Laguna Environmental Center Native Plant Demonstration Garden
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Garden Features
Drought Tolerant
California Natives
Drip Irrigation
Pesticide Free
Rainwater Harvesting System
Rain Garden
Reclaimed/Recycled Materials
Sheet Mulching
Lawn-Free Landscaping
Permeable Surfaces
Wildlife Habitat
Children's Play Area
Partner: 
Stop by the Laguna Environmental Center to check out our 2 acre native plant demonstration garden and our joint native plant sale with the California Native Plant Society Milo Baker Chapter! Conveniently located between Santa Rosa and Sebastopol, the Laguna Environmental Center is part of historic Stone Farm, a 112 acre property owned by the City of Santa and situated along Irwin Creek and the Laguna de Santa Rosa.
After construction of Heron Hall was completed in 2012, staff and volunteers started working right away to develop the landscaping. The site was a former cow pasture so our goal was to sustainably improve an area which was predominately annual grasses with all native plants. We wanted to create a demonstration garden to educate our community about the benefits of planting with native species to create healthy wildlife habitat.
Over the last 10 years, the landscaping was installed by volunteers and continues to be maintained and improved by volunteers. The site now includes native wildflowers, grasses, sedges, trees, shrubs, forbs, and herbaceous plants, as well as a native plant nursery. Some of the plants were grown in our shared nursery and were propagated from seeds specifically collected within our watershed. The site also includes a living willow tunnel for children, a wetland demonstration pond and swale fed by rainwater roof catchment, and an observation deck for bird watching or just taking in the scenic vistas.
The native plant landscape focuses on riparian, wetland and upland species of the Laguna de Santa Rosa watershed. From basket sedge to box elder trees, there are many beautiful species here that you don’t usually see in native plant home gardens. The Laguna Environmental Center garden include many favorites like valley oak, California poppy, yarrow, currant and elderberry, plus creative use of willow, and hedgerows of coffeeberry and toyon.
We hope you will be inspired by your experience here to add more native plants to your home landscape, for your own enjoyment and for the increased food and shelter they will provide to birds, butterflies and other insects, reptiles, amphibians and even mammals for years to come. As we get closer to the event date, we will post the plant sale inventory.
Day of the Tour:
The California Native Plant Society – Milo Baker Chapter will be having their annual Spring plant sale at this garden. The plant sale is CNPS’s primary fundraising event, please support the Milo Baker Chapter by stopping by. In addition to offering a wide range of native plants for sale, we also have many experts on hand to offer gardening advice. The plant sale will take place from 10am-1pm.
Also, be sure to check out the new Sonoma County Native Plant Gardener book written by the California Native Plant Society – Milo Baker Chapter. The Sonoma County Native Plant Gardener was recently published by the California Native Plant Society. Written by two of the chapter’s plant professionals, the booklet covers the natural plant communities of our county, designing you own garden, how to select the best plants for your site, preparing to plant, planting and maintenance. There are also very useful charts on; pruning and maintenance for many of the most common natives, a maintenance guide by season, and native plants lists for sun, shade and watering needs, and lists of many more resources to get you started with natives.
It will be available on site for purchase.

Special Events


Plants in this Garden
Favorite Plants
Penstemon heterophyllus
cultivars like ‘GMR White’
Red Buckwheat
Eriogonum grande var. rubescens
California Fescue
Festuca californica
Bee's Bliss Sage
Favorite Garden Suppliers
Laguna de Santa Rosa and Milo Baker Native Nursery
900 Sanford Road Santa Rosa
Plant sale on the day of the tour!
Cal Flora
2990 Somers Street Fulton
Las Pilitas Native Plant Nursery
3232 Las Pilitas Road Santa Margarita
Recommended Resources
Gardening Tips
Plant natives in the Fall.
Plant native plants in the Fall once the rain starts. Be patient. “The first year they sleep, the second year they creep and the third year they leap!” Use wood chips around plants to suppress weeds and give a finished look. Do not over water your plants.