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Next to Nature Certification Program

Joseph Rivera

Conservation Manager

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San Dieguito River Valley Conservancy

The San Dieguito River Valley Conservancy preserves, protects, and shares the natural and cultural resources of the San Dieguito River Valley through collaborative efforts to acquire lands, complete trails, restore habitats, establish educational programs, create interpretive centers, encourage recreation, and mobilize public support.

Just a little bit about the Conservancy which has been around for around 37 years with the aim to conserve the natural environment in San Diego county, specifically the San Dieguito Watershed. Through physical Conservation of land that we acquire and preserve and restore through volunteer work with local community groups and also help from groups like Urban Corp and ACE Americorp, We Create Educational programs and curriculum for people of all ages to teach them what a watershed is and why it’s an important habitat for the animals that live in it and for the people that live around it. We have programs that focus on serving underserved schools and give students the opportunity to visit and learn about the watershed first hand. And through Recreation, programs that encourage people to be in nature and create a relationship with it like our coast to crest trail challenge and our exploring our sense of place program. If you would like to know more about our many programs I’d be happy to talk more about it.

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The San Dieguito River Valley Conservancy (SDRVC) and the Green Infrastructure Consortium (GIC) are partnering to encourage the creation of sustainable eco-beneficial landscapes by assisting homeowners and others to develop areas using nature-mimicking approaches that enhance habitat for nature, optimize water resources (rainfall, runoff, and irrigation), conserve energy, and more, in order to preserve the integrity of our natural spaces and increase connectivity across the landscape.

What is the Next to Nature Certification Program? The Next to Nature certification program was made to encourage the creation of sustainable, eco-beneficial landscapes by assisting homeowners and HOA Communities to preserve the natural integrity of our natural spaces, increasing connectivity to support local biodiversity, to combat climate change with nature based solutions that you can accomplish in the comfort of your own home.The goal of this program is to fill in the gaps we have within our natural areas to create a larger region of an interconnected pathway of quality habitat that improves the quality of life of everyone. This is accomplished with the Concept of renaturing our landscape with Nature-mimicking practices & Designs. This program is aiming to be the bridge provides participants with a multitude of resources that contain both information and services from our partner organizations to help you along the way.

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Webinars

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Why join the Next to Nature Certification Program?

Filling in the gaps in our natural areas.
Providing food, resources, and habitat for local species.
Save on watering/irrigation costs and maintenance.
Protect and prepare your home from wildfires.
Get rebates for your accomplishments.
Feel good factor and a lawn sign.

Why join the Next to Nature Certification Program? Now there are a thousand reasons why you should think about transforming from one that is all grass or one that uses tropical plants from other parts of the world. As I mentioned earlier, a big reason that you would be filling in the gaps in our natural areas. San Diego has an abundance of natural open areas in such a small corner of the world. Many of these areas have become fractured and disconnected by the growth of human population and development making it more difficult for wildlife to stay connected and travel further for food and other resources. Imagine you live in a community ( which shouldn’t be too hard to imagine I hope) now this community has a handful of places to get your groceries, furniture, tools and supplies you need to do that bathroom remodeling you’ve been holding off. (Stay with me here) Now imagine all of those places shut down and got moved to the next town over, forcing you to travel far for those resources. In a nutshell, that’s what has happened to many of the natural areas in San Diego. You will basically creating a new local resource for birds, bee’s, butterflies, insects, and other species.

Now the benefits you’ll be getting include saving on water, irrigation, and maintenance costs, Why? (Next Slide)

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Lower Maintenance
Low Water
Pesticide Freedom
Wildlife Viewing
Drought Resistant
Promotes Local Biodiversity

Native plants can be both drought-tolerant and fire resistant depending on the plants of course and still contribute to the local biodiversity which is the key difference.

Lower Maintenance

While no landscape is maintenance free, California native plants require significantly less time and resources than common non-native garden plants. California native plants do best with some attention and care in a garden setting, but you can look forward to using significantly less water once the plants are established, little to no fertilizer, little to no pesticides, less pruning, and less of your time.

Pesticide Freedom

Native plants have developed their own defenses against many pests and diseases. Since most pesticides kill indiscriminately, beneficial insects become secondary targets in the fight against pests. Reducing or eliminating pesticide use lets natural pest control take over and keeps garden toxins out of our creeks and watersheds.

Wildlife Viewing

Native plants, hummingbirds, butterflies, and other beneficial insects are “made for each other.” Research shows that native wildlife clearly prefers native plants. California’s wealth of insect pollinators can improve fruit set in your garden, while a variety of native insects and birds will help keep your landscape free of mosquitoes and plant-eating bugs.

In ecosystems, diversity means stability and ability to withstand change. You will find that wildlife thrives when you landscape using a wide variety of plants. Some plants will be evergreen or form thickets for cover, while others will be valuable because of the flowers and fruits that they bear.

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Why join the Next to Nature Certification Program?

Filling in the gaps in our natural areas.
Providing food, resources, and habitat for local species.
Save on watering/irrigation costs and maintenance.
Protect and prepare your home from wildfires.
Get rebates for your accomplishments.
Feel good factor and a lawn sign.

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Why join the Next to Nature Certification Program?

Filling in the gaps in our natural areas.
Providing food, resources, and habitat for local species.
Save on watering/irrigation costs and maintenance.
Protect and prepare your home from wildfires.
Get rebates for your accomplishments.
Feel good factor and a lawn sign.

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5 Steps to become a N2N Home

Evaluate your property and Submit a N2N Interest Form
Make a sustainable, nature--friendly plan
Implement the plan (act)
Assess and re-evaluate. Submit a N2N Form of Completion to be evaluated and receive your certificate.
Maintain

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Step 1

N2N Interest Form

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Step 2

Make a sustainable, nature-friendly plan.

