Ed Gaible and Sandra Woodall’s Garden
Berkeley
Gardening experience: 18 years
Years gardened at this location: 1 year
Size: 75’ x 35’ backyard is on the tour
Showcase feature: This cool, moist, lush woodland garden was created by removing the driveway and a lot of agapanthus, Bermuda grass, and mint. The underground spring, once a boggy bane, drains into a meandering creek which has been planted with riparian plants collected from Alameda Creek, and is now an amenity. This little patch of nature, designed to be reminiscent of the owner’s childhood in the Sierras, will be shown by Greg Wolford, who designed and installed it.
Other garden attractions:
- Who would have thought that attractive, graceful, curving retaining wall could be created by re-using the former driveway?
- Three-story redwoods border one side of the garden.
- An attractive, open fence allows sunlight in.
Gardening for Wildlife: A variety of berries—snowberries, huckleberries, oso berries, gooseberries and coffeeberries—were planted to attract birds. The owners report that they have birds in the backyard now, though they did not before the transformation. Hummingbirds and mourning doves visit this garden, as does a hawk. Mature redwoods provide perching and nesting areas, the stream provides year-round water and a beach for puddling butterflies, and dense plantings provide shelter.