Landscape for the RJ Walter/SMUD Home of the Future

Landscape for the RJ Walter Homes LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum Home of the Future exemplifies resource-efficient landscaping in the Sacramento region. The basis of sustainable landscaping is to create functional, maintainable, environmentally sound, cost effective, and aesthetically pleasing outdoor spaces. Key components to sustainability are water and energy conservation. All factors were integral in the creation of this landscape and guided every decision about the design, plant material, irrigation system, hardscape, lighting, structures, and installation.

A diverse community of low-water use plants was used - both California natives and regionally-appropriate plants that will thrive in our natural conditions of moist winters and dry summers. Year-round interest is achieved through the use of color and texture and the use of a variety of trees, shrubs, perennials, and ornamental grasses. Evergreen Strawberry Trees (Arbutus unedo 'Compacta') with their yellow and orange/red fruit and burgundy-colored bark, Western Redbud (Cercis occidentalis), White Crape Myrtle (Lagerstroemia 'Natchez'), Elizabeth Bush Anemone (Carpenteria californica 'Elizabeth'), and Eve Case Coffeeberry (Rhamnus californica 'Eve Case') will help shade walkways and sides of structures. The City of Folsom's streetscape will be enhanced by the Cork Oak (Quercus suber), which will one day provide the much needed shade, cooling the street and the front yard.

Instead of a thirsty lawn, carpets of green are created through the use of groundcovers and ornamental grasses: Emerald Carpet Manzanita (Arctostaphylos 'Emerald Carpet'), Elijah Blue Fescue (Festuca glauca 'Elijah Blue'), and Dwarf Coyote Bush (Baccharis pilularis).

A number of plants attract and support wildlife, birds, butterflies, and beneficial insects, such as the Howard McMinn and Emerald Carpet Manzanitas (Arctostaphylos), Otto Quast and Grosso Lavenders (Lavandula stoechas 'Otto Quast' and L. x intermedia 'Grosso'), Bowles Mauve Wallflower, (Erysimum 'Bowles Mauve'), Compact Oregon Grape (Mahonia aquifolium 'Compacta'), Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis 'Prostratus'), and California Wild Grape (Vitis californica). A Sweet Bay Tree (Laurus nobilis), vegetable and herb gardens, and composter will provide further sustainability for the residents of the home.

Consistent with Bungalow-style homes, the inside has been carried outside and the outside is considered part of the living space of the home. On the front porch Tournesol Siteworks' decorative containers with self-watering systems are filled with ornamental grasses and perennials to complement the home's colors. A back patio made of concrete and recycled glass and an overhead shade structure with a vining Yellow Lady Banks Rose (Rosa banksiae 'Lutea') will provide a place of respite from the afternoon sun. The meandering dry-creeks created from local river cobble serve dual purposes: Not only are the creekbeds decorative, lending to the feel that the home is one with the earth, but they follow engineer-designed site drainage and function as drainage channels, slowing the path of surface water and allowing it to soak into the ground on site instead of running off into the street or alley.