LAFD Station 74 Garden

Los Angeles Fire Department Station 74 sits at the epicenter of 2017’s La Tuna and Creek Fires, which sparked multiple resident and business evacuations. It sits in the heart of Sunland-Tujunga Foothill Boulevard business district, where it serves as a highly visible example of fire-wise landscaping.

Officer Isaiah Marin is among the firefighters who maintain the Station 74 garden.

The foliage in the garden quickly established itself.

A native oak sits to the west of the property where it will shade the garden and cool the air. Native oaks are particularly helpful in fire wise gardens, as they maintain hydration well, and their dense leaves make great captures mitts to protect structures from embers.

Designers included a decomposed granite parking space which will not accept weed growth as the open soil did.

Red Buckwheat blooms in the late spring and summer.

Beautiful blue, fragrant California Lilac blooms are month the first to liven the garden in spring.

California Lilac (Ceanothus), like native oak, has dense leaves that can serve as captures mits for embers.

Even when Coyote Mint loses it’s blooms, it scents the garden with the minty smell of its drought tolerant foliage.

Native Deer Grass lines the fence line. It is a beautiful alternative to invasive, combustible foliage like Pampas, Fountain and Feather grasses.

Island Snapdragon brings fire engine red blooms to the garden in time for Independence Day.

From the west, the garden blooms red, white and blue.

A prostrate California Sagebrush also brings a fresh, minty scent to the garden.

Delicate Chia Sage Blooms emerge from dense foliage that stays well-hydrated in high heat.

Now that the foliage has established, it forms a solid barrier to the germination of invasive weeds that increase fire risk in wild spaces.

Like Chia Sage, fragrant lilac-colored Cleveland Sage maintains its beauty in hot Valley summers.

The garden was designed to inspire the community while being low-maintenance, so as not to distract from the Station’s important work.

The garden brings a touch of color and life to a largely industrial stretch of Foothill Boulevard.

A Community Unites to Support LAFD

Not long ago, the LAFD Station 74 garden was a barren 1,800 square foot planter at the front of the station. The department left the space unplanted for many years due to the extensive scope of work required to improve it.

While barren space may seem low maintenance, it can can attract invasive, flammable foliage. Obviously not a good look for a fire station! As a result, firefighters were spending time doing a great deal of weeding without getting the benefit of beauty for their work.

Travis Whitcomb, just 16 years old at the time, highly values the services LAFD provides ito the Sunland-Tujunga community. Noticing the barren space and the work it created, Travis saw the opportunity to show his gratitude by providing beauty while lessening the work it would take for the firefighters and paramedics to maintain it.

Whitcomb worked with landscaping experts, including his father and nearby businesses, to create a plan for a low to no maintenance garden. Nearby FormLA Landscaping created site plans nd a sustainable landscape design that reflected the nearby native mountain and slope vegetation. Special care was given to designing a garden that would need no overhead watering, little maintenance, and demonstrate fire wise plantings.

The team defined and refined a scope of work , and the Sunland-Tujunga community jumped in to support the project. For example:

A local business donated services & excavation equipment was used to grade the slope, remove old tree stumps and roots and dig a large hole for a new tree.

Local hardware stores and landscape supply houses onated of copper & pvc piping and plumbing supplies and the labor to install piping and plumbing systems.

A local tree company donated a 36” box native oak was donated from a local tree company.

The Fire Heavy Rescue Truck & Crew also volunteered time – they lifted the tree into the new location.

Several tons of 18” and 6” granite landscape cobbles, used to edge the slope, create a dry river, and retain the soil, were donated and delivered to the site from a local masonry yard.

 
Whitcomb was able to obtain financial donations to purchase more than 70 native plants, and on the day of the planting more than 50 volunteers from the local LDS church, dedicated scout supporters, and enthusiastic members of the community showed up to help.

Landscape and irrigation experts provided instruction and community volunteers installed the low-flow, subsurface drip irrigation line and planted the new, native foliage. All the irrigation lines and planting were topped with a thick thick layer of mulch. With this support from the Sunland-Tujunga community installation was completed in less than 5 hours!

LAFD Maintains a Lush, Low-Water, Fire-Wise Garden

Whitcomb’s work, and the ongoing work of LAFD Station 74, have created a head-turning garden of vibrant beauty in the middle of Foothill Boulevard’s most industrial stretch.

LAFD Station 74 now maintains this lush, leafy, red-white-and-blue blooming space. Three years in, the weeding work is minimal, as the garden is so full of beauty, weeds have a hard time finding their place! Each year, more and more of the work will be shaded as the oak tree’s canopy expands.

LA Fire Wise Gardens

The Sunland-Tujunga community at the far north east of the San Fernando Valley experiences high, dry heat and is wrapped in fire-prone foothills. The community has taken steps to mitigate its fire danger.

In addition to the rewilding of the Sunland Welcome Nature Garden, the garden at Los Angeles Fire Department Station 74 models an optimally fire-wise landscape aesthetic and beautifies an industrial segment of Foothill Boulevard. The highly sloped garden includes a young native oak, a dry river to direct water, and a mix of low-maintenance, fire-wise native foliage.

The Black Sage and Coyote Mint foliage seen here is fragrant year round.

Even when these delightful pom-pom like blooms disappear, Coyote Mint will scent the air with its fresh fragrance.

Chia or Black sage appears dark green or lightly silver depending upon what else in the garden is in bloom. It’s small leathery leaves are designed to handle high, dry heat.

The density of native oaks’ leaves create deep, cooling shade, creating a more temperate environment for surrounding foliage. These beautiful canopies are the preferred or sole habitat for many native fauna.

The small, dense leaves of native oaks help the trees withstand drought. New leaf growth is so lovely it can easily be mistaken for blooms.

Even while young, oak tree canopy is dense enough to provide significant shade.

A dry river transversing the space further encourages stormwater to stay onsite, driving it into the soil where it can be cleaned on the way to groundwater tables and the ocean. Proactively directing water can protect slopes.

As Coyote Mint and Black Sage blooms fade, green mounds of Deer Grass erupt with wands of golden seeds. Aesthetically, it is a good replacement for those who adore the look of arsonist Fountain Grass.

The garden was then-sixteen year old Travis Whitcomb’s Eagle Scout project. Whitcomb noticed the barren area and committed to providing the fire fighters with a beautiful, easy to maintain space. He also aimed to provide the Sunland-Tujunga community with a model for fire-wise landscaping. Whitcomb harnessed the goodwill of community members from throughout Sunland-Tujunga, including FormLA Landscaping, to design and install the garden.

Follow FormLA Landscaping’s board Fire-Wise Plant Palette on Pinterest.

Spring 2017

In the spring of 2017, with two years of growth and a year of adequate rain, the New Look for LA is really strutting its stuff!

Indian Mallow

Lavender with Hot Lips Salvia Background

One of three entrances to the garden.

The foliage dances along rebar arches, giving the trail a feeling of protection and delight.

Climbing Rose

Looking back toward the entrance and dining patio

Bioswale with Salvia Clevelandii in bloom

Toyon is ready to erupt with its delicate white blooms

Hummingbird Sage surrounded by some of her favorite friends

African Sumac in the bioswale, surrounded by Salvia Clevelandii.

Common Yarrow blooms

Entrance next to two great IdealMow lawn/meadow alternatives: Bent grass and Common Yarrow

Clarkia

Kids love touching flowers!

Breaks in the pavement allow water to percolate into the groundwater table, cleansed by the foliage and soil.

Indian Mallow

Aristada, Purple There Awn

Hummingbird Sage spikes topped 6 feet after enjoying a winter of more than adequate rain.

Examining the Indian Mallow

Rebar arches are covered with climbing roses.

White Yarrow forms the IdealMow lawn, while Red Yarrow blooms pop in the area surrounding the patio

Penstemon

Irrigation Demonstration

Entrance from the far side of the garden.

Aristada punctuates a foliage bed full of greenery.

California’s state flower, the delicate, bright orange poppy, has silver foliage. When it goes to seed, it sprouts these bright green seed heads.

Farewell!

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Photos by Lesly Hall Photography

Spring 2016 in the Center Circle

By April 2016, the garden morphed from an interplay of silver-to-emerald green textures, punctuated with yellow Cassia blooms, into a riot of vibrant colors.

 

Photos by Orly Olivier

Winter 2016 in the Center Circle

The New Look for LA stays lush, leafy and vibrant year round. As the foliage chosen is authentic to the area or from one of the five LA-climate compatible regions of the country, the garden established quickly. These photos were taken during the winter of 2015-2016, less than one year after installation.

Upon closer inspection, there are other blooms, including Australian Wooly Grevelea.

Colorful Cassia fills the garden with yellow.

Silver foliage, like Spanish lavender and Chilean Rock Purslane add visual interest in the garden, even when there are few blooms.

This is the New Look for LA, one year after installation, the fifth year of the drought.

Hummingbird Sage blooms are starting to emerge from their leathery, fragrant leaves.

Golden Aristada plays off these silvers.

Harder materials can reinforce areas for aesthetic reasons or to strengthen areas expected to see higher foot traffic.

The permeability of the hardscapes, like this path, play a key role in taking advantage of every drop of water during drought.

Feathery Common Yarrow has grown from seed into a soft blanket.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this winter view of the garden!

Photos by Orly Olivier

Installation April 2015

See photos of the garden at the time of its installation in the Los Angeles Times, the La Canada Valley Sun, Pasadena Star News, MSN. See in-garden interviews with Descanso Gardens leaders and FormLA Landscaping designers on ABC and CBS.

See more photos on the New Look for LA Pinterest Board.

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Gardens of the World

 

See and learn more on the Gardens of the World at La Canada Library website.