Showcase Feature While browsing on NextDoor Jong saw a post from his neighbor, Stefanie Pruegel, about native plants; his interest piqued, Jong and his wife, Olivia, toured Stefanie’s garden, she loaned them books on native

Showcase Feature Katie’s Dad is a conversation ecologist who worked on tall grass prairie projects in Texas; when Katie was growing up her Dad converted their lawn to prairie—twice—making them “the weirdest family on the

Parking - Drive to the end of Young’s Valley Road, Walnut Creek and look for the Tour sign, which will direct you to turn left.  Please drive slowly and watch for pedestrians.  Continue past the

Showcase Feature If you have a child, or ever were one, you should visit the Wildcat Canyon Community School’s gardens.  At this school—by bringing nature back to the schoolyard—children are immersed in natural and beautiful

Showcase Feature In 1997 forward-thinking Tri-City Ecology Center members saw possibility in what was then a Bermuda grass lawn surrounding the the newly-created Museum of Local History.  Undaunted by the Bermuda grass (well, maybe just

Showcase Feature David’s neighbor, Genie Barry, a “native garden whisperer,” convinced David to remove the lawn and plant natives.  The inviting, attractive, low-maintenance and low-water-use garden David designed and installed contains drifts of Sonoma sage,

Showcase Feature Inspired by the documentary “Kiss the Ground,” hearing Doug Tallamy speak, visiting Tour gardens, and his daughter’s passion for the environment—and realizing how critical it was to create places in which birds, butterflies,

Showcase Feature Long-time Tour-goers Michael and Barbara were ready for the water-thirsty patchy lawn, pine trees, and other non-native ornamentals to go. What they wanted was an attractive, low-water consuming native plant garden that could

Note: Park on the east side of the Arlington, so you don’t have to cross this busy street. Showcase Feature Got a parking strip?  Wondering what to do with it?  Would you like your garden

Showcase Feature In the fall of 2024 Kelly Marshall, owner of Kelly Marshall Garden Design, designed a full, lush, cottage-style native plant garden for Pat and John’s front yard. Pat was interested in a long

Showcase Feature Jennifer, who attended the first Tour in 2005, had long dreamed of having a beautiful native plant garden that would attract birds, native bees and butterflies, and that she could share with others.

Watch your step in this garden: the paths are narrow, and there are a couple of places where you will step down to a lower level. This garden is not for those with balance issues.

Showcase Feature Long-time Tour goer Jennifer Russell has put every inch of space to good use in this colorful and exuberant garden. Kat Weiss, owner of Kat Weiss Landscape Design, selected the plants for the

Showcase Feature Inspired by the Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour Michael decided it was time to remove the dull lawn and thirsty birch in his large, sunny front yard, and replace them with native

Showcase Feature Imagine two large redwood trees flanking (and obscuring) the entrance to the house, and a wrap-around lawn. Fast forward to the fall of 2024, when the redwoods and lawn (neither appropriate for this

This hillside garden is accessed via several stairways, one very steep, and some with no rail. This is not a garden for anyone with balance issues. Elbert is a very narrow dead-end street: you will

Showcase Feature This beautiful garden, designed by Nicole, and installed by Nicole and Andrew, has a natural, tranquil ambience. It all starts with the parking strip, home to two redbuds that create a privacy screen

Note: this garden is reached via a flight of stairs: it is not a stop for anyone with balance issues. Showcase Feature When Michael bought this house the back yard was full of weeds and

Showcase Feature It’s hard to believe that this now-visually delightful corner lot was once an unprepossessing Bermuda grass lawn. In spring an exuberant display of yellow and white tidy tips, pink clarkia, purple verbena ‘de

Showcase Feature Long-time Tour attendee Genie Barry, who has rented this house since 2010, wanted a beautiful garden—and she created it! She started by sheet mulching the lawn, then began planting the seven types of

Showcase Feature When Whitney and Elliott purchased their home in Emeryville in the spring of 2024 it was a given that Whitney, a Master Birder and Director of Conservation at the Golden Gate Bird Alliance,

This very steep garden is accessed via numerous steps—some with no rails—and gravel paths. This garden should not be visited by anyone with balance issues. Showcase Feature Jean volunteers at the non-profit Native Here Nursery,

This is not the garden for anyone with balance issues. This garden contains uneven stepping stones and an uneven dirt path in the front garden. The back garden is accessed by climbing many steps, via

Showcase Feature Jennifer’s garden shows how you can turn a space that had white quartz rocks covering the front garden, concrete encasing the entire back garden, and junipers in the parking strips, and make a

Beehive alert: Lucinda keeps bees in the back yard. The hives are located on the south side of the ADU. If being near a beehive would pose a problem for you, please visit other gardens.

