Montecito Union School Gets Mulch Makeover
There’s a crunchy new addition in the Montecito Union School‘s front yard.
Mulch has taken over the once plush lawn that used up a lot of water.
“Over the past three months since this has been in, it’s been using 50 percent less on this meter which serves this area, and the building and the upper area behind us,” said Mike Clark, the water conservation specialist at the Montecito Water District.
Clark has been working with the school to replace the grass with recycled bark.
The students were surprised to see the bright green lawn gone once school started in August.
“It’s very different than what it used to look like. But as soon as you connect it to the real world and what we’re experiencing, they see that going on in their own homes and obviously we’re talking about it here at school so they’re all for it,” said Tammy Murphy, school superintendent.
The school is on San Ysidro Road. The busy street causes some people to take notice of the property’s new landscaping.
“We have had a number of community members come and give us kudos for having done this. This is something that being on the frontage road, it does send a positive message to the community that we are there hand in hand with the residents of the area to try to conserve the water,” said Jesse Landeros, the school facilities manager.
Clark said putting in mulch is easy and the grass doesn’t need to be removed beforehand.
“All you do is put weed cloth over the existing lawn down below. So this is an example of the weed cloth. Completely cover the existing grass with weed cloth and cover with a thick layer of mulch, about 8 to 10 inches is optimal. Essentially you’re killing the grass by depriving it of sunlight and water. And so it dies off organically and you have a zero water use mulch over the top,” he said.
For the school’s large area, Clark said it cost around $600 to $800 but that it’s worth it.
“You recoup those expenses month to month in the lack of doing all the maintenance, the mowing, the watering. Pretty soon within four to five months you recoup those expenses and then it becomes a savings for you every month,” he said.
