Landscape Design with Water in Mind -
Plant Selection and Design

Instructor: Sarah Sutton

Planting design for a dry landscape, with little to no municipal water for irrigation, is much more than simply choosing "low-water" plants. With increasingly shrinking water supplies now and in the future, we need to think like Mother Nature when selecting, installing, and establishing plants.

In this course, landscape architect Sarah Sutton will share the skills, knowledge, and resources gained from her years of experience, including stream and habitat restoration, combined with inspiration and techniques to adopt this novel approach to create visually pleasing, low maintenance residential, commercial, and civic landscapes.

Topics include:

● Revisiting the Site Analysis - Key to Success

● Protecting and Enhancing our Urban Forests

● Navigating MWELO: It is the law, is here to stay, and it will only get more restrictive

● Addressing Firecaping within Increasing Drought Restrictions

● Planting for Rain Gardens, Greywater, and other Alternative Water Sources

● How to Plant and Care for California Native Plants

● Creating Viable Habitat within our Landscapes to Knit Increasingly Fragile Ecosystems Together

With tighter water restrictions looming, and many jurisdictions already denying any water for irrigation in 2022, this information is vital to our landscapes and our businesses. Sign up today for this innovative and timely course.

Hi, I'm Sarah Sutton!

I loved climbing trees as a child and sitting amidst the leaves watching the birds and other wildlife around me. This love of nature (and art) drew me to the profession of Landscape Architecture.

I feel fortunate to have been able to practice in a variety of settings throughout my 40-year career, from public and private sector parks, streetscapes, housing, and commercial developments to open space planning, trail design, and habitat restoration. My focus has always been through the lens of regenerative practices, striving to leave the Earth and her flora and fauna in a healthier state.

In addition to practicing as a Principal Landscape Architect for several Bay Area firms, I've enjoyed teaching planting and neighborhood design courses for UC Berkeley Extension's Landscape Architecture program and Planning and Design for Riparian Corridors for UC Davis Extension for many years.

My award-winning book - The New American Front Yard: Kiss Your Grass Goodbye - draws from my experience and is richly illustrated to show how to transform lawn-centric front yards and communities into beautiful, eco-friendly, low-maintenance gardens that protect our watersheds, sequester carbon, conserve water and energy, and enhance habitat values.

Course Curriculum

CEUs: APLD awarded 8.75 CEUs

Hours of Content: At least 9 hours

I. Introduction

Water in California: Drought vs. Deluge

II. Revisiting the Site Analysis

1. Soils: Understanding the foundation of healthy landscapes
2. Drainage: Nuisance, Liability or Resource?
3. Climate Factors: Beyond the Sunset Zones
4. Functional Assessment

III. Planting Design Strategies

1. The Native Imperative
2. Start with native plant communities
3. Basic design principles
4. MWELO: It's the law
5. MWELO: Prescriptive approach
6. MWELO: Performance approach
7. Case Study: How much water can you save?
8. Firescaping and drought
9. Planting for rain gardens & greywater

IV. Plant Selection: Resources & Criteria

1. Trees: Protecting the urban forest
2. Native shrubs, perennials, vines
3. Native and ornamental grasses
4. Groundcovers: Replacing the lawn
5. Annuals, bulbs, succulents
6. Edibles with limited water
7. Cool tools for choosing your plants

Installation & Maintenance

1. Drought-resistant soils
2. Native planting and care
3. Maintenance vs. management
4. Plant problems and challenges

Course Wrap-Up

Taking this information out to the world