Replanting the Median – 2010
What a day! Over 40 Celebrate Los Osos volunteers came out Saturday, April 17, 2010, to replant the Los Osos Valley Road median which had been neglected for years.
The morning shift completed all of the planting. The afternoon shift installed the entire drip irrigation system and spread mulch on the 6500 square foot median.
The volunteers were exhausted but exhilarated. We can all celebrate a successful job well done.
Suzanne Morrison of EARTHSCAPES donated countless hours of her professional time to plan, prepare and supervise the project. Thank you, Suzanne.
Thanks also go to the generosity of the organizations that donated or specially reduced prices for plants and materials for the median: Native Sons Nursery (plants), Earthscapes (plants), Farm Supply (irrigation supplies), San Luis Soils (soil & mulch), Rossi Transport (mulch), Forest Nursery (plants), and the Back Bay Inn landscape crew.
And let’s not forget Big Daddy’s splendid pizza lunch, Jimmy Bumps coffee and doughnuts, and Ralphs’s ice and liquid refreshments. Thank you, all.
Finally, thanks to our heroes the volunteers, many of whom are Bay Osos Kiwanis members, who astonished the professional landscapers with their energy, efficiency, and unprecedented spirit of cooperation.
Photos by Gene Kalland
Replanting the Median – 2021
Some History
2010-2018
In 2010, Celebrate Los Osos worked with San Luis Obispo County Public Works to redesign the 1100 linear foot median along Los Osos Valley Road that had been neglected for years.
We teamed up with Suzanne Morrison of Earthscapes, a Los Osos residential and commercial landscape design firm.
Note: The text for the 2010 project says 40, not 80
Under Suzanne’s direction and with over 80 Celebrate Los Osos volunteers, we replanted the median and added a new irrigation system that used potable water.
We were paying for the water and maintenance, and Earthscapes maintained it at a greatly reduced cost.
Unfortunately, during the construction of the sewer system and the wastewater recycling plant, the median was severely damaged.
Large trenches were dug across the median, tearing up irrigation lines and destroying 70% of the plant materials.
We wanted to replant the median after the damage and use reclaimed water from the new water recycling plant. The “Purple pipe” which carries the reclaimed water had been installed, but we had to wait for several years until the Public Utilities Commission, Golden State Water, and San Luis Obispo County could come to an agreement about the use of the reclaimed water.
2019
We finally went ahead with our plan to replant the median a second time. Working with Earthscapes, we proposed a two-part project to be accomplished over two years to the San Luis Obispo County Infrastructure Grant Program.
We received a grant for Part 1 (the design phase) and completed a sustainable landscape and irrigation design.
The design is a continuous, stylized, serpentine shape including color and dotted with groupings of small boulders and plants. As motorists drive by at 35+ mph they will experience a continuous narrative with a consistent design approach to the median rather than multiple clusters of unrelated design elements. The existing oak trees will be featured in the new design.
We identified native drought-tolerant plant materials and hardscape materials (boulders and colored gravels) to create a compelling design that will be visually appealing to the thousands of people who pass by each day.
By using well-selected native and drought-tolerant plant materials, along with some gravel ground covers, we will be demonstrating how it is possible to have a beautiful landscape without turf, and with minimal use of water.
We also wanted to create a beautiful entrance into our community that will give an aesthetically pleasing and welcoming impression to visitors and residents alike.
Plants were selected for their sustainability, color, texture, and size to be in compliance with the County and State’s height restrictions.
The use of reclaimed water was projected to reduce our water usage by 50%.
2020-2021
We submitted a proposal for Part 2 (the implementation phase) to the San Luis Obispo County Infrastructure Grant Program and were subsequently granted funds to implement the design for the median including the purchase of plants, hardscape materials, irrigation equipment, new controllers, etc.
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Installation date: October 9, 2021
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