Residential Retrofits 

TreePeople partnered with North East Trees to offer sustainable front yard retrofits to select residential homes located in the Florence-Firestone community of South Los Angeles. The new landscapes will save water, cut water bills, and reduce polluted runoff to local streams and the ocean. 

The new landscapes include drought tolerant and California native plants and trees. Homeowners could also request the design and installation of simple features to conserve and capture water, such as rain barrels, dry creeks, and drip irrigation. 

Design, installation, and plants and materials were entirely free of charge to qualifying residents. Installation was completed by North East Trees’ trained youth landscape construction crews.

• Replace turf grass front yards with drought tolerant and California native trees and plants which are visually attractive, reduces water bills, reduces the need for maintenance mowing, creates shade for the house which reduces air conditioning bills, and helps local butterfly, bee, and bird populations by providing shelter and food.

• If suitable, connect rain gutters to rain barrels so that homeowners can reuse rainwater for watering their plants

• If suitable, create rain gardens or dry creek beds to catch and soak up rain water, which prevents the front yards from becoming soggy and muddy

• Any new irrigation systems installed will be low-flow or drip with timers or controllers to prevent overwatering and irrigation water overflow onto concrete streets, which causes a lot of residential water waste.