Barbara Leitner’s garden
Orinda
Lot size: 4,000 sq. ft. front garden only on tour, 100% native
Garden Age: Garden was planted in stages, beginning in the fall of 2006.
Years on the Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour: New this year!
Showcase feature: It was natural for Barbara, a botanist and native plant fan, to want a garden planted with natives local to the San Pablo Creek watershed; what she didn’t expect was how much she would enjoy the result. In this attractive, tranquil garden, which was designed by Ron Lutsko and installed by Barbara, the sunny meadow is planted with bunchgrasses interspersed with sedges, blue-eyed grass, monkeyflower, and a variety of wildflowers. A phalanx of soap root, grown from seed, lines the walkway, their delicate, orchid-like evening flower displays attracting and delighting hordes of bumblebees.
Other garden attractions:
- Water bill has been dramatically reduced since removing the lawn and replacing it with natives.
- Try the yerba buena tea, made with the aromatic native mint ground-cover growing in the garden.
- Many of the plants in the garden were grown by Barbara from seed she collected locally. These include cow parsnip, sedges, yerba buena, and buckeyes, among others.
- The California Native Plant Society will be selling native plant reference books and posters.
Gardening for Wildlife: In addition to happy bumblebees, this garden is home to garter snakes, slender and arboreal salamanders, and fence and alligator lizards. Barbara reports that since the garden was transformed there has been a great increase in the number of birds; visitors include kinglets, downy woodpeckers, titmice, chickadees, and lesser gold finches. Hummingbirds love the fuchsias.
Garden Talks: 11:00 and 2:00 “Why create a local native plant garden?” by Barbara Leitner.