Lot size: 1,800 sq. ft. front garden, 90% native
Garden Age: Garden was installed in the spring of 2012
Years on the Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour: New this year!
Inspired by the Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour (and tired of paying to have her lawn mowed), Beth hired Four Dimensions Landscape Company to design and install a drought-tolerant, low-maintenance garden. Natives that can tolerate Pleasanton’s hot summers were chosen. The purple-blues of the penstemon, cheerful pinks of the lewisias, and bright reds of the Channel Island snapdragon brighten the garden in spring. A circular gravel path wraps around a moss rock boulder fountain that shoots water skyward; the resulting splash helps mask freeway noise. A patio was installed near the fountain; when mature the coffeeberry, now small, will create a privacy screen between the street and patio. The front garden, with its distinctive look and inviting seating area, is now a gathering place for the neighbors, who congregate companionably on the weekends, which Beth enjoys.
Other Garden Attractions
• Prostrate manzanita functions as a groundcover.
• Don’t miss the “before” photos.
Gardening for Wildlife
The pinkish white flower heads of the buckwheats serve as landing pads for nectar-seeking butterflies; the seeds are eaten by birds. Monkeyflowers attract hummingbirds. Bees buzz the sage.
