Photos: Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase emphasizes sustainability

Leigh Curran waters vegetables and herbs that are planted in an extra-high raised bed to better capture sunlight. The height also allows for storage underneath. The water drains to the frontyard plants along the sidewalk facing the street. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

April 23, 2014 5:17 PM PT

The Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase on Saturday features 39 sustainable gardens and six school gardens in a free self-driven garden tour. The tour is organized into six clusters so people can park and walk the gardens in each cluster.

The frontyard of the Mar Vista home Curran shares with Marilee Kuhlmann used to be lawn. It was ripped out in favor of organic vegetables. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Cilantro and other herbs. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Leigh Curran and Marilee Kuhlmann grow cabbage, cauliflower, tatsoi, carrots, mint, zucchini and micro greens, among others in their Mar Vista back and side yards. A solar panel, hidden from view, is attached to the top of the vines. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Cabbage, right, and kale grow in a raised bed. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Succulents grow in wall planters along the side yard. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

A circle of lettuce grows in a raised bed underneath netting. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Benji stands next to the parkway garden where a variety of drought-tolerant plants attract wildlife such as bees, ladybugs and birds. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Yellow calibrachoa hang in a planter in the frontyard of the home of Marilee Kuhlmann and Leigh Curran. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Nancy Hastings, who works for the nonprofit Surfrider Foundation, followed three principles in landscaping her own garden -- conservation, permeability and retention. The Surfrider Foundation developed the Ocean Friendly Gardens program as a way to curb urban runoff (the No. 1 cause of ocean pollution in Southern California). (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Like most homeowners on the tour, Nancy Hastings, left, removed her front lawn and installed an “ocean-friendly” garden of California natives and drought-tolerant plants. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Nancy Hastings planted lantana, succulents, princess flower and African daisies with an eye to keeping water on site rather than having it run unfiltered into the ocean. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

The parkway belonging to Jonathan Wolff and Sherilyn Powell features artichokes, cilantro, California poppies, cabbage, parsley, chamomile and celery. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

A zombie rises from the dirt. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Low water plants line the pathway. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

A pedestrian walks past the curbside garden created by Jonathan Wolff and Sherilyn Powell. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Succulents create a pretty pattern in one of the gardens along Redwood. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Drought-tolerant African daisies. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Artichokes grow in the frontyard of Robyn and Blaine McNutt’s home. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

The frontyard of Robyn and Blaine McNutt’s home in Mar Vista. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Cymbidium orchids grow in planters. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

The carnivorous N. Petra, also known as a pitcher plant. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Blaine McNutt’s frontyard was sculpted and elevated to improve drainage and allow privacy. The home is across the street from a bustling school. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

A sculpted berm creates privacy from the elementary school across the street. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

A bee collects pollen from a California poppy in one of the many parkway gardens along the street. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

A Baja Costero plant. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

A flowering Pride of Madeira plant is popular with bees. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)