Lyn Talkovsky’s Garden
El Cerrito
Gardening experience: 17 years
Years gardened at this location: 3 years
Size: 600 square feet (front and parking strip only on tour)
Showcase feature: Lyn took out the kikuyu and crab grass lawn, removed a concrete path, and used it to make a retaining wall. Ask to see the "before" photos. Now, the parking strip and front garden of this sunny, windswept site contain local native plants that provide a diversity of texture and height. A small dry creek bed also serves as a path. A luscious California grape covers the eves of the entry way.
Other garden attractions:
- Front garden is 95% local natives.
- “We're pleased we have crickets chirping at night. I don't hear them in other nearby gardens.”
- Organic mulch is the fertilizer of choice.
- The backyard, which contains a mix of natives and ornamentals, will also be open for the tour. Don't miss the bunchgrass lawn and pond.
Gardening for Wildlife: A number of wildlife-friendly plants were included in this garden. The salvias are filled with bumblebees, and yampah—the host plant for the swallowtail butterfly—is abundant. Crickets chirp around her house in late summer
The red, tubular flowers of the California fuschia and hummingbird sage provide nectar for hummingbirds, while seeds and insects are available for the ubiquitous towees. Stick bugs live in the lizardtail. A pond has just been created in the back garden in order to provide habitat to the native chorus frogs that breed a block away and often wander into the yard during the rainy season.