Showcase Feature Teachers Melody, Jessica, and Genie, all long-time Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour participants, viewed the large, sometimes brown, ecological wasteland of a lawn at the school’s entrance as potential habitat for birds,
Showcase Feature Got a small space? Wondering what you can do with it? If so, come and check out Karen and Ted’s diminutive lawn-to-garden project. Inspired by neighbor Cindy Angers, (whose garden was on
Showcase Feature What Teri had was lawn, bottlebrush and rosemary; what she had wanted—for decades—was a garden that would attract birds, bees, and butterflies. The transformed water-conserving garden, designed by Cindy Angers of Ecofolia
Showcase Feature The East Bay of past centuries was a vast grassland dotted with oaks and covered with spectacularly diverse wildflower displays in the spring. This area of “inexpressible fertility,” grazed by tule elk,
Showcase Feature Anne and Ed, who have attended the Tour since its inception, hired Michael Thilgen, of Four Dimensions Landscape, to design and install this peaceful and productive garden. In the back yard the swimming
Showcase Feature This large corner lot contained an enormous lawn when Stefanie bought it, and this was exactly what she wanted. Stefanie, who has been attending the Tour since its inception in 2005, yearned to
Showcase Feature When Danny and Eugene bought their house in 2016 they knew the thirsty lawns and sprawling junipers had to go. The garden they designed and installed themselves transformed the space into a delightful
Showcase Feature Inspired by the Tour, informed by a sheetmulching talk that Tour host Chris Dundon gave at his garden in 2016, and financially assisted by rebates from the East Bay Municipal Utility District
Showcase Feature Gretchen, who has been on almost every Tour since it began in 2005, “was tired of wasting water and trying to grow a lawn on sand.” Through the Tour she found Lois
Showcase Feature Inspired by the Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour, Jennifer and Dan tackled their oxalis- and crabgrass-engulfed back yard—and conquered it. (Go ahead—ask how!) This hard-working couple obtained design and plant selection guidance
Showcase Feature NOTE: This garden has sloping ground and uneven steps. The back garden is accessed via a set of stairs with a handrail. This garden should not be visited by those with balance issues.
Showcase Feature Long-time Tour attendees Natalie and Armand had tried to design their garden themselves but weren’t happy with the outcome, and finally realized they needed help from a professional. The resulting beautiful garden, designed
Showcase Feature The drought was on (is it ever really over, in California?), and Lauren was ready for the thirsty lawn to go. Longtime friend Anna Wendorf of Anna Wendorf Design designed the new
Showcase Feature Carol attended the Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour a few times, liked the look of the native plant gardens she saw, thought planting natives was the right thing to do, found
Showcase Feature Inspired by the Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour and intent upon conserving water, Robin and Neil sheet mulched their small front lawn and removed the agapanthus-filled border beds. Liz Simpson designed their
Showcase Feature Dale, a long-time Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour participant, was ready for the lawn and junipers to be replaced by a garden that would conserve water, be colorful, attract bees and
When John and Stephanie stopped watering their water-guzzling front lawn it looked “terrible.” In its place they wanted an attractive and sustainable garden that had a manicured look, and would be able to tolerate future
Showcase Feature Nancy is passionate about both nature and archaeology; these interests intertwined in the development of the garden she designed and installed, which was modeled on ancient Roman gardens. The rectangular courtyard, planted with
Showcase Feature Long-time Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour attendee Sally Mathews died in late 2018 after a 10-month battle with brain cancer; she loved watching the garden and birdlife evolve with the seasons
Showcase Feature Nick and Liza’s 1920s house was constructed next to the former right-of-way to the Key Route System’s Underhill Station, which was located right behind what is now the Mealys’ home. In the
Showcase Feature Joanne and Scott’s back garden was “a disaster;”crowded with privets, a poorly placed crabapple, and a lot of oxalis. Happily, they found Michael Thilgen and the team at Four Dimensions Landscape Company,
Showcase Feature In 1893 a trolley line was built to carry picnickers (including Mark Twain) across Indian Gulch (named for the nearby seasonal Native American village) to the bucolic oak-bay woodland that blanketed the
Address: 20095 Mission Blvd., Hayward, CA (at the Paradise Community Garden, located between Paradise Blvd and Hampton Road, in the Cherryland District.) Phone and text: (510) 502-0992 Hours: First Saturday of the month, 10:00
Showcase Feature Maria, who grew up in this house, felt it was time for a change. She was ready for the lawn, pyracantha and tired groundcover to go. After hearing Pete Veilleux of East Bay
Showcase Feature Dave is the neighbor we all wish we had: affable, a good conversationalist—and a terrific gardener. Dave provides plants, seeds, advice, and inspiration to neighbors; he is why the Richmond Annex contains multiple
Showcase Feature Anita’s passion is the conservation of species, both plants and animals. She takes her cues from nature, and gardens “on the wild side”. Her garden, which contains more than one hundred species of
Showcase Feature In this beautiful front garden make-over, designed and installed by Lois Simonds of Gardening by Nature's Design, the front lawn was replaced with a charming seating area, which is surrounded and embraced by
Showcase Feature In a previous drought, unhappy with the amount of water it took to keep her crabgrass lawn green, Sandy just quit watering. Then, in 2009, tired of that brown-lawn look she
28th Avenue at Foothill Blvd. (2777 Foothill, if using a GPS) in the Fruitvale District of Oakland Native Plant Sale Extravaganza Special! Open on Saturday, May 4 and Sunday, May 5, 2019 from
601 Canal Blvd., Suite A Richmond, CA 94804 (510) 234-2222 www.thewatershednursery.com HOURS Open Tuesdays-Sundays 10:00-4:00. Closed Mondays PHILOSOPHY After years for working on local environmental and wetland projects, scientists Diana
There's No Place Like Annie's! Open 7 Days, 9-5 740 Market Ave. in Richmond, CA Shop during the Tour’s Native Plant Sale Extravaganza, when Annie's Anuals and Perennials will be open from 10:00 –
702 Channing Way, Berkeley (510) 387-9744 Website E-mail View Oaktown’s plant list here. Hours Thursday through Sunday 10:00-5:00, or by appointment. Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour Special! Shop during
Showcase Feature Christine designed and installed this intimate, charming, and child-friendly garden. Bunch grasses, snowberry, Douglas iris and hummingbird sage blanket the garden in a simple, recurring plant palette. The airy gazebo, which is
Showcase Feature Visit San Lorenzo High School's one-acre native plant garden, created by students from the former swimming pool, which had been bulldozed and filled with rubble. Now looking like a "natural garden
Showcase Feature Inspired by the Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour, driven by a desire to reduce water use and create habitat for wildlife, and helped by a rebate from the Contra Costa Water District’s
Parking Parking will be tight; use the shoulder, or pass the Rohan house, follow Park Ave. as it bends to the right, and park. Showcase Feature This creekside neighborhood, with its one-lane bridge,
Showcase Feature It took time, but the Bermuda grass lawn was defeated with cardboard covered with about a ton of mulch (no herbicides used here—or in any other Tour garden!). Persistent weeds are now
Showcase Feature Created and planted by Idell to provide food for people, and food, shelter and nesting areas for insects and wildlife, this garden has succeeded admirably on all counts. Near the house
Showcase Feature Over the last fifty years Al, a flyfishing author and teacher, converted his typical suburban lot into a lovely, low-maintenance, park-like landscape. In the beautiful front garden, a streambed located between graceful vine
Showcase Feature In 2007, Kelly, owner of Kelly Marshall Garden Design, and her husband, Mike, wanted to transform their dull front lawn into a native plant haven for wildlife. Kelly’s goal was to design a
Showcase Feature This gorgeous, colorful, twenty-year-old water-conserving native plant garden shows how a plain landscape can be transformed into a beautiful oasis as attractive to wildlife as it is to people. An abundance of
Showcase Feature Prior to its metamorphosis, this garden contained large thirsty lawns, bordered by juniper and box hedges. Inspired by the Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour, Cindy and Rick wanted to reduce water use,
