12/30/2025
As this year comes to an end, we want to thank all of our neighbors who entrusted us with re-imagining their outdoor spaces. These gardens have become meaningful gathering places—not only for people, but for our wild neighbors too.
We feel incredibly fortunate to help create habitat corridors along the critical buffer zone between our urban neighborhoods and surrounding wildlands. This transition zone is essential: it supports wildlife displaced by development & fire, reduces edge impacts on natural areas & allows plants & animals to move, forage & adapt in a changing climate. When we strengthen this buffer, we protect both our communities & the ecosystems that surround them.
This year, together, we added 171 trees to our urban forest through private property plantings. Many of these were large native trees like sycamore & oak that will provide cooling, habitat & beauty for generations.
We removed 83,000+ sqft of turf & replaced it with habitat rich gardens that support biodiversity while making our neighborhoods more interesting & walkable. Across these projects, 2,297 native plants were planted, providing nectar, seeds, & shelter for birds, pollinators & countless other species.
Through thoughtful stormwater strategies—building functional swales connected to roof runoff, redirecting water from streets back into the soil, creating drainage that moves water away from structures and into gardens & replacing turf with natives & mulch—we estimate that these conversions will capture an additional 742,500 gallons of rainwater every year compared to when these spaces were lawn. That is water kept on site, recharging our aquifers, nourishing soil, trees & life.
We also diverted approximately 316 tons of material from the landfill. This included keeping removed plants on site as mulch, salvaging trees removed by local tree trimmers & giving them a 2nd life as mounds & paths, repurposing cardboard to suppress weeds in every project & using soil excavated for rain gardens to build berms.
Thank you for being part of this important shift. These gardens now provide shelter & nourishment for thousands of living beings, seen & unseen. They add richness and individuality to our neighborhoods—each one a reflection of the people who steward it.
This is one small, tangible way each of us can help change the world around us. Once the garden is built, nature takes over the rest.
“Every living being, seen and unseen, is a sacred participant in re-creating our world.”
