Sunset Cliffs, San Diego, CA

Description

This house, built in the 1950s, had a yard covered in turf and overgrown with trees and shrubs by the time Surfrider got to it.
The location of this particular Garden Assistance Party has special significance as well. The home belongs to the wife of the late Mike Dormer, a well-known cartoonist and creator of the surf-themed Hot Curl comic strip. The series was named for the famous 6-foot statue Dormer and a friend erected at Windandsea beach in 1963, depicting a paunch-bellied surfer looking out at the ocean.
With help from the owner, Flicki Dormer, and her nephew and his partner, Eric and Evan, the Surfrider-San Diego Chapter's Ocean Friendly Gardens Committee hosted a Garden Assistance Party early in 2013 to tear out the lawn and jungle-like growth and put in California native plants. The ground in now covered in decomposed granite, retention walls have been built to keep any water from running into the house, and the asphalt driveway has been torn out to be replaced with permeable pavers. The backyard has also been torn out. Rain barrels are in place to collect anything that runs off the roof. The owners hope to put in an entire gray water system someday!