Lot size: 500 sq. ft. front, 200 sq. ft. parking strip, 500 sq. ft. back, 70% native
Garden Age: Garden was installed in stages, beginning in 2022
Years on the Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour: 2
Showcase Feature
Breaking news! Josh and David’s garden recently won the “Most Beautiful Yard Hayward” contest!
Leading up to that honor was this story…Undaunted by the Bermuda grass in the front and back gardens (well, maybe just a little), Josh collected cardboard boxes and sheet mulched—because of the Bermuda grass, he laid down cardboard and 6 or more inches of wood chips.
He then designed and installed the new—still-a-work-in-progress—landscape; the front brims with a potpourri of California natives in the parking strip and front half of the garden, with vegetables growing conveniently near the house, and fruit trees functioning as a privacy screen.
The collector’s haven in the front garden brims with an eclectic collection of natives that can withstand heat and wind, including a variety of wildflowers, such as buttercups, clarkia, gilia, and lupines, that brighten the garden in spring. Other plants were selected as certain butterflies need them in order to lay their eggs, such as narrow leaf milkweed for the monarch butterfly, Dutchman’s pipevine for the pipevine swallowtail butterfly, and yampah for the anise swallowtail butterfly. In spring the scent of a variety of sages—California, white, Cleveland, black, and hummingbird—drifts through the air. QR codes on the plant labels will allow you to pull up lots of information on the natives.
The shady back garden is planted with woodland plants, including columbine, ferns, yerba Buena, Douglas iris, redwood sorrel, and pink flowering currant. After removing a bottle brush tree, a young coast live oak and assorted understory, native plants are thriving in the northeast corner of the back yard.
Other Garden Attractions
• Check out the amazing green wall in the back garden! Planted with mostly natives, the wall contains a delightful mix of yerba buena, lewisia, native strawberry, monkeyflower, wild ginger, and more.
• Josh built the Little Free Library in the front garden, which has a living roof, planted with mostly California native succulents.
• A handy man indeed, Josh also built the chicken coop, now home to a happy flock of white leg horn, gold sex link, and speckled marans.
• Rain captured in ten barrels waters the veggie garden and backyard beds.
Gardening for Wildlife
Hummingbirds, finches, scrub jays, dragonflies, native bees, butterflies, and moths flit through the garden. Western skinks, small lizards with shiny, smooth scales and blue tails, spend their days in the garden basking in the sun, and when that’s over searching for crickets, beetles, spiders, and earthworms before snuggling under logs or tucking themselves into leaf litter for the night.
A solar-powered fountain provides water to thirsty birds. Brush piles create areas where small creatures can shelter.
Keystone species in this garden (watch this talk by Doug Tallamy!)
Keystone species—our own, local ecological powerhouse plants— in this garden include pink flowering currant, California lilac, thimbleberry, manzanita, lupine, sages, native strawberry, buckwheat, and penstemon.
Green Home Features
Josh and David recently had a GE Profile induction cooktop and an 8 kilowatt solar panel system installed! Ask about contractors, price, or why they chose the systems they did.
Native Plants for Sale
The new Down by the Bay Native Plant Nursery grows mostly locally-sourced natives of important and beautiful species. This list is a small sample of the twenty eights species that will be available the day of the Tour.
Ihturiel’s Spear “Queen Fabiola”
Common Yarrow
Kellogg’s Yampah
Elegant Clarkia
Mugwort
California Fuchsia
Hummingbird sage
Lady fern
are among the plants will be available for sale, while supplies last.
