REHABITATION BY DESIGN
Steve Morgan

Do you enjoy the thrill and magic of watching a hummingbird hover effortlessly over a flower? Its wings a blur and its throat blazing coppery tints in the sunlight as it flits from one source of nectar to another. Does the sight of a handsome coyote quickly trotting across the highway in front of you bring up feelings of wonder? Maybe it is a covey of Gambel’s Quail that brings a smile to the corners of your mouth. That smile might grow even bigger as you see a dozen little rolly-polly baby quail pop out from under the cover of a Scrub Live Oak and scurry across an open space following mom and dad in an erratic line that usually has mom scurrying franticly back and forth. What feelings go through you when you hear the bouncing ping pong ball of a Western Screech Owl call coming to you from the dark outside your window?

I know these natural moments give color and meaning to my life and I know that I am not alone in loving those moments. As I drive around Arizona I see yards where the natural landscape was kept intact by slipping a home in with as little impact on the site as possible. These yard oases exist, but I must say they are becoming hard to find. It is in these habitats, often surrounded by barren gravel, concrete, asphalt and buildings, that the wildlife flourishes. Listen as you walk by a space like this. The natural voices expressing life ripple out from the cluster of trees and shrubs and you know they have found a refuge.

Landscaping is usually considered as the arrangement of land for human use. It is driven by convenience and economics more than by the impact or results. For example, removing 50 trees to give a building a better view or scraping off a mountainside to provide the fill needed to erase a canyon because it is cheaper to build on flat ground. “Rehabitation By Design” means approaching design from the other direction. The ecology and structure of a site determines the best building approach. These concepts identify the possibilities and problems and combine your intentions with natures in a harmonious way.

A few tools from the ecological design tool box would be:

• Study the site to discover its potential and personality. Which direction are the slopes facing? Are there boulder outcrops? Are there islands of native plants clusters? What is the soil like? Is it windy? Is there runoff from offsite that crosses the property? Are there any erosion problems? Become very familiar with the site.

• Create a salvage plan ahead of construction. Tag what can be salvaged (plants, rock, soil) for later reuse. Plan the construction staging area where it will leave the least impact: future driveway or parking site.

• Chip up what plant material couldn't be salvaged and use it to mulch over native seed in disturbed areas.

• Design water harvesting into the home. Break up the roof water salvage areas into manageable sizes. A one-inch rain falling on 100 sq. ft of roof yields 63 gallons of sweet rainwater. Think of the size of a typical 55 gal. drum. An average sized roof of 1500 sq. ft yields 945 gallons of rainwater from a typical 1” summer storm. Mold the ground plain into basins to catch and allow water to filter down into the earth reservoir.

• Use native plants to benefit the native pollinators and other wildlife (they did evolve together)

This approach considers the TOTAL COST of the development. Consider the real impacts of changing the drainage patterns, removing the soils and shelter giving vegetation.

Nature is a balanced system, a complex woven web of everything there is. Our current way of designing unbalances that system. We tend not to acknowledge that interconnectedness and often treat things as if they were independent of all else. If you do cherish those natural moments and want to bring them closer to home, then shed those shackles of fear, tear down those walls of control, throw away the Roundup and let nature embrace you once again. Provide the elements of habitat: Food, water, shelter and arrangement of space within your landscape. You will find yourself outside often to hear the sounds of birds and water or catch the fragrance from a blooming natural beauty. I promise that once you have started your yard on the path to a natural landscape, then nature will provide ample help to keep it exciting and beautiful.

Enjoy!