While this garden is open all year round, visiting it during the tour day provides an opportunity to ask the docents about any particularly interesting plants or features.

Address: 3502 Laguna Avenue, Palo Alto (click the address to show it on a map).

Directions: From Hwy 101, take the Oregon Expwy exit and head south on Oregon Expwy for about 2 miles and turn left on El Camino Real. From Hwy 280, take the Page Mill exit ad head north on Page Mill for about 2.5 miles, then turn right on El Camino Real. Continue on El Camino Real for about 0.5 mile, then turn right onto Matadero Avenue. After about 0.5 mile, turn left onto Laguna Ave. The CA native plantings area will be on the right, across the bike path, extending from the intersection with Matadaro Ave until approximately the play area in the Bol Park. Parking is usually available on Laguna.

Showcase Features: This public garden is in a Palo Alto park, Cornelis Bol Park. It is created and maintained by neighbors and runs along the length of the first part of the park (parallel to Laguna Avenue) for about 500 feet, between a grassy area on the east side and long row of huge eucalyptus trees on the other. The overall design of the garden is to maintain a wildlands look and to provide wildlife habitat in unmaintained weedy areas of the park. The first part of the garden, at the north end, is the oldest, installed in 2008. It includes a large area of hummingbird sage (Salvia spathacea), California Buckeye, Western Redbud and Fremont's Cottonwood as well as several Garrya elliptica, some large Toyons, Salvias, Manzanitas and numerous perennials, such as mugwort, aster, goldenrod, etc. The eucalyptus trees are a challenge because of the shade and litter.

In the fall of 2018 and 2019, extensions to the original garden were added, planted by volunteers. These surround an existing narrow leaf milkweed patch as well as a group of purple needle grasses and the garden ends where a madrone tree survives, put in many years ago by Valley Water District as part of landscaping in the park after major construction of an underground flood culvert for the nearby creek.

In 2018 Grassroots Ecology designed and installed a rain garden in between the edge of the garden and pathway, on an area previously lawn until the recent drought. It takes run off from the paved pathway over soil designed to drain water on its way to a stormwater inlet and has a colorful array of locally native plants, annuals such as poppies and lacy phacelia along with perennials, small shrubs such as coyote mint, and larger shrubs such as Ca sagebrush. It is very active with insects in the spring.

The garden has received funding and cooperation from several local groups: the Garden Club of Palo Alto, Friends of Palo Alto Parks, Valley Water District, Palo Alto City Parks Dept, The Barron Park Association, as well as donations of money, expertise and time of many generous neighbors.

Other Garden Attractions: There is a specially designed rain garden which takes run off from the paved pathway over soil designed to drain water on way to stormwater inlet.

Gardening for Wildlife: The native plants were chosen to provide food and habitat for pollinators (especially lepidoptera) and birds. There are large milkweed patches for Monarchs and other plants chosen to feed caterpillars and adult butterfly.

Years of CA Native Gardening at this Location: 14

Garden Size: 12,000 sq ft

Designer: Agi Kehoe, Melanie Cross and Grassroots Ecology
Installer: Benz' Landscaping and Tree Care originally, now volunteers

Click here to display the plant list in a printer-friendly format.