Green Infrastructure
What is Green Infrastructure?
Green infrastructure that improves the urban environment gets at the very root of what has driven Sustainable Solano since we first started — the idea of regenerative and restorative approaches to our environment that help to strengthen our communities. We want to build the capacity of our communities to develop and pursue solutions that will make physical, social, economic and cultural environments stronger.
Toward that end, our green infrastructure programs focus on the individual, neighborhood and community scale to restore natural processes to the environment through introducing cooperative plants, mulch and water-collecting landscape features to better spread and sink stormwater, build healthy soil, support cleaner air and water and create habitat. These green infrastructure efforts harness natural systems to build a healthier urban environment.
Since the first community gardens, we have drawn a connection between attention to the earth and collaboration among people. For our Sustainable Backyards program, a key component was bringing together community members and building green infrastructure skills through workshops creating food forest gardens. We are growing beyond single backyards to create urban forests and public gardens that feed neighborhoods, conserve water and trap carbon. And our Resilient Neighborhoods program helps neighbors come together to put those regenerative efforts to use on a larger, community-wide scale.
Know a property that would be a great fit for one of our programs? Fill out our Sustainable Landscaping Interest Form here.
10,700+
Workshop/event participants since 2015
81
Sustainable gardens installed
4.7M
Annual water impact (gallons)
513
Trees planted
Solano Sustainable Backyards
Demonstration food forest gardens using sustainable landscaping techniques to create vibrant, abundant gardens.
Resilient Neighborhoods
Neighbors working together to create environmentally and socially resilient community hubs.
Community Gardens
These edible gardens supply fresh produce to the communities they serve
HOA Projects
Creating sustainable, beautiful and cost-saving landscapes in HOA common areas.
Additional Resources
News and Updates
Get Your Garden Growing with Benicia Garden Series
We are excited to offer this new workshop series for all of you gardeners! Master Gardener Maggie Kolk will guide participants through the growing season with sessions on garden planning, seed starting, companion planting, pest management, harvesting and so much more! Resources will be provided at each class.
Roots in the Ground: Tree Planting
One of our Rio Vista Youth Air Protectors reflects on the experience of planting trees in partnership with the City of Rio Vista: Planting a tree seems like such a small act, until you hold it and place it in the ground. When you walk away, knowing it’ll be in the same spot it was left in, that small act seems much bigger. At the tree planting in Rio Vista last November, the sense of community was touching, the small group we started with grew as it came time to start planting.
Transform Your Yard: Vallejo Residential Demo Garden Site Search
Do you live in Vallejo? Are you interested in working with your neighbors and community to install a demonstration food forest garden or native garden in your front yard? We are looking for a residential site in Vallejo to install a demo garden.




