Lot size: 3,000 sq. ft. front garden on tour, 100% native
Garden Age: Garden was installed in 2007
Years on the Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour: 2
Inspired by the Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour, Bryan and his children visited gardens in Livermore, noting what plants they liked. They wanted a low maintenance, low-water-, natural-looking garden where the plants would intertwine and blend together. Kat Weiss, of Kat Weiss Landscape Design, designed a boisterous garden that fulfilled their wishes. Poppies, fuchsia, buckwheat, and mints spill onto the paths. Oaks, redbuds, and toyon will shade the front garden when mature. Berms provide the drainage that natives need; between the mounds is a dry streambed that fills with water during big storms, carrying water away from the house.
Other Garden Attractions
- Check out this terrific and informative map of the garden Bryan’s teen-age son made: bit.ly/2612tahoe
- Many of the plants used in this garden are naturally found with 15 miles of the home.
- In the summer only, the garden is watered for half an hour, once a week, by a drip system.
- Gracefully curving Three Rivers flagstone path wends through the garden.
- Toyons create a privacy screen.
Gardening for Wildlife
Cobble in the streambed, logs, and boulders provide sunning areas and hiding places for lizards. Native bees are attracted to the coyote mint; hummingbirds adore the monkeyflower.
