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Hands-on Learning Opportunities for Gardening with Natives
Learn from Native Garden Tour Hosts
Other Useful Information and Resources
Hands-on Learning Opportunities for Gardening with Natives
Volunteering at a native plant nursery or restoration project is a great way to learn about native plants (while rubbing shoulders with a knowledgeable and nice bunch of people!) Below are some East Bay locations that would love additional volunteer help; there are many others.
- Albany — Friends of Five CreeksContact: Susan Schwartz ~ F5creeks@aol.com ~ 510-848-9358
- Berkeley — CHIAContact: Carol Bennett-Simmons ~ caroleannbs@yahoo.com ~ 510-527-6708or Dave Drummond ~ 510-526-4892
- Berkeley — Native Here NurseryContact: nativehere@ebcnps.org
- El Cerrito — Canyon Trail RestorationContact: Jim McKissock ~ EarthCareNow@sbcglobal.net ~ 510-526-1233
- Livermore — Friends of the ArroyosContact: Louann Tung ~ lstung@pacbell.net ~ 925-455-8823
- Oakland — Friends of Sausal CreekContact: Kristin Hopper ~ field@sausalcreek.org ~ 510-387-9744
Learn from Native Garden Tour Hosts
- “How I Got Started Gardening with California Natives” by Pat Bacchetti (2005 Tour Host)
- “How I Got Started Gardening with Natives” by Kevin Callahan (2005 and 2006 Tour Host).
- “How I Got Started Gardening with Natives” by Shonduel (2005 and 2006 Tour Host)
- “How to Sheetmulch a Garden” by Karen Long (2010 Tour host)
Other Useful Information and Resources
- Lawn Alternatives
- Collect seeds, propagate, and plant natives with the Friends of Sausal Creek in Oakland.
- Easy-to-grow East Bay natives
- Plants that benefit wildlife
- Plants for butterflies from Native Here nursery
- Native plants that attract birds from Marin Chapter California Native Plant Society
- Resources for gardening with native plants in the Bay Area from Marin Chapter California Native Plant Society
- Top pest plants
- Native plant gardening resources from Bay Nature magazine
- Protecting children
from pesticides - Invasive Plant List
- Winter Garden By Arvind Kumar
- To Feed the Garden, First Feed the Bugs article by ANNE RAVER in NYT
- Comparison of Traditional vs Native Plant Gardens: Water Use, Green Waste Generation, Labor Hours and Labor Cost (from City of Santa Monica)