Showcase Features: This garden will give you inspiration for your own pleasant, environmentally conscious, low-cost outdoor space. Over the years, owner/designer has used the garden as a sandbox to experiment with sustainable and Bay-Friendly design practices. It has a strong prominence of California native plants and comprises of some Mediterranean plants, fruit trees, and a vegetable garden. The garden conserves water, welcomes admiring neighbors, and invites feathered friends and beneficial insects. In 2006 the front lawn was replaced with sun-loving sages and wildflowers. The back yard was redesigned again in fall 2016 to replace the remaining lawn with a decomposed granite patio. The front entry path is made of broken-up urbanite from another path on the site. Permeable material such as gravel and decomposed granite is used for the patio and walkways. Sheet mulching was used to remove the front lawn. Two rainwater barrels provide supplemental water for the vegetables garden. The landscape is maintained without gas powered tools, or chemicals. Kitchen scraps and green waste is composted on site and used in the garden. Fallen leaves are used as natural mulch throughout the garden. Laundry water was diverted to be used in the landscape in 2016.

Other Garden Attractions: Valley Oak, Scrub Oaks, Toyon, Purple Sage, Coyote Bush, and Manzanitas give structure to the landscape. Redbuds, Groundcover Sages and Ceanothus, Monkey Flowers, native grasses, Douglas Irises, California Poppies, Blue Flax, Gillias and other wildflowers highlight the landscape. The garden design respects the micro-climatic conditions of the site by arranging plants that have similar needs together. Plants from riparian and redwood plant communities are in shaded areas with extra seasonal water. Shady dry areas are planted with oak woodland plants, the sunny dry areas are taken up with grassland and chaparral plants.

Gardening for Wildlife: Wildlife is encouraged in the garden by providing food, water, shelter, and nesting sites in the garden. Mature tress provide nesting sites. Layered plantings of dense shrubs and trees provide shelter. A wide variety of local native plants provides nectar and food. The garden includes a bird bath and a small fountain for fresh water.

Years of CA Native Gardening at this Location: 15

Garden Size: 4000 sq ft

Designer: AFLA Landscape Architecture - Ashini Fernando
Installer: Ashini Fernando with help of Benz's Landscaping and Tree Care - Benz Godinez

Click here to download the plant list in PDF format (from year 2010).