Lot size: 1,600 sq. ft. front garden, 80% native
Garden Age: Garden was installed in stages, between 2018 and 2020
Years on the Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour: New this year!
Showcase Feature
When Melissa started working in her garden she began by tackling the sea of ivy and juniper that had engulfed this large, steep, corner lot. As these plants were removed large stone outcrops began to reveal themselves. Now, in the garden she designed and installed, eight kinds of manzanita—including the rare Franciscan and pallid—blossom in winter, delighting the native bees whose life cycles are tied to their blooming periods. In spring the flowers of six kinds of sage (black, white, creeping, hummingbird, Cleveland and California) attract butterflies. A half dozen types of bunchgrasses help to control erosion on this hillside lot, and also combat climate change by sequestering carbon, as their roots can go down thirty feet.
Melissa has also planted coast live oak, toyon, mountain mahogany, elderberry and California cherry to provide structure and greenery, and places in which birds can nest and on which butterflies and moths can lay their eggs.
Other Garden Attractions
- A plethora of native wildflowers, including clarkia, baby blue eyes, gilias and lupine flourish in the rocky dry soil, providing spring color in areas that are waiting for perennials to establish.
- Melissa sees her garden as a piece of living art; full of native plants that provide food, shelter and nesting areas for wildlife, and also a native food garden, medicine cabinet, and playground.
Gardening for Wildlife
Yampa, the native host plant for the anise swallowtail butterfly; Dutchman’s pipevine, the only host plant for the pipevine swallowtail butterfly; and milkweed, the only host plant for the monarch butterfly, have been included in this garden. All of these butterflies flutter through; the monarch lays eggs in the garden.
Melissa’s garden contains a plethora of keystone species—the powerhouse plants that produce the food that feeds insects. These include oak tree, manzanitas, California lilac, sages, lupines, native rose and asters and strawberry, and currants.
Video of Melissa Feudi’s garden
2021 video of Melissa Feudi’s garden
