Lot size: 370 sq. ft. front garden, 100 sq. ft. parking strip, 1,400 sq. ft. back garden: 100% native (except for fruit and veggies)
Garden Age: Garden was installed in stages, beginning in 2020
Years on the Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour: New this year
Showcase Feature
When Lindsay and her partner bought this house early in 2020 the front garden contained two enormous, highly flammable cypress trees that towered over a scruffy lawn and some scraggly hedges. It wasn’t a great look.
In March and April of 2020, during the lockdown time, Lindsay watched the first virtual Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour. Inspired by the gardens she saw online she researched plants on CalScape—and then she got to work: taking down the cypress, removing the hedges, sheet mulching everything, and jackhammering out the concrete in order to create a plantable parking strip. As part of this pandemic project the house was painted an inviting lavender, which is now complemented by the exuberant violet-blue blossoms on the Pozo Blue sage, and the evergreen foliage and successive bloom times on the manzanitas, California lilac, and redbud that grace the front of the house.
The attractive living fence that borders the driveway and softens the property line was created with a mélange of golden currant, cream bush, chaparral clematis, California lilac ‘Concha’, and toyon. (The sea of weeds that had been in this area was sheet mulched away.)
The back garden posed its own set of challenges: it was fairly small, boxed in by the house and garage, and had drainage issues. Through the “Find a Designer” list on the Tour’s website Lindsay found Peter Rohan, owner of LandSpaces, and asked him to 1) provide the garden with curves, and 2) solve the water problems.
First, the curves: see how many you can spot! (Spoiler: here they come.) The patio is a semi-circle, artfully defined by landscape edging and substantial pieces of a green and white concrete pad that was removed from the back of the lot.
Appealing pale sage, corrugated metal, raised garden beds with rounded ends contain herbs and veggies. The downspout drains into a gracefully-curving swale that arcs around the garden, ending in a bowl-shaped depression which allows water to slowly seep into the soil. This “rain garden” keeps the garden green longer, while replenishing the aquifer and protecting the local creek from scouring. The concrete table is round, as is the chartreuse papasan lounger: even the perky blue chairs have rounded tops.
Next, the water issues. Peter and his crew corrected the grade, to ensure water flowed away from the house. The patio was covered with gravel, allowing water to percolate into the soil. Water from the roof enters the back garden via a downspout located near the back door, then flows through the garden in a cobble-lined stream (which can be crossed on two diminutive bridges), eventually being captured in a depression that retains the water until it is absorbed into the soil. (This is the opposite of water, but Peter and his team also built the benches near the fire pit.)
The plants Lindsay chose for the back garden are a heady blend of blue Pozo sage; purple coyote mint and verbena lilac ‘De la Mina’; lavender seaside daisy and pitcher sage; and pink checker mallow, flowering currant, fuchsia flowering gooseberry, and Lewisia. Additional plants from the pale pink-to-cream family round out the color palette.
Take a seat in this charming garden, so you can enjoy watching the bees busily collecting pollen from the many native flowers available to them, appreciate how natural this garden looks, and relax into the sense of peaceful seclusion these robust plants and the charming design imbue. You’ll want to linger.
Other Garden Attractions
• This garden was watered by hand during its first summer: since then it has not been watered at all. (The high water table in this area helps a lot.)
• Dense plantings outcompete weeds.
• Moss rock boulders define the garden beds, and provide visual interest.
• Peter Rohan, who installed this garden, will be available from 10:00–12:00 to answer your questions.
Gardening for Wildlife
Birds, bees, moths and butterflies are frequent visitors to this garden. Birds are attracted by the water in the two bird baths, and also by the density of the plantings, and the diversity of plant heights. Flowers are left to go to seed.
Keystone species (watch this talk by Doug Tallamy!)
Keystone species—our own, local ecological powerhouse plants— in this garden include California lilac, currant, gooseberry, snowberry, manzanita, sage, native strawberry, buckwheat, ocean spray, honeysuckle, and penstemon.
Garden Talks
11:00 “How to build a rain garden” Peter Rohan, LandSpaces
At least partially wheelchair accessible? Yes
Parking will be tight. Be prepared to walk a couple of blocks. Do not block neighbor’s driveways.
