chapter and student club closest to you
- Contact them to see if they are running an OFG program or offer to help start one
- Design templates that you could adapt to your landscape.
- Native plants to use in your fire-ready Ocean Friendly Garden!
- Information on curb cuts. Click here to watch how a curb cut collects runoff during a rainstorm.