Showcase Feature This garden is accessed via two steps. There is a handrail. When John, a long-time birder, moved here from Florida, he knew he wanted to replace the thigh-high weeds in his garden with

Parking Park on West Shell Avenue Showcase Feature The parking strip in front of the house is bordered by fast-growing deergrass, a perennial that puts up graceful, two-foot-long golden plumes when in flower. Songbirds visit

Showcase Feature This charming, peaceful garden was created to provide habitat for wildlife. Large, blue black iridescent pipevine swallowtail butterflies lay their bright orange eggs on the Dutchman’s pipevine—the only plant they can reproduce on:

Showcase Feature This colorful, charming, gently sloping garden, which was designed by Reka Foss of Foss Garden Design, has something in flower almost all year long. The three varieties of manzanitas (‘Austin Griffiths’, ‘Paradise’, and

Entry to this gated community You’ll need to stop at the gatehouse entrance. Tell the security guard that you are going to Cyn Coulouthros’ house, and provide the address. Showcase Feature This artistic and inviting

Showcase Feature This beautiful and productive garden is anchored by eight varieties of California lilac and four of manzanita, as well as buckeye, coast live oak, and pacific wax myrtle. An orchard with sixteen varieties

Showcase Feature Roger and Amy spent a lot of time hiking in the Livermore hills observing and photographing the natural world in order to replicate it in their own garden: their hope was to create

Showcase Feature When Gonzalo and his husband bought this large corner lot in 2021 they knew the large Bermuda grass lawns and London plane trees had to go. In their place Gonzalo, owner of Planetscaper

Showcase Feature When Nora and Jay bought their home in 2011 the garden consisted of a lawn and nearly 100 prize-winning roses: also inherited were the garage full of pesticides that were used to maintain

Showcase Feature When Yen and Hai bought the house in 2022, this large corner lot contained two huge palm trees, lawn, and an eclectic collection of non-native shrubs. Shortly after purchasing the home they had

Showcase Feature The paths in this beautiful, elegant, and mature garden, which was designed by Tim, are bordered by a variety of evergreen shrubs from the coastal chaparral community, such as manzanita, California lilac, and

Showcase Feature Inspired by the Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour and ecologist Doug Tallamy, Jacob was ready for the lawn and non-native ornamentals to go. After consulting with landscape designers Michael Hogan and Pete

Showcase Feature When Lindsay and her partner bought this house early in 2020 the front garden contained two enormous, highly flammable cypress trees that towered over a scruffy lawn and some scraggly hedges. It wasn’t

Showcase Feature This garden is on a steep slope and is accessed via many steps, some with no rail. This is not a garden for anyone with balance or mobility difficulties. When Anita and Mat

Showcase Feature Before its transformation, the backyard had consisted of a swing set, engulfed by 60- year-old wisteria vines. Enter Lois Simonds, owner of Gardening by Nature’s Design, who designed and installed this charming, colorful,

Showcase Feature When Mayur and Namita purchased the house in 2021 the back garden was mostly concrete, sparsely dotted with fruit trees and roses. The front yard, sparing the presence of a single magnolia, was

Showcase Feature Craig and Jenny’s garden is a continual work in progress. Inspired by biologist and author Doug Tallamy’s book Bringing Nature Home, they decided in 2024 to transform their outdoor space into a wildlife

Showcase Feature When Hannah and Mike bought this large corner lot in 2015 the back garden consisted of a scruffy lawn and weeds, presided over by a flimsy sun shade. Their dream was to have

Showcase Feature The Japanese-American family who were the first owners of this house left behind a lifetime of work in their legacy garden, with its Japanese tea house, stone lanterns, charming wooden bridge, cobble-filled ponds,

Showcase Feature Note: This hillside garden is accessed via stairs that do not have rail. The steps are slightly higher than standard. This garden is steep, and it is not for those with balance issues.

Showcase Feature Nancy, who has been attending the Tour since its inception in 2005, has long had an affinity for native plants, and it shows in the garden she designed and installed. The garden in

Showcase Feature Doug Tallamy’s talk on the Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour’s first virtual garden tour, in 2020, motivated Carol and Jeff to remove their recently installed “drought-tolerant” landscaping and replace it with California

The Graly’s Green Home Features In a stroke of serendipitous good luck, Donna Mandel and Ken Jacobs’ next-door-neighbor Tom Graly, who has fully electrified his nearly 100-year-old home while maintaining its look and charm, is