Lot size: 50 x 40 sq. ft. back garden, 100% native (except for 12 fruit trees and herbs)

Garden Age: Back garden was installed in the spring of 2009.

Years on the Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour:

Showcase Feature

Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour Coordinator Kathy Kramer and her husband, Michael May, knew that it was high time they revamped their own garden.  In the spring of 2009 out went forty thousand pounds of concrete, and in came Michael Thilgen from Four Dimensions Landscape Company, who designed the garden; he was followed by talented stone mason Ian Neil of Fine Masonry, who built the beautiful Napa-basalt dry-stacked retaining walls, gently curving granite stairway (made of salvaged San Francisco curbstone), flagstone patios, and the seep, waterfall, bog, and pond.

From her kitchen window Kathy sees the pond, hears water splashing down the seep, and watches wildlife while she cooks.  More than eighty species of native plants have attracted thirty species of birds, as well as bees, and butterflies. A dozen varieties of fruit trees and multiple seating areas attract the family. This garden is accessed up one and a half flights of stairs.

Other Garden Attractions

• Fruit trees include Violette de Bordeaux fig, Fuyu persimmon, Fuji apple, and Satsuma plum.
• Don’t miss the “before” photos.

Gardening for Wildlife

American and lesser finches perch on the bulrush and bob happily up and down before hopping into the seep and bog to bathe and drink. Flycatchers, black headed grosbeaks, flocks of robins, and hummingbirds are attracted to the pond. Titmice nest in the virgin’s bower. Native bees adore the hedge nettle and the aptly-named bee plant. Butterflies that had not been seen in the garden prior to its transformation are now common sights.  Damsel and dragonflies flit about; bats swoop overhead in the evening.

Kramer-May Garden plant list

Videos of Kathy Kramer and Mike May’s garden
“Selecting keystone plants for sunny areas” by Kathy Kramer
“Selecting keystone plants for shady areas” by Kathy Kramer

Video of Kathy Kramer and Mike May’s green home
Video of Kathy and Mike’s green home features

More info on Kathy and Mike’s green home