Showcase Features: This garden oasis, adjacent to the San Francisquito watershed and nestled in an oak woodland setting, features a variety of native plants ranging from newly planted to mature specimens. The homeowners are knowledgeable gardeners who recognize the benefits of native plants and enjoy the wildlife that they attract.

Other Garden Attractions: A healthy grove of Oregon grape and matching fern planters greet the visitors to the front door. Coyote brush, hummingbird sage and California fescue mingle in the dappled shade of a live oak. A raised planter with a Japanese maple specimen is under planted with checkerbloom and manzanita. Nearby, a meadow of fescue, blue-eyed grass and rush covers the ground. The rock garden features Fremontia, monkeyflowers, manzanitas, sages, coyote brush and toyon. The back garden, which is home for many more interesting natives, is edged by a natural creek, and the homeowners have restored the native riparian vegetation along its bank which includes the removal of many invasive species. Creekside planting includes western hazelnut, evergreen huckleberry, native ferns, nine bark, currants, wild strawberry, dogwood, mugwort, asters, California rose and snowberries. The large lawn areas have been replaced with native grass meadows, including purple needlegrass, red fescue and june grass. The meadows are in various stages ranging from three years old to newly installed sheet mulching. One of the areas in the back garden is dedicated to white flowering plants, such as snowberry, cream bush and white Ceanothus.

Gardening for Wildlife: This is a wildlife habitat: food, water, shelter and places to nest and raise young are all present. The homeowners deliberately keep some areas wild and provide a brush pile. Among the fauna to be found in the garden include quail, rabbits, and a nice variety of birds and insects.

Years of CA Native Gardening at this Location: 11

Garden Size: 28,000 sq ft

Designer: Alex Von Feldt
Installer: Alex Von Feldt

Click here to display the plant list in a printer-friendly format (from year 2012).