Lot size: ¼ acre, 50% natives
Garden Age: Native garden was installed in 2006
Years on the Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour: 4
This former flat sea of Bermuda grass was transformed by Michael Thilgen and the team at Four Dimensions Landscape Company into a private, California native plant meadow in the front, and a serene “secret garden” in the back. This low maintenance, low-water-use garden with a country feel was just what Meg and David wanted; since its transformation Meg reports that the garden has been used more in the past year than in the previous fifteen. 
Other Garden Attractions
- Grading for a stone patio in the rear generated enough soil to build a berm near the busy, noisy road in front. The berm is topped with a fence of recycled grapestake that is screened by native shrubs, completing a transition from an exposed front yard to a secluded entry garden.
- The flat site presented challenges for storm-water drainage. The solution was to keep water onsite to gradually soak into the soil, both recharging groundwater reserves, and lessening the erosive impact on local creeks.
- A bubbling boulder fountain enhances the peaceful feeling of this garden.
- The front garden isn’t watered at all in the summer.
Dense shrubbery, the diversity of plant heights, trees for perching, and the fountain provide shelter and water for wildlife.
Garden Talk
1:00 “Storm water and drainage design for the native garden” by Michael Thilgen
