Lot size: 2,000 sq. ft. back garden, 80% native
Garden Age: Garden was installed in the winter of 2018 and spring of 2019
Years on the Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour: New this year!
Showcase Feature
Prior to its transformation this very steep hillside garden had a failing wooden deck, and was both difficult to access and overgrown with eucalyptus trees, swaths of ivy, and patches of other non-natives. Undaunted, the Mariposa Gardening & Design Cooperative, which designed and installed this unique and tranquil garden, brought about an amazing transformation. The most eye-catching feature is the spectacular, sinuous, dry-stacked Connecticut bluestone and Arizona flagstone retaining wall, with its sunrise theme and bird silhouettes, which shelters a meadow of sun-loving, low-growing sedges and grasses. Note that this Tour stop is not for those with balance issues; comfortable walking shoes and some stamina will be needed to access this garden.
Other Garden Attractions
• Drop down into one of the multiple seating areas in the dry laid flagstone patios that overlook the attractive native meadows; you won’t want to leave.
Gardening for Wildlife
A diversity of native plants provide nectar, seeds, berries and pollen that attract native songbirds, bees, and butterflies. Six varieties of California lilac provide places on which the California tortoiseshell butterfly can lay its eggs, and lupines are one of the few plants on which the silvery blue butterfly can reproduce. Sedges and native grasses provide food, shelter and nesting areas for skippers and ringlets. 
Garden Talks
12:30 “Come learn about lithohydrology, the art of water-harvesting using dry-stacked stone techniques, and incorporating stonework into the ecological garden” by Andrea Hurd from Mariposa
