Lot size: 5,500 sq. ft. lot, 80% natives
Garden Age: Garden was installed in stages, beginning in 2005
Years on the Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour: 5
It took time, but the Bermuda grass lawn was defeated with cardboard covered with about a ton of mulch (no herbicides used here—or in any other Tour garden!). Persistent weeds are now controlled with… persistent weeding. The front garden is planted with colorful drought-resistant California native and Mediterranean plants. Native fuchsia line the sidewalk, their tubular red flowers brightening the garden and attracting hummingbirds in the summer. The native plants in the back garden are interspersed with edibles in raised beds, a variety of fruit trees (including plum, apple, peach, and nectarine), and a plethora of hand-made mosaics, brightly glazed pots, and other garden art. This eclectic garden was designed, installed, and decorated with artwork by Kathleen.
Other Garden Attractions
- Mulch discourages weeds. (The wood chips were free, and a huge pile of them were delivered by an arborist.)
- Raised, undulating beds provide drainage for the natives on this flat lot.
- The many types of sages have a fabulous scent in summer.
- Kathleen’s hand-made mosaics will be available for sale; cash or checks only.
- Native bunchgrasses and sedges (blue fescue, California fescue, deergrass, red fescue, melic grass, june grass, and slender sedge) and wildflowers (baby blue eyes, five spot, meadowfoam, Western columbine, and tidy tips) will be available for sale. Cash or checks only.
Gardening for Wildlife
Numerous bird feeders, houses and baths, as well as a wide variety of annuals, shrubs and trees, attract birds. Cooper’s hawks, peregrine falcons, barn swallows, hummingbirds, Brewers blackbirds, mourning doves, white-crowned sparrows, gold finches, wrentits and bushtits, carpenter bees, and many types of butterflies have all been seen in or above the garden.
Garden Talk
12:00 “How to create a garden that feeds birds, insects, and other living creatures” by Kathleen McCabe-Martin
Art in the garden
Kathleen’s hand-made mosaic stepping stones and other artwork will be available for sale; cash or checks only.
