Coronado residents are preparing their gardens for the Coronado Floral Association’s home front judging taking place March 27-29. While the Floral Association celebrates colorful blooms and manicured yards with blue, red, and yellow ribbons, Emerald Keepers recognizes earthy-friendly home fronts with green ribbons.
EARTH FRIENDLY CRITERIA
Considerations to earn an earth-friendly green ribbon include:
- Limited to no lawn.
Grass is water and energy intensive and provides limited benefits to local biodiversity. - Limited to no artificial grass. Fake grass should be avoided as plastic pollution that harms the soil, wildlife, and human health. The benefits from reduced watering of artificial grass are far outweighed by the harms caused by this plastic ground cover.
- Majority native or low water plants. Support bees, birds, and butterflies with low-maintenance native and low water plants that thrive in Coronado’s soil and climate.
- Natural mulches covering soil. Mulches such as bark, rocks, sand, and decomposed granite retain moisture limiting the need for watering and inhibiting the growth of weeds and the need for chemical weed killers.
- Majority ground surface non-paved. Permeable, non-paved ground surfaces allow for water absorption into the soil rather than runoff.
Green ribbon home fronts must also meet the Coronado Flower Show ribbon requirements for obvious effort, good maintenance, and curb appeal.
PARKING STRIP
Home front judging also considers the parking strip between the sidewalk and the street. While the parking strip is city property, home owners are responsible for maintenance. This highly-visible space presents another opportunity to expand your earth-friendly impact.
EARTH-FRIENDLY EXAMPLES
In 2025, over 340 homes were recognized for their earth-friendly landscaping. View 2025’s top earth-friendly home fronts and the complete list of earth-friendly home front winners in the Village and Cays at www.emeraldkeepers.org/earthfriendly.
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
Volunteers are needed to help Emerald Keepers award green ribbons to Coronado earth-friendly home fronts. Volunteers are assigned an area of town and can judge anytime between 8:30 am on Friday, March 27 and noon on Sunday, March 29. No experience is necessary, and all information and materials are provided. Sign-up online and enter “Emerald Keepers” in the comment box.
