Sacramento Suburban Water District (SSWD) partnered with EcoLandscape California to transform a conventional, high-water-use lawn to a water-wise, sustainable landscape and to provide hands-on training to home gardeners and their customers. The landscape is at the site of one of SSWD’s wells, located in a Carmichael neighborhood at the corner of Root Avenue and Eden Court, earning it the name, The Garden on Eden.

The landscape plan was based on the Eco-Friendly Landscape Design Plans for The New California Landscape, which were designed and published by EcoLandscape California. Local home gardeners learned about water-wise landscaping during a series of workshops and received hands-on experience by helping with the transformation, installing water-efficient irrigation, sheet mulching, proper planting, and applying mulch.

This landscape is considered to have multiple benefits because it was designed to provide year-round color and beauty, minimize the work needed to maintain it, and minimize the water needed to irrigate it.

The previous landscape of cool season turf grass and inefficient sprinklers had a water requirement of 125,829 gallons per year. This landscape, with its low and very-low-water plants and efficient drip system will only need 33,113 gallons per year, once established.

The links below will help you navigate through more information regarding the design and benefits of the Garden. Please let us know your feedback or if you have any questions, please contact us at feedback@sswd.org or 916-972-7171.

• Creating a Multi-Benefit Landscape
• Sheet Mulching
• Irrigation Schedule [PDF]
• Irrigation Plan [PDF]
• What is River-Friendly Landscaping

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