Thanks to all who attended the Bringing Back The Natives tour and visited Lauren Kindorf's peaceful garden.
Here are the notes from my talk about using natives for curb appeal. Setting up a structure for the yard is key to creating a neat and welcoming front garden.  More information later!

So to get started:
 
Preplanning information
 Reality check:
      Take black and white photos from several vantage points, including from each window
Scale:
       Find  a major feature of the front of the house- use this measurement as scale for
Environment:
     Where is the sun/shade? What type of soil do you have? Doe's it drain well or hold water?
Style:
      What is the style of your house? Is it large with 2 story stucco columns or long and low?

Tips:

1 Build around a template

• Organize the garden around a central idea or template
• stick with the original focus - don't get sidetracked by a pretty plant or try to squeeze
• in too many styles

      Templates/styles:
      private garden
      rain garden
      contemporary
      traditional
      meadow
      dramatic

2 Include  structure for crisp clean lines

• choose one to three structures to make the left brain happy

     Structures:

• paths
• sitting area
• walls
• boulders

3 Bulk up the plants

• lay out large  groups of dense shrubs
• select 1-3 varieties of heavy shrubs
• group them in masses based on the scale measurements taken earlier

4 Keep it Simple

• leave space for the plants to grow
• plant away from edges
• fill in with annuals while they grow
• limit the variety of plants
• repeat patterns
• limit the flower color palette
• 60% first color, 20% second color, 10% a third color, 10% others
• Ex. 60% purple, 20% blue, 10% hot pink, 10% yellow and orange

5 Select tidy plants

• In general, garden hybrids of natives will be neater and stay in scale with a suburban garden better than straight species
  

6 Contrast those leaves

• select plants to contrast texture and color of leaves
  
• gray/green
• large/medium/small
• dense/open and sculptural
• include spiky
• Pick a plant combo and repeat it throughout the length of the yard

7 Healthy plants are beautiful plants

• select plants for the site- sun/shade, soil, heat/cold
  
• group by water needs
• plant them properly
• water them in carefully
• soil, drainage
• mulch
• water them appropriately
• get to know your plants- check up on them every week
• what do they need?

 

Materials:

 Cardboard rolls:
415 sf coverage per roll (250' x 4') as double layer, incl 8" overlap
Available from Urban Farmer in Richmond  (510) 524-1604 for $100
Compost:
1" deep minimum (3 cubic yards per 1,000 square feet)
Mulch:
3" deep minimum (9 cubic yards per 1,000 square feet)
Water:
Although the goal of this process is to reduce water usage, be generous with applications of water between each layer to speed the decomposition of the material.

Process:

 Check for bermuda or other noxious weeds that may require additional removal steps. See blog entry for removal of bermuda and other difficult weeds.

1. Cut lawn and/or weeds as short as possible with mower on lowest setting.
2. Dig a 2-4" deep x 12-18" wide trench near all walkways and patios to allow room for sheet mulch layers.
3. Optional 1" layer of compost.
4. Plant larger trees and shrubs 5 gallon, 15 gallon, and larger
5. Water soil area thoroughly.
6. Lay out cardboard over entire area,  overlapping sides by 8".  Tear or cut cardboard to lay around shrubs and trees, keeping cardboard 2-3" away from plant crowns.
7. Water well
8. Spread a 1" layer of compost over the cardboard. Be very careful while walking over the cardboard, as it will be very delicate. Walk on top of compost layer only.
9. Lay out another layer of cardboard crossing in the other direction, overlapping as before.
10. Run drip irrigation lines over cardboard, under mulch
11. Water well
12. Spread 3" mulch over cardboard
13. Plant smaller shrubs, perennials, groundcovers, cutting through cardboard as needed.

 

Summary:
This is a fun, easy, and quick project to do yourself. It's hard to mess it up- just keep a couple of points in mind:

• Cardboard has to be solid and thick keep out light to kill weeds, so if it tears, patch it up.
• Adding organic matter encourages soil organisms to wake up and break down the weeds while enriching the soil.
• A thick layer of mulch keeps out the weeds- and any that do sprout will just pull out effortlessly. It also keeps in the moisture necessary for breaking down the lawn/weeds, and keeping the soil organisms happy.
• Small groundcovers and perennials can be planted directly in the mulch layer. It's best to throw in a shovelful of soil or planting mix and/or compost with them to help hold moisture, but they do very well with sheet mulching.
• Additional web sites offering various methods, ideas about sheet mulching:

http://www.stopwaste.org/preventing-waste/lawn-to-landscape
https://www.marinwater.org/158/Sheet-Mulching-Guide   

Congratulations!
You've reduced landfill waste and improved your soil! You'll be enjoying  a beautiful, healthy, drought tolerant garden for years to come!
 
Materials calculator:

• Area to sheetmulch________ (A)
• Multiply (A) x  .00925 to get cubic yards of mulch needed (3") :                                                           
  

         (A) x .00925 = ______CY Mulch (M)

• Take the cubic yards of mulch, multiply that number by .333 to get cubic yards of compost        
  

        (M) x .3333 =  _______CY Compost (C)

• Area divided by 415. Round up to get number of cardboard rolls needed.  

        (A) / 415 = ______Rolls Cardboard
 
Example: 1,200 square feet
1,200 x .00925 = 11 cubic yards of mulch needed
11 x .333 = 3.66 cubic yards of compost - round up to 4 cubic yards- better to have more
1,200 / 415 = 2.89 rolls- round up to 3 rolls