San Rafael | Hilly Neighborhood Garden

10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Garden features:

• California native plants.
• Pesticide free.
• Wildlife habitat.
• Permeable surfaces.
• Rain garden.
• Sheet mulching.

Driven by love and knowledge of local native plants, this homeowner transformed a simple hillside garden into a lush and colorful oak woodland experience! The green gardening mantra “right plant, right place” is exhibited among roughly 100 native plant species calling this garden home. Sun, shade, soil type, slope, and height at maturity are all taken into account as new native plantings are added.

Neighborhood-sourced needlegrass, fescue, and meadow sedge populate a small meadow once the site of a swimming pool, while native honeysuckle wind their way through the trellis archways. Local streets and driveways are cleared of oak leaf duff and the sweepings are re-purposed as garden mulch.

This vibrant and diverse native garden is sustained without the need for potable water. New plantings are irrigated exclusively in their first year by hand-hauled graywater, captured in the shower and transported in re-purposed containers. Once they’re established, these native plantings can thrive on their own.

 

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