Determine what your goals are and how you would envision the end result.
Use our “Homeowners Guide” and resource list to assist in your research.
Take into account where you live, what's around you. (Calscape)
Factor in size and cost.
Write it down, draw it out.

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If you aren’t able to see this, again it can be found on our website. So this Homeowner’s guide contains the Steps to Certification that we are going over now. This actions are divided into the categories like Earthscape, Greenscape, Bioscape, Firescape, Waterscape, and more. And it lists a handful of actions you can take under those categories. One thing I would like to highlight on this guide is the list of the Top 10 Most Beneficial Next to Nature Actions, which are a list of actions that are multi-beneficial, meaning they touch on multiple categories at once. For example

Plant native plant species, native trees (no palms please), or drought tolerant plants and trees
Use Water Conservation techniques to harvest rainwater and other forms of reusable water (Grey water)
Install a rain garden/bioswale or other actions to Prevent Erosion
Improve soil quality
Use mulch and compost
Encourage pollination with pesticide-free pollinator plants
Install feeders and shelters for appropriate wildlife of all types
Increase efficiency of water use
Create fire-safe zones, Plant fire resistant plants
Re-purpose materials, by both using them for constructing your renovations or donating them; purchase re-purposed products for use on your property restoration

This list in an incomplete list, meaning there are actions you can take that might not even be on this list, and that’s completely okay. As I mentioned before, you are making this landscape uniquely yours, so get creative with it and do what feels right.

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Step 2

Make a sustainable, nature-friendly plan.

Determine what your goals are and how you would envision the end result.
Use our “Homeowners Guide” and resource list to assist in your research.
Take into account where you live, what's around you. (Calscape)
Factor in size and cost.
Write it down, draw it out.

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Step 2

Make a sustainable, nature-friendly plan.

Determine what your goals are and how you would envision the end result.
Use our “Homeowners Guide” and resource list to assist in your research.
Take into account where you live, what's around you. (Calscape) create a plant palette.
Factor in size and cost.
Write it down, draw it out.

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DESIGN

Which brings me to the design of your garden.

I believe the goal here is to convert your traditional landscaping to one that promotes and supports local wildlife while still being drought tolerant, low maintenance, and a place where people can go to take a relaxing stroll and even learn and develop a respect and interest in nature.

There are many ways you can design your open space with native plants. I know when you think of San Diego Native Plants, your mind pictures chaparral type shrubs. As important and vast as that type of habitat is, it is not the only type of native plants that exist. The plant biodiversity in San Diego is very high which means you can mix and match numerous types of plants to get the desired look. Plans can involve combining a few key “habitat plants,'' or the entire landscape plan can mirror a typical plant community found in nature that in turn attracts wildlife that would normally be found in those native landscapes.

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Native Plants

Drought Tolerant

Plants

As you know, San Diego has a very niche mediterranean climate. The plants here are adapted to this climate and the native plants especially are the most equipped to handle stress in most cases once established and most importantly Native plants, if chosen with knowledge on where they are commonly found, are adapted to work with other plants and promote each other’s growth without competition. When is comes to non-native drought tolerant plants there are some key differences, they will more often either be not compatible with its neighbors or compete with its neighboring plants for resources.

This is where you would want to take some time with your palette of plants that are native and more importantly found in the surrounding natural areas of the neighborhood. In doing this, you are not only widening the range of where these plants are but also adding to the resources for local wildlife which I will go into a little later.

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Xeriscaping
Hardscapes
Gravel
Stones
Succulent and Cacti Gardens

Now I am sure you have all seen various types of drought tolerant designs for landscaping. Ranging from succulent gardens to hardscapes like gravel or stones, with the sole purpose being to use less water because as you all know california is always in a drought. Well probably not for the last 2 years, but historically California has seen long stretches of drought. This design is conservative in multiple aspects, simple, and relatively easy to design and install. The main downside to that is that it does not match or mimic the natural areas that are neighboring your neighborhood. Which means that it does not provide any resources or add biodiversity to the local plantlife and wildlife. It definitely does not support pollination, which is something that is crucial for plant-life especially in San Diego. But if your personal goal is to conserve water, then maybe a landscape like this would be a better idea. And you’ll be able to get some rebates for this design so don’t forget that.

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Evergreen Plants
Plants with Varying Blooming Seasons
Key Habitat Plants
Pollinating Plants

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Gardenplanner.calscape.org

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The San Diego Sustainable Landscaping guidelines also break down their information into regions which is very helpful. As you know when you drive from the coast of San Diego east, you encounter various region types in such a compact area. For example it lists habitats like the Coastal Prairie which are the immediate coastal areas, South coast inland an area just inland from the beaches, to the Upland Central region, Transition, Mountain, and Desert regions. I like this resource because it has an approach where you look at your yard as a mini watershed. Meaning you take into account all the natural slopes of your yard and plan according to how water flows through it. With that information it can help you choose plants that have a higher water need and place them in areas of your yard that get more water and place plants that don’t require much water in areas where the water flows away from. If your yard is completely flat, you might event water to incorporate some slopes by building up some areas to create that flow. Again completely up to you and what your main goals are.

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Step 3

Implement plan

Start small and make your way forward.
Document the process every step of the way.
Enjoy the process.

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Step 4

Assess, re-evaluate, submit a N2N Form of Completion

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Step 5

Maintain

Watch the fruit of your labor flourish.
Proudly place your lawn sign for all to see.
Spread the word to your neighbors.

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Resources

&

Incentives

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Next to Nature Certification Program

SDRVC.ORG

Joseph Rivera

Joseph@sdrvc.org

8188134746