Lot size: 7,500 sq. ft. front garden and 1/2 acre back garden 95% natives
Garden Age: Front garden was planted in the fall of 2011; creek side and upland restoration began in 1990
Years on the Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour: 4
Showcase Feature
The creekside and adjacent uplands restoration project Bob has spent the last thirty years working on is a showstopper; for anyone interested in streamside or restoration gardening, this garden is a must-see. An ophthalmologist by day, it is in the late afternoons and on the weekends that Bob’s inner restorationist emerges. Here’s how it happened. Bob hiked in Briones, Orinda, and Lafayette, learning to identify natives; his garden now features about 150 species of locally native plants, many purchased from Native Here Nursery in Berkeley. Others were grown from seed collected on-site in Bob’s well-tended nurseries. Think you have weeds? Check out the list of exotics that were removed from this property!
The front and back garden meadows, which until recently were very large lawns, were designed by landscape architect David Bigham.
Wear comfortable walking shoes; the bridge is narrow, and so are the trails, which wend up and down a slope.
Other Garden Attractions
• Two charming bridges, designed and made by Bob, span Lauterwasser Creek.
• When the weeds were removed, the natives began to return.
• Honeybees buzz with happy abandon in their hives.
Gardening for Wildlife
Birds seen in the garden include Cooper’s hawks, cedar waxwings, Bullock’s orioles, quail, yellow-rumped warblers, northern flickers, Nuttall’s woodpeckers, red-breasted sapsuckers, and western screech owls. Ring-necked, gopher, valley garter, and rattlesnakes pass through. Newts breed in the pool just upstream of the bridge.
Special Events
10:00-4:00 Local bird experts Michael Strom and Karen Sorenson will be doing a 6 hour bird count on the day of the Tour! They will have a spotting scope set up and be available to answer your bird questions all day. Join them, and find out which birds you can attract to your own garden when you plant with California natives.
Talks in the Garden
11:00-12:00 “Creating a native garden” by David Bigham
Amphibian, Reptiles, and Mammals seen in the garden
Exotic plants removed from the garden
Video
“Bringing nature home with local natives” by Bob Sorenson
