{"id":10374,"date":"2020-05-19T16:13:11","date_gmt":"2020-05-19T23:13:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lesliedinaberg.com\/wordpress\/?p=10374"},"modified":"2020-05-21T16:26:20","modified_gmt":"2020-05-21T23:26:20","slug":"nature-finds-a-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lesliedinaberg.com\/wordpress\/?p=10374","title":{"rendered":"Nature Finds a Way"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Nature Finds a Way, originally published in the Santa Barbara Independent on May 14, 2020.<\/p><\/div>\n

Out of the 1\/9 Debris Flow Comes an Even More Magical Wildlife Retreat<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cNature truly is an awesome force,\u201d says landscape\u00a0designer Margie Grace<\/a>, \u201cboth in terms\u00a0of destruction and in terms of renewal.\u201d The\u00a0founder of Grace Design Associates<\/a> witnessed nature\u2019s\u00a0competing forces in working on properties that were devastated\u00a0by the Montecito debris flow<\/a> of January 9, 2018.<\/p>\n

One such project was for Penny Bianchi<\/a>, whose ravaged\u00a0garden reemerged as a thriving habitat less than a year after\u00a0the catastrophic event. Even though the debris flows left\u00a0her property covered in three feet of mud and detritus, it\u00a0never even occurred to Bianchi not to restore her beloved\u00a0garden. A National Wildlife Federation Certified Wildlife\u00a0Habitat <\/a>that was home to coyotes, bobcats, hawks, quail,\u00a0doves, owls, mallards, songbirds, bats, butterflies, native\u00a0pollinators, reptiles, and amphibians, the 2.5-acre property\u00a0sits at the entrance to the 42-acre Ennisbrook Preserve<\/a> and\u00a0is bordered by Oprah\u2019s estate<\/a> on two other sides.<\/p>\n

Bianchi had a premonition before that fateful day in\u00a02018. Their house was not in the mandatory evacuation\u00a0zone, but she fibbed to her husband, Adam, telling him on\u00a0the way home from dinner at Birnam Wood that the zone\u00a0was expanded and they had to leave. \u201cI just lied,\u201d\u00a0she admitted. \u201cI just made it up because I was so\u00a0worried that he wouldn\u2019t want to evacuate.\u201d<\/p>\n

So the couple, who are partners in McCormick\u00a0Interiors, were safely ensconced at the Bacara\u00a0when the massive debris flow struck, killing 23\u00a0people and destroying more than 400 homes.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur neighbor said it sounded like there was\u00a0a freight train in the house,\u201d said Bianchi, who\u00a0had to wait three weeks before they could access\u00a0the property, accompanied by a mental-health\u00a0specialist in trauma. \u201cI told her, we\u2019re alive, my\u00a0daughter got the cats out \u2026 so I\u2019m not going to\u00a0freak out,\u201d said Bianchi.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe scope and scale of the damage was mind boggling,\u201d\u00a0said Grace. \u201cI\u2019m trained as a geologist,\u00a0so I know that this could happen, and I couldn\u2019t\u00a0believe that this happened.\u2026 Geology in action\u00a0is really a lot for humans to absorb.\u201d<\/p>\n

Grace\u2019s firm and contractors Giffin & Crane<\/a>, who were\u00a0both part of the original build team in 2004, came back on\u00a0board to reconstruct two decimated\u00a0structures \u2014 a garage and guest\u00a0house \u2014 as well as the expansive\u00a0gardens. Thanks to strict county\u00a0regulations to build the main house\u00a0two feet above base flood elevation,\u00a0no mud got inside, although every\u00a0single item in the antique-filled\u00a0main house had to be removed and\u00a0cleaned because of toxic contaminants\u00a0from the firefighters\u2019 boots.<\/p>\n

While the Bianchi\u2019s had excellent\u00a0insurance, the $900,000\u00a0allocated for mud removal wasn\u2019t\u00a0nearly enough to get rid of it all. \u201cI\u00a0told them that\u2019s all we\u2019re spending,\u00a0and then I\u2019m making friends with\u00a0the rest of the mud,\u201d said Bianchi\u00a0when they got the $1.6 million\u00a0estimate to complete the rest of\u00a0the job. She challenged Grace to\u00a0figure out something to do with\u00a0the mud.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was like, \u2018When given lemons, make lemonade;\u2019 this\u00a0was, \u2018Given mud, make mountains,\u2019\u201d laughed Grace. They\u00a0created mounds along the property line, designed a new\u00a0hill near the duck pond, and utilized all the boulders, which\u00a0would have been even more expensive to move than the\u00a0mud.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow our favorite part of the whole garden is the hill\u00a0that was the result of the extra mud,\u201d said Bianchi. \u201cMargie\u00a0designed steps up to it, and, where it was flat before, there\u2019s\u00a0now a beautiful view.\u201d<\/p>\n

About 95 percent of the plants had to be replaced \u2014\u00a0\u201cwhat a silver lining,\u201d said Bianchi \u2014 and now the 28-foot tall\u00a0hill features sycamore trees and poppies. \u201cEverything\u00a0I put in the ground grew lightning fast; those trees just\u00a0shot up,\u201d said Grace. \u201cShe has bobcats; she has all kinds of\u00a0birds, raptors all the way down to the couple of geese and\u00a0hummingbirds. It is an extraordinary piece of property. I\u00a0don\u2019t know whether the good juju is part of the property\u00a0or whether Penny brings that, but her roses even bloom\u00a0in the shade; it\u2019s just magical. Things just bounce back.\u00a0Everything that gets put in the ground, you kind of have to\u00a0stand back; it grows so fast it\u2019ll knock you over.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bianchi is pleased with the rebirth. \u201cSome of my friends\u00a0still think that we\u2019re strange for wanting to be here,\u201d she\u00a0said. \u201cBut we love it here, and we don\u2019t feel worried about\u00a0it happening again at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Originally published in the Santa Barbara Independent on May 14, 2020. Click here<\/a> to see the story as it appeared in print.<\/p>\n

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