Judy Seri and Marin Rodriguez's garden
Oakland
Garden Lot size: 17,700 sq. ft. front and side gardens, 75% native
Years gardened at this location (Gardening Experience): The native garden was installed in mid 2007.
Years on the "Bringing Back the Natives" Garden Tour: New this year!
Showcase feature: Judy and Marin brought in Michael Thilgen and the team at Four Dimensions Landscape Development to redesign the nearly unusable outdoor space on this steep lot. The owners wanted a low maintenance garden that provided access to the lower part of the lot, a place for children to play, and an area from which to sit and enjoy the view. The delightful result was the perfect use of a difficult site: a flat seating area was created; a beautiful open fence designed; a winding set of stairs leading to the lower part of the garden installed; moss rock retaining walls stacked; and a small children’s play area with an attractive stone bench included.
Other garden attractions:
- A thick layer of mulch helps to control erosion and reduce water use.
Gardening for Wildlife: Judy and Marin wanted natives that grew in this area, so as to provide habitat that their former scrubby lawn, oleander, and random plants did not. They have seen more winged use of the garden since its transformation—hummingbirds love the tubular flowers on the native fuchsia, and butterflies and native bees are attracted to the bright flowers of the yarrow, monkeyflower, and buckwheat.
Garden Talks: 3:00 “Designing a hillside garden—how to make useful and comfortable places on sloping terrain: structural considerations, hillside access, irrigation and native plant selection” by Michael Thilgen of Four Dimensions Landscape Company