Lot size: Lot size: 9,000 sq. ft., 80% native

Garden Age: The garden was planted in stages, beginning in 2005

Years on the Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour: 2

Showcase Feature: In 1856 an elementary school was built on this site, which was a lovely grassy meadow on a low rise near gurgling spring-fed Schoolhouse Creek.  Fast-forward to 2005, when the asphalt that had covered the meadow for decades was demolished, the site graded by the Berkeley Unified School District, and neighbors gathered to begin planting what would become Schoolhouse Creek Common, a child-friendly community garden and park.  This attractive public space contains a wide diversity of natives that will do well in the flats, as well as an orchard, lawn, and an assortment of drought-tolerant Mediterranean plants. Bring your children, who will love both the tire swing, and the East Bay’s most beautiful sandbox—surrounded by spring wildflowers, bunchgrasses, California lilac, manzanita, and sea-shell studded boulders.

Other Garden Attractions:

• Walk one short block to Christopher Kroll’s and Brenda Buxton’s gardens at Curtis and Cedar.
• Restrooms are available!
• Drinks and snacks will be available for sale. Proceeds will support the garden.

Gardening for Wildlife: The sages  and California lilac are favorites of bees and small native wasps. Plants for larval and adult butterflies are found here. About half of the garden is left unmulched to allow native burrowing bees to reach their nesting places in the earth.  Flycatchers and nuthatches adore the elderberries; hummingbirds love the sages, currants, gooseberries, monkeyflowers, and fuchsia. Garden Talks: 12:00 and 3:00 “Tired of exotics? Interested in learning to love natives?  How to create a low maintenance, beautiful native plant garden” by Jamie Day Native Plants for Sale: Central Coast Wilds will sell native plants. Plant list