Lot size: 375 sq. ft. front garden, 1,875 sq. ft. back garden, 95% native
Garden Age: Garden was installed in 2015
Years on the Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour: 7
Showcase Feature
NOTE: This garden has sloping ground and uneven steps. The back garden is accessed via a set of stairs with a handrail. This garden should not be visited by those with balance issues.
Twenty years ago out went four tons of concrete and railroad ties, and in came plants from the Mediterranean, Australia, and South Africa. When the drought killed most of those non-natives, Sallie visited gardens on the Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour and became convinced that gardening for wildlife with California native plants was the way to go. The remnants of the non-natives that had fared poorly in the drought were removed, and Sallie brought in more native plants that attract birds, bees, and butterflies.
Other Garden Attractions
• Drop down onto the peaceful stone bench tucked next to the waterfall; you won’t want to leave.
• Moss rock boulders border wide garden beds.
Gardening for Wildlife
Sallie’s garden contains wood piles, bird houses, a native bee nesting box, and a pond and waterfall. Bare patches of earth are left for ground-nesting bees, and a flow hive houses honey bees.
Bewicks wrens nest in the dense shrubs. Oak titmice, bushtits, and woodpeckers frequent the garden, and great horned owl and Cooper’s hawks watch the avian action below with interest. Foxes stroll through the garden, and salamanders snuggle in shady, damp areas.
Narrow-leaf milkweed has been planted for monarch butterflies; milkweed is the only plant monarchs can lay their eggs on.
These features, along with a diversity of native plants, and the plethora of keystone species—or “must-have” plants for wildlife—have brought nature to Sallie’s home.
Keystone species in this garden (watch this talk by Doug Tallamy!)
Keystone species—our own, local ecological powerhouse plants—in this garden
include holly leaf cherry, currants, sages, coyote brush, buckwheat, California lilacs, manzanitas, currants, thimbleberries, lupines, sages, buckwheats, native sunflowers, wild rose, creambush, goldenrod, asters, woodland strawberry, and penstemon, among others.
Garden Talks
1:00 “How to create a native plant garden that will attract birds, bees, and butterflies” by Sallie Bryan
How to create a habitat garden
Creatures in the habitat garden
Birds seen in Sallie Bryan’s garden
Video
“Gardening with California native plants: Sallie Bryan’s garden, Berkeley, California” by Sallie Bryan
