MIRIDAE

THE BEE BUFFET

CONCEPT DESIGN
SACRAMENTO REGION | 2022

Sacramento’s Sanitation District Agency (SDA) asked us to develop designs for three landscape pilot projects that are representative of the 130+ sites in their network. Each pilot site is designed to be a typology for similarly scaled and oriented sites across the region.

Our concept proposes a network of Sanitation District native landscapes designed as “Bee Buffets” that provide a diverse array of resources required by native bees, which are critical pollinators for native ecosystems as well as agriculture. Each of the three pilot designs is comprised of plant swaths that highlight a different native bee resource or characteristic. A recognizable “Bee Bungalow” monitoring marker provides habitat for ground-nesting and cavity-nesting native bees and allows for standardized long-term data collection and research observation. The modular approach to the proposed designs also clarifies and simplifies the annual maintenance routine. Lower-maintenance shrubs and vines are located furthest from the street, while flowering perennials that need more regular pruning are located closest to the sidewalk.

HIGHLIGHTED PLANTS

Carex pansa (Dune Sedge)
Ceanothus ‘Yankee Point’ (Yankee Point Ceanothus)
Elymus condensatus ‘Canyon Prince’ (Canyon Prince Wild Rye)
Eriogonum fasciculatum (California Buckwheat)
Heteromeles arbutifolia (Toyon)
Juncus patens (Common Rush)
Phacelia californica (Rock Phacelia)
Salvia clevelandii ‘Winnifred Gilman’ (Cleveland Sage)

Images by Miridae