Cagwin & Dorward Landscape Contractors

Money Savings Update!

Val Hinshaw and Lisa Stratton, Managers for Sonoma County, recently coordinated a customer's "green exchange" rebate with the City of Santa Rosa. The “Cash For Grass” process was pretty straightforward:

C&D scheduled a pre-inspection site visit for the customer with Santa Rosa's Water Conservation Dept.
After the existing turf and irrigation was inspected, a Certificate of Participation was issued to go ahead with the conversion.
Once complete, C&D submitted the renovation information and requested a post-inspection with the City's Water Conservation Specialist, Deb Lane.
Deb was very helpful in facilitating this rebate. She reviewed the site to verify square feet of grass removed from irrigation, did the math and voila! A rebate to our customer for $875.00.

Green Exchange rebates are offered by public agencies and utilities throughout California. Both residents and businesses are eligible for a variety of refunds covering everything from turf and irrigation renovation to solar and high-efficiency toilet installation. Check with your local city or county offices for programs in your area.

The Bay Friendly Turf & Irrigation Renovation

Cagwin & Dorward utilized methods developed by StopWaste.org to develop a Bay Friendly Landscape at a community in Santa Rosa, CA.

The project, completed in the fall, converted 1800 square feet of turf to protect heritage oak trees at the community's recreation center entryway.

The projects goal was to save the heritage oaks (and their associated property value), while replacing the costly turf area with a less needy, more healthful landscape cover.
The turf area and it's sprinkler irrigation were outdated, wasteful and posed a hazard to the oak's health from over watering.

The crew applied Bay Friendly Landscape skills to perform a turf reduction renovation that would benefit both the customer and the environment.
Border plantings with drip irrigation were added to define the recreation center's entryway.

The remaining turf area was sheet mulched, utilizing the nutrients within, rather than digging up and hauling off the undesirable turf to the local landfill.
Here, Saul Aquino is deftly driving the Dingo which carries roles of cardboard. Mucio Lugo follows, while, Moises Chavez and Crispen Cesares, clear the way.

The recycled cardboard was layered over the existing turf, providing an organic weed barrier and eliminating the need for herbicides. Organic compost was placed on top of the cardboard to initiate the microbial activity that works to break down the cardboard. A top dressing of recycled wood chips, supplied by our Tree Care department, was applied to complete the sheet mulch.

Over time, the turf will decompose and the cardboard will decay providing the soil with nutrients and enhancing the soil structure. The result is that a water hungry lawn has been converted to an environmentally friendly landscape
This project resulted in a win for all. Not only did the reduction of turf save the heritage oaks, it reduced the waste of water to support the turf as well as the money spent by the community to maintain it. Meanwhile, the Bay Friendly methods used, regenerated the health of the soil for the oaks without the need for chemical application and the need for two costly trips to the landfill:

turf disposal
wood chip disposal

by reusing those materials already on hand.

Even though we replaced the turf with mulch, the aesthetic integrity of the landscape was actually enhanced.

Customer's Comments?

Bay Friendly Project Team:
Val Hinshaw & Lisa Stratton

Bay Friendly Landscaping - Case Study