Lot size: .3 acre back garden, 90% native
Garden Age: Garden was installed in stages, beginning in 2000
Years on the Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour:
New this year!
Showcase Feature
The Gilberts have attended the Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour since its inception, and now, after a great deal of hard work, they are ready to share their own oak-bay woodland garden. Bracken fern, native to their site, flourishes on the slope. Natives are planted in native plant communities (chaparral, oak woodland, riparian). In the center of the garden a three-tiered waterfall tumbles into a pond; the adjacent bog is a magnet for wildlife. Bring your lunch and settle down in the shade of the inviting grape arbor and enjoy this tranquil haven.
Other Garden Attractions
- Between the “Beyond This Place There be Dragons” signs is a fantasy garden complete with gnomes and a brick path that wraps around a large oak in a double Fibonacci spiral.
- A charming elderberry handrail, built by Bill, borders the steps going up to the top of the garden.
- “Toontown” chicken coop is home to the Gilbert’s suburban poultry; a hive of bees pollinates their fruit orchard and yields delicious honey.
Gardening for Wildlife
Nest boxes, nesting platforms, brush piles, and the pond have attracted more than fifty species of birds, including quail, great horned owls, flickers, acorn, Nuttall’s and downy woodpeckers, band-tailed pigeons, brown creepers, and Western bluebirds. Ensatina, arboreal and slender salamanders, Pacific chorus frogs, and fence and alligator lizards call the garden home. Coyotes and bobcats have been spotted at the back of the garden. Garden Talks: 12:30 “Raising Your Own Chickens – FAQ” John Kiefer, aka “Papa John” of “CLUCK” (City of Lafayette United Chicken Keepers). Bring your lunch and enjoy the talk! 3:00 “Sudden oak death: what it is and how to prevent it” by Janice Alexander from the California Oak Mortality Task Force Critter list Plant List
