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Garden Features

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Drought Tolerant

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Edible Garden

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California Natives

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Drip Irrigation

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Pesticide Free

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Reclaimed/Recycled Materials

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Sheet Mulching

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Lawn Conversion

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Lawn-Free Landscaping

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Permeable Surfaces

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Urban Homestead

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Wildlife Habitat

Partner: Sonoma-Marin Saving Water Partnership

Purchased August 2013, I bought this small c. 1900 house in downtown Sebastopol, hoping to transform its landscape. The front yard had a small lawn and a venerable Catalpa tree.The side yard was a gravel driveway.The back “garden” was a flat weed patch. In March 2014, using LOTS of compost, I started planting. My previous garden had been in pots, tubs and troughs—137 containers in all. It took 30+ loads in my old Volvo to drive them 6 blocks to their new home. Many plants had originally come from my mom’s garden in San Mateo county, including a 70+ year old Harry Lauder’s Walking Stick and equally aged Rabbit’s Foot Fern. 4 modest potted citrus have since grown into a “Citrus Forest” on the south side of the house. My hope was to make a garden that would welcome and nourish pollinators. Bryce MacMath, who trained at the Occidental Arts & Ecology Center, helped me lay out the beds in 2014. He also installed the initial drip irrigation. Depending on plant needs, beds are watered every 4-14 days during dry months. Master pruner Curtis Short now visits 3x a year (thank goodness!) to guide the espaliered pear and figs, as well as continuing to shape the persimmon and Silk Tassel tree, etc. I do all other garden labor. I sheet mulched the lawns, using cardboard, compost and chips from on-site tree work. Boards from the old back fence were ripped into thirds, creating a “new” picket fence, separating the garden from South Main Street. The front is mostly California natives, with a few plants from elsewhere favored by honey, native bees and butterflies, including Pipeline Swallowtails, Monarchs and Anise Swallowtails. Also in front is a “Little Free Library” that matches the house. I welcome garden visitors: insect, avian and human.

The back garden features CA Fuchsia (Epilobium canus), CA native Silk Tassel Tree (Garrya elliptical) salvias, fruit trees and lots of “oddball” plants that I love. Many have been chosen to provide nectar, pollen or seed for insects or birds and tasty fruit for hungry humans. Bird sightings range from Anna’s Hummingbird to Barn Owl. This little urban garden produces vast amounts of organic material that I hot compost. I have three compost bins that are ‘cooking’ . Most kitchen waste goes to my worm box.

It’s a small urban garden. I’ve used fences and the shared hedge to grow 18+ varied vines for vertical excitement. Vines were chosen because they are pollinator friendly, fragrant, or particularly beautiful. The patio is made of bricks from the rickety kitchen chimney that was demolished. I’ve used old objects as planters, including my great-grandmother’s two cast iron kettles. In the 19th century she used them to render lard and make soap.

I enjoy a bit of whimsy. There are surprises..…

Plants in this Garden

Plant Picker
pink honeysuckle bloomed flowers

Lonicera spp

Honeysuckle
Organization

Honeysuckle is a varied group of evergreen and deciduous shrubs and vines with fragrant, tubular flowers. Several species are native to California and are well suited to gardens in Sonoma and Marin counties. Flowers are attractive to bees and hummingbirds and berries provide food for birds.

Examples: California honeysuckle (Lonicera hispidula) is a deciduous, vining shrub often seen growing in woodland environments. Cream and pink flower clusters in spring are followed by red berries in late summer. Twinberry (Lonicera involucrata, 6-10’ x 6-10’) is a deciduous shrub that typically grows along streams and other moist places. Tubular, red and yellow flowers grow in pairs, followed by dark pairs of berries. Provide light shade in warmer locations.

  • Water: Low
  • Light: Full SunPartial Shade
  • Soil: Well Drained

Rhamnus [Frangula] californica

Coffeeberry
Organization

Evergreen shrub that has insignificant flowers followed by black berries. Flowers are attractive to pollinators, especially bees, and berries provide a food source for birds. Cultivars commonly sold in nurseries have differing growth habits and are often smaller than the species which grows 5-18’ x 10-18’.

Examples: F. c. ‘Eve Case’ (6-8’ x 6-8’), R. c. ‘Leatherleaf’ (5-6’ x 5-6’), R. c. ‘Mound San Bruno’ (6-8’ x 6-8’) with a dense, mounding growth habit.

Note: California coffeeberry was formerly classified as Rhamnus californica and is now classified as Frangula californica.

  • Water: Low
  • Light: Full SunPartial Shade
  • Soil: Most Soils
close up of yellow and red gooseberries

Ribes spp

Currant, Gooseberry
Organization

Currants (without spines) and gooseberries (with spines) are grown for their graceful growth habit, attractive foliage, wonderful displays of pendulous flowers in winter-spring that are attractive to hummingbirds, and colorful fruit that provides a food source for birds. Most of the species listed are deciduous, going dormant in the summer months.

