Showcase Features: Replacing a lawn under a mature English walnut, the homeowner designed and installed garden berms to provide a hospitable environment for native plants. The garden includes plantings appropriate for both full sun and dry shade areas.

Other Garden Attractions: A beautiful fence separates this front-yard garden from the street. The old lawn was sheet-mulched to smother it, then dirt was re-used from installation of paths in the back yard to create a raised planting area on top of the mulch. The garden is planted with a mix of native shrubs and perennials and wildflowers. Just finishing its third full year, the garden shows how homeowners can sustainably replace a lawn on a budget.

The homeowners are also avid food gardeners. The backyard is a small urban farm containing an extensive vegetable garden, 2