© Saxon Holt Photography
Rain Gardens and Rainwater Catchment
Rain barrels and tanks, rain gardens and pervious surfaces help keep rainwater on site to reduce the risk of flooding, protect creeks from polluted runoff and recharge your soil with water for the dry season.
- Detain the Rain webpage – Clean Water Program Alameda County
- “Tap into the Rain” resources packet (PDF) – Clean Water Program Alameda County
- Rain Gardens and Rainwater Harvesting – Contra Costa Water District
- Rain Barrels and Cisterns fact sheet (PDF) – BASMAA
- Rain Gardens fact sheet (PDF) – BASMAA
- Rainwater Harvesting: Benefits and Best Practices – EBMUD webinar Nov 2022 (register on the page to view the recording)
- CA Natives for Rain Gardens – Sonoma Master Gardeners
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
- Oakland — Friends of Sausal CreekContact: coordinator@sausalcreek.org ~ 510-501-3675
Learn from Native Garden Tour Hosts
- ““How I Got Started Gardening with Native Plants” by host Cheryl Chi” by host Cheryl Chi
- “How I Got Started Gardening with Native Plants: Al Kyte’s story” by Al Kyte (annual host since 2007)
- “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
- The Chickadee’s Guide to Gardening, from the NY Times, March 11, 2015
- Best Local Native Plants for Bayside Gardens – by Plant Community
- Plants that benefit wildlife
- Plants for butterflies from Native Here nursery
- Top pest plants
- Protecting children from pesticides
- Invasive Plant List
- “The 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)