Santa Barbara Botanic Garden chosen as 2016 City Water Hero

The Santa Barbara Botanic Garden (SBBG) was recently awarded the 2016 Water Hero Award by the city of Santa Barbara for serving as a role model for sustainable landscape practices, as well as for their recent achievement in constructing the Water Wise Home Garden and the Island View Garden. The city annually honors an individual, business or organization for going above and beyond in water conservation efforts and in serving as an example of resource efficiency within the community.

SBBG Executive Director Steve Windhager, Ph.D., says that in 2010, the Garden updated its mission to reflect its desire to serve as a role model for sustainability. In 2016, as part of its 90^th anniversary, the Garden opened its new Pritzlaff Conservation Center, Island View Garden, and the redesigned Water Wise Home Garden.

Regarding the Water Wise Garden, Windhager says, “…we’re really trying to communicate more than anything else … that native plants are beautiful and good for our environment. Our gardens demonstrate that anyone can have a water conserving landscape that provides habitat for pollinators and other wildlife, and gives you all the beauty you might want with a fraction of the water needs of a conventional landscape.”

The 78-acre Garden is a colorful landscape designed with California native plants. Frederique Lavoipierre, SBBGs director of education, says, “One of the exciting things about this garden is that it demonstrates multiple ways you can save water in your landscape.” Easy to grow native plants, a rain garden and a rain collection tank, are all found at the garden; it will also soon will display different types of mulch and smart irrigation options as well as a laundry-to-landscape graywater system.

Also part of the 2016 rollout, the Island View Garden is dedicated to showcasing native plants from the California Channel Islands. The garden features plants from the 16 California islands – eight from the Channel Islands and eight from the Baja Islands. Betsy Collins, director of horticulture, says the native plants, “…are also plants that have proven to be incredibly easy and wonderful choices for any home landscape.”

Another unique feature of the Island View Garden is that it was designed and developed to be water neutral. Rainwater is channeled through a bioswale that contains sedges and horsetail plants to filter the water before it is collected into the three 15,000 gallon underground tanks for irrigation usage. Windhager claims that, “over the course of the year, as we gather rainwater off our parking lot and building rooftop and collect it in our rainwater collection system, we expect it to meet our entire demand in this garden.”

Windhager claims he overwhelmed when he learned the SBBG was receiving the city’s Water Hero Award. He said it recognizes the hard work put in over the last six years and encourages the Garden to go even further with its sustainability initiatives. The Garden is committed to promoting the use of native plants in landscapes and serving as a role model for sustainable practices.