SAN MARCOS: Volunteers to create native garden, fix up homes

"Rock star" of landscape designers involved in project

By ANDREA MOSS - Staff Writer | Wednesday, September 17, 2008 7:08 PM PDT ∞

SAN MARCOS ---- Several San Marcos homes ---- including two historical ones in Walnut Grove Park ---- will get eco-friendly landscaping makeovers Sept. 27, when the city holds its annual Volunteer Improvement Beautification Event.

The Cox House and Bidwell House are among the properties that will be spruced up during the event, also known as VIBE. The two buildings date back to the late 1800s and early 1900s.

The city bought the homes several years ago and relocated them to a 2-acre parcel called Heritage Park. The site is within Walnut Grove Park, off Twin Oaks Valley Road on the north end of San Marcos.

Jeff Zotara, whose nonprofit United We Paint is managing the beautification event for the city, said Wednesday that roughly 150 volunteers will turn a flat, relatively barren area around the Cox House and Bidwell House into a California native garden.

Many of the volunteers are employed by local companies that also are donating about $20,000 worth of cash and supplies, said Zotara, who is United We Paint's executive director.

Landscape designer and San Marcos native Greg Rubin helped design the garden. Describing him as "a rock star in the California native landscaping world," Zotara said the finished product will resemble those that existed locally during the period when the two houses were built.

Visitors to the garden are likely to be surprised, he added.

"I think what a lot of people have been thinking of when we talk California natives (is) it's got to be cactus," Zotara said. "But Greg Rubin specializes in creating California native gardens that are colorful and very much attractive to the eyes."

The Vallecitos Water District, meanwhile, is developing an elementary school program that will feature the garden as a real-life example of water conservation and people's agricultural customs.

"One of the neatest features of this garden is the fact that it has an ethnobotany component," said Cinnamon McIntosh, a water conservationist for the water district. "The kids will actually be able to walk around and see ornamental native plants. And then they'll be able to turn a corner and really get to experience ---- cause they'll be touching and feeling them ---- some of the useful plants for the local tribes as well as the original settlers."

During the beautification event, volunteers also will fix up the yards around a historical house that is privately owned and four homes owned by low-income families. Like the Walnut Grove Park landscaping projects, the others will include drought-tolerant plants.

Karl Schwarm, director of housing and human services for the city, helped start the beautification event six years ago. He hailed the environmentally friendly nature of this year's event, in a city-issued statement.

"The city of San Marcos is always striving to educate our residents on the importance of water conservation and utilizing renewable resources," Schwarm said in the statement. "The eco-friendly garden in combination with the revitalization of homes makes this the most complete VIBE to date."

For more information, call (760) 710-3028 or go to www.unitedwepaint.org.

Contact staff writer Andrea Moss at (760) 739-6654 or amoss@nctimes.com.