Permable hardscape to use in home landscaping.

1. Project SOUND 2015 (c)
Out of the Wilds and Into Your
Garden
Gardening with California Native Plants in Western L.A. County
Project SOUND – 2015 (our 11th year)
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2. Let the Rain Sink In:
Permeable Pavements, Patios, etc. to
Make Your Garden More Sustainable
Kelley Dawdy & C.M. Vadheim
CSUDH/Madrona Marsh Preserve/Gardena Willows Wetland
Madrona Marsh Preserve
June 6 & 11, 2015

3. Hard vs Softscape
Hardscape
• Inorganic things
• Walls
• Benches
• Sidewalks
• Patio
• Driveway
Softscape
• Organic stuff
• Plants
• Trees
• Groundcovers
• Vines
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4. Hardscape
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5. Hardscape Surfaces
Permeable aka porous or pervious
• Planting Beds (softscape)
• Mulched Beds (softscape)
• Gravel
• Permeable Pavers
• Stepping Stones
• Turf
Impermeable
• Asphalt
• Concrete
• Concreted brick or stone
• Concrete pavers
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6. Hardscape Surfaces
Permeable aka porous or pervious
• Definition: surface that
allows water to infiltrate
underlying soil
• “Waters” your garden
• Filters pollutants
• Recharges water table
Impermeable
• Definition: surface that
facilitates 100% runoff
• Cheaper
• Less maintenance (?)
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7. Stream Health vs Impervious Surfaces
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8. Rainwater Run-off
Groundwater
(well water)Los Angeles River
Ballona Creek
Gardena Willows
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9. Stormdrain System
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10. Stormdrain System
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11. Santa Monica SMURRF
The SMURRF cleans & diverts 500,000
gallons of “nuisance water” to local parks,
cemeteries and CalTrans, DAILY!
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12. The Life of City Water
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13. Types of Permeable Surfaces
• Gravel
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14. Types of Permeable Surfaces
• River Rock or Mexican Beach Pebbles
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15. Types of Permeable Surfaces
• Rock Gardens
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16. Types of Permeable Surfaces
• Stepping Stones
or flagstone
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17. Types of Permeable Surfaces
• Concrete steppers
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18. Types of Permeable Surfaces
• Loose lay brick
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19. Types of Permeable Surfaces
• Loose lay stone
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20. Types of Permeable Surfaces
• Permeable Pavers
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21. Types of Permeable Surfaces
• Mixed Materials
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22. Design
• Eclectic is very hard to do well.
• What style is your house?
• Does your neighborhood have a style?
• What color is your house?
• What style are you drawn to:
– English garden
– French country
– Formal
– Modern
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23. Design = Less is More
How does this make you feel?
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24. English Cottage Garden
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25. French Country
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26. Formal
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27. Modern
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28. Asian Gardens
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29. Sub-base?
• In my opinion, a sub-base is unnecessary,
unless you have expansive soil
– Palos Verdes & the “soils area” in Torrance
– Or you are installing a
driveway
– Follow the directions
for specific products
– Ask the seller of the
product
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30. Levelling/Subbase materials
• DG (decomposed granite). Levelling. Bulk only.
Compacts better than sand.
• Sand, plaster. Levelling. Comes in bags or bulk.
• “Pre-mix” is a mixture of sand and gravel.
Subbase. Bulk, only. Use as the subbase for
expansive soil. Can be rolled or vibrated.
• ¾” crushed gravel. Subbase. Bags & bulk.
Needed for driveways. Excellent drainage.
Needs to be vibrated.
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31. Rolling/compacting/vibrating/jumping
• Roller, sod. Rent $10/day
• Compacter/tamper. Rent,
buy or make. Rent $7/day.
• Vibratory plate compactor.
Rent. $72/day.
• Jumping Jack. Rent $90/day.
Only use to compact very
deep loose soil.
Very dangerous.
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32. Installation
• Weed mat? No, thanks.
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33. Drainage
• Make sure that you have “positive drainage”
away from your foundation.
• Code: 1” of fall (rise) over 4’ around the
foundation. That’s 2% (1:48)≈(1:50)=(2:100).
48” Masonry level ≈ $50-75
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34. Drainage
• Finished concrete 1 – 2% (1 – 2:48)
• Permeable surfaces 3 – 4% (3 – 4:48)
• ADA ramp 8% (1:12)
• Don’t forget
the side to
side drainage
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35. Prepping the area
• At what height do you want the walkway or
patio?
• An inch or 2 above the planter beds?
• A “step” down from the door?
Use >1” or 4 - 7½” (code). 1-4” is a tripping hazard.
• Make sure that you are
not covering a drip edge.
As per code, grade must
be at least 4” below.
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36. Prepping the area for gravel
• Gravel and Mexican Beach pebbles are easy
– You’ll want 3-4” of depth
– Do you need to dig out (lower) the native soil?
– Does it need to be compacted? (Probably not.)
– Is there sufficient drainage/fall
of the native soil?
– Buy gravel or beach pebbles.
– Dump them. Rake. Done!
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Size of Beach
Pebbles
Coverage
(square feet/
75 lbs. bag)
½” – 1” 12
1” – 2” 7
2” – 3” 4
3” – 5” 3

37. The problem
• After several years:
• Easy solution: buy more and “top dress”
• Hard solution: remove all the rock, clean &
put them back.
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38. Installing steppers
• Rectangular steppers
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39. Installing steppers
• Concrete or cut stone
– Remove enough soil to finish at the desired height
– Rake out 2” of DG (decomposed granite). Roll or vibrate.
– If using rectangular pieces, in a line, set-up masonry
line (not string).
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40. Installing steppers
• Rectangular steppers
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41. Check square
Check the diagonals and/or check 3-4-5
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42. Installing steppers, continued
– Calculate your spacing. Walk it to make sure it
“feels right”. Approx. 30 – 36”
– Start laying out the steppers.
– Confirm that the edge is barely touching the line.
– Check side to side level (1 – 2% fall).
– Not “level”, tip it up, use a trough to add more DG.
– A tiny bit too high? Whack it with a rubber mallet
or dead blow hammer.
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43. Tools of the trade
• 48” Masonry level
• Masonry line
• Stakes
• Mallet (deadblow or rubber)
• Trowel, brick
• Sod roller
• Tamper
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44. Excavating tools
• Mattock/pick
• Shovel
• Wheelbarrow
• Grading rake
• Push broom
• Hose with nozzle
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45. Working with natural stone?
• Brick hammer/chisel
• 4½” angle grinder with a diamond blade
• 2x4” piece of lumber
• Sledgehammer
– For very large pieces of rock that you want to break in
half, lay it over the 2x4”, approx. where you want it to
break, lightly hammer it above the 2x4” until it breaks.
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46. Back to the flagstone path
• Everything is the same, but
• Put the masonry string down the middle or off
center, or
• Use a long, straight 2x4” to confirm that the
tops of the flagstones are all in the same plain.
• Use your 4’ level to double check stone to
stone “levelness.”
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47. Common problems (downfalls)
• Use DG, not sand
• Check level
• No more than
2 (or 3) materials
• Use flagstone that
is at least
2 square feet each
• “Work the puzzle”
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49. Use flagstone of comparable sizes
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50. They didn’t “work the puzzle”
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51. Flagstone patios
Break-up the
“grout” lines.
Make “T”s.
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52. Brick/paver walkways and patios
• Decide on a pattern
• Decide the type of brick
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53. Curved bricks and steppers
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Steppers

54. Bricks need borders
• Plastic Bend-a-Board
• Plastic or metal brick edging
• Mortared brick boarder
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55. Brick/paver walkway and patio
• Prepare the native soil to the right height
• Confirm positive drainage
• Set the borders first
• 2” DG
• Roll the DG
• Start setting bricks/pavers
• Check “level” often
• If there are gaps, fill with DG, silica sand or
polymeric sand (not permeable).
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56. Types of pavers
• Permeable Pavers
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57. Grasscrete-type products
BodPave
TERRUM TruckPave Grasscrete Porous Pave
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58. Final steps
Tried and True Steps – done by every professional
• Bricks and brick-sized pavers can be vibrated.
• Water, water, water.
• Sit back and admire your work.
• Next day: check for “dancing flagstone.”
Tilt up and add more DG.
• More water.
• Ice tea or beer.
• Sit back and admire your work some more.
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59. South Bay Suppliers
• Thompson Building Materials.
www.thompsonbldg.com
2400 Pacific Coast Hwy, Lomita, CA. (310) 326-5160
– Bulk: sand, DG, gravel, pre-mix, tools (all). Bagged
concrete.
– Pavers, brick, grasscrete-type pavers, concrete steppers,
used brick
• Thompson Building Materials – Rock Yard
1350 W Pacific Coast Hwy, Wilmington, CA. (310) 830-5584
– Bulk: Sand, DG. Bagged concrete.
– LARGE flagstone, decretive gravel, & Mex beach pebble
selection
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60. South Bay Suppliers
• Westwood Building Materials
www.westwoodbm.com
15708 Inglewood Ave, Lawndale, CA 90260 (310) 643-9158
– Bulk: sand, pre-mix, ¾” crushed gravel. Bagged concrete.
Tools.
– Will deliver. ½ cubic yard minimum.
• Sepulveda Building Materials
www.sepulveda.com
359 E Gardena Blvd, Gardena, CA 90248 (310) 436-1400
– Bulk: sand, gravel. Tools. Bagged concrete.
– Nice selection of flagstone and boulders.
– Will deliver.
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61. South Bay Suppliers
• West Los Angeles Building Materials
www.flagstonespecialist.com
2431 S Sepulveda Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90064 (310) 478-7276
– Bulk: sand, pre-mix, gravel. Tools. Bagged concrete.
– Decretive gravel, flagstone, boulders, cobbles,
pebbles, used brick, used concrete
• Bourget Brothers
www.bourgetbros.com
Building materials: 1636 11th St., Santa Monica, CA (310) 450-6556.
– DG, decretive gravel, glass, tools
Rock yard: 1810 Colorado Ave, Santa Monica, CA (310) 829-4010
– Beautiful flagstone. Huge supply. Expensive!
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62. South Bay Suppliers
• B.D. White
www.bdwhitetopsoil.net
19205 Prairie Ave, Torrance, CA 90503 (310) 370-5511
– Bulk: topsoil, sand, DG, pea gravel, ¾” natural gravel.
– Landscape timbers & RR ties
– Will deliver. Minimum = 1 cubic yard.
• Ewing Irrigation
www.ewing1.com
20526 Gramercy Pl, Torrance, CA 90501 (310) 782-7821
– Bend-a-Board™, brick Snap Edge Pavers™
– Pavers
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63. South Bay Suppliers
• Anthony’s Ready Mix & Building Supplies
www.anthonysreadymix.com
4500 Manhattan Beach Bl., Lawndale, CA 90260 (310) 542-8585
– Brick, flagstone, bagged concrete
– Concrete and mortar colors
– Concrete stains
• Home Depot
– Bagged gravel and sand.
– Tools.
– Pavers & brick
– Concrete pavers.
– Pre-mixed concrete – 60 & 94 lbs bags.
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64. • My favorite mason:
Joaquin Barraza 213/453-7642 “Saturday work”
Or his employer: Land Matters 310/372-7604
• My favorite place to see permeable pavement:
Mother Nature’s Backyard in Gardena Willows
Wetland Preserve
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