Examples: Some of the species suitable for California gardens, preferably with partial shade, are native to the Western United States:

  • aurem, golden currant (5-10’ x 3-6’), deciduous with small clusters of delicate yellow flowers and sprawling habit.
  • malvaceum, chaparral currant (4-8’ x 4-6’), deciduous with early clusters of pink flowers, a slightly vase-shaped habit, and more drought-tolerant than most species.
  • sanguineum var. glutinosum, pink-flowering currant (5-12’ x 5-12’), deciduous with maple-like leaves, a vase-shaped habit, and long pendulous clusters of pink, reddish, or white flowers in the spring; many available cultivars such as ‘Claremont’, ‘Tranquillon Ridge’, and ‘White Icicle’.
  • speciosum, fuchsia-flowered gooseberry (4-8’ x 6-10’), deciduous with spiny, arching stems and bright red fuchsia-like flowers along the stems in the spring that are attractive to hummingbirds.
  • viburnifolium, evergreen currant or Catalina perfume (2-4’ x 5-7’), evergreen groundcover that works well under oaks and can provide erosion control to slopes.
  • Water: Very LowLow
  • Light: Full SunPartial ShadeShade
  • Soil: Well Drained

Mimulus aurantiacus and hybrids

Sticky Monkey Flower
Organization

The orange, tubular flowers of sticky monkey flower can be enjoyed in many locations throughout Sonoma and Marin counties in spring and summer, a testament to how well this plant is adapted to hot and dry conditions. The slightly sticky leaves benefit from light pinching and pruning to maintain an attractive appearance and support for the beautiful flowers. Many hybrids provide color variation. Do not confuse this plant with the red-flowered scarlet monkey flower (Mimulus cardinalis), an herbaceous riparian plant that requires regular water to thrive.

  • Water: Very Low
  • Light: Full SunPartial Shade
  • Soil: Sandy
Manzanita bush

Arctostaphylos spp & cvs

Manzanita, 'Dr. Hurd'
Organization

Manzanitas vary from carpet-forming groundcovers to small trees. Manzanitas have varying shades of striking, reddish brown bark and can provide structure to a garden. These plants have evergreen foliage, small white-to-pink, urn-shaped blossoms in late winter to early spring, and then small fruits that resemble tiny apples.

Groundcovers: A. ‘Emerald Carpet’ (1’ x 3-6’), A. ‘Pacific Mist’ (2-3’ x 6-8’), A. nummularia ‘Bear Belly’ (1’ x 3’), A. uva ursi ‘Radiant’ (6” x 4-6’), A. uva ursi ‘Wood’s Compct’ (1’ x 3’).

Shrubs: A. ‘Howard McMinn’ (5-7’ x 6-10’), A. ‘John Dourly’ (3-4’ x 5-6’), A. ‘Lester Rowntree’ (8-10’ x 10-15’), A. ‘Sunset‘ (5-7’), A. bakeri ‘Louis Edmunds’ (8-10’), A. manzanita ‘Sentinel’ (6-8’ x 5’), A. hookeri ‘Wayside’ (3′ x 8′).

Trees: A. manzanita ‘Dr. Hurd’ (10-15′)

  • Water: Very LowLow
  • Light: Full SunPartial Shade
  • Soil: Well Drained

Favorite Plants

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Silk Tassel bush - Garrya elliptica

Awesome, elongated dangling tassels in January and February. Gorgeousness in your winter garden.

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California Buckeye - Aesculus californica

Archetypal deciduous CA tree.  I don’t have one in my garden, but if I had more space, I would grow one for sure.

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Western Blue Eyed Grass - Sisyrinchium bellum

Bulb that brings miniature azure cheer to early Spring gardens year after year.

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Wavy-leafed soaplant - Sisyrinchium bellum

Bulb. Easy to grow.  Tall flower spikes bring hundreds of tiny night-blooming starry, blossoms.

Favorite Garden Suppliers

Cal Flora Nursery

2990 Somers Street Fulton

Mecca for Native plants. Josh and his employees are extraordinarily helpful and knowledgeable.

Harmony Farm Supply

3244 Gravenstein Highway North Sebastopol

For almost all garden needs. Plants, helpful salespeople, irrigation supplies, seed mixes, etc.

Peacock Horticultural Nursery

4296 Gravenstein Highway South Sebastopol

You want unique plants?? This is the place!

Recommended Resources

Plants and Landscapes for Summer - Dry Climates by East Bay Municipal Utility District

Fabulous resource.

Gardening in Summer - Dry Climates by Nora Harlow and Saxon Holt.

Inspirational. And the photos!!!!

Northern California Gardening: A month-by-month guide by Katherine Grace Endicott

Friendly, monthly lists of garden tasks.

Gardening Tips

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A wise saying

An accurate and helpful “wise saying” to remember when planting CA natives. “First year they sleep, Second year they creep, Third year they leap”……