Lot size: 1,000 sq. ft. front garden, 98% native, 1,270 sq. ft. side and back gardens, 70% native
Garden Age: The front garden was installed in 2008; the back and side gardens were installed in stages, beginning in 2013
Years on the Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour: 3
The steps in the front garden are shallow; watch your footing, and hold the hand-rail. The backyard has stepping stones leading up a shallow hill; please watch your step. This garden is not for people with balance issues, or any trouble walking.
Showcase Feature
Inspired by both Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour and her professional work, Jean wanted to replace the front yard lawn and camellias with a garden that would both complement her rustic, wood-shingled 1912 home and provide habitat for wildlife. Now, a cheerful array of native plants flourish on the slope that leads up to the house. The delicious scents of yerba buena and hummingbird and Cleveland sages waft in the breeze. The small lawn in the back garden was replaced with a Native Mow Free bunchgrass lawn from the Delta Bluegrass Company. The side and backyard provide a variety of co-mingling edibles and natives. The gardens were designed collaboratively by Jean and several garden designers..
Other Garden Attractions
• There is a public restroom in Dracena Park, which is right across the street.
Gardening for Wildlife
Now that the garden is planted with natives, more bees, birds, and butterflies are visiting, and crickets sing into the evening.
Hummingbirds adore the coral bells, sages, fuchsia and manzanita: woodpeckers, robins, and sparrows flit about.
Large, iridescent blue-black pipevine swallowtail butterflies visit the garden, attracted by the Dutchman’s pipevine—the only plant it can lay its eggs on. Monarchs visit the garden as well, drawn in by the milkweed, which has been planted in the front, back, and side gardens.
