Lot size: 1200 sq. ft. front, 500 sq. ft. side, 600 sq. ft. back garden, 70% native
Garden Age: Garden was installed in December of 2008
Years on the Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour: New this year!
Undaunted by the waist-deep sea of ivy in her front garden (well, maybe a little), Jessica removed it by hand. (No pesticides are used in this—or any—Tour garden.) The extremely drought-tolerant garden that Jessica designed and installed (she waters just once or twice in the summer) was created with the idea of “bringing the hike home.” Uncertain about her gardening abilities, and figuring that the plants that have grown here for thousands of years without any help are naturally hardy, many of the plants in this garden are those Jessica saw while walking in the nearby hills. Jessica “loves to see the plants” she noted while out hiking flourishing in her own garden.
Other Garden Attractions
- The back garden contains a cheerful potpourri of potted plants, many in hand-painted pots.
- Hand-made native plant and bird-themed greeting cards and silk screened t-shirts designed and crafted by Jessica will be available for sale. Credit cards will be accepted.
Gardening for Wildlife
More than 30 species of birds have been seen in Jessica’s garden; these include Bewick’s wren, brown creepers, quail, cedar waxwings, chipping sparrows, downy, hairy, and Nuttall’s woodpeckers, hermit thrushes, hooded orioles, flickers, Pacific slope flycatchers, red-breasted nuthatches and sapsuckers, ruby-crowned kinglets, and Townsend’s warblers. Butterflies, native bees, skinks, snakes, and lizards are also at home in this wildlife-friendly garden.
Garden Talks
11:00 and 1:00 “Victory over ivy! Yes, it is possible!” by Jessica Kolman
