Dan Rademacher and Tamara Schwarz’s garden
Oakland
Garden Lot size: 400 sq. ft. front garden, 1,000, sq. ft. back garden, 50% native
Years gardened at this location (Gardening Experience): Native garden was installed in Dec. 2006.
Years on the "Bringing Back the Natives" Garden Tour : New this year!
Showcase feature: The former “defensive plantings” in the front yard included about “a thousand pounds of agave, and a tall spiky tree” as well as numerous other large and uninviting trees and shrubs. Rosemary Zappulla of Wildrose Gardens was hired to design and install a low maintenance garden that opened up the garden provided habitat for wildlife. Undaunted by the initial crowded conditions in the front garden, Rosemary cleared out most of the existing vegetation and created low raised beds bordered by moss rock. The front garden, which is about 90% native, contains Manzanita and Coffeeberry, which will provide structure and year-round greenery, and an attractive mix of fuchsia, blue-eyed grass, and seaside daisy, among other natives.
Other garden attractions:
- A house renovation project inspired the redesign of the back garden, which now contains about 50% natives. These are interspersed with fruit trees (apple, dwarf Meyer lemon, fig, and Santa Rosa plum), other edibles, and colorful Mediterranean ornamentals.
- The former flagstone patio was removed and the flagstones reused.
Gardening for Wildlife: Anna’s hummingbirds love this garden, as do white and golden-crowned sparrows, anise swallowtail butterflies and skippers, bumblebees, and other native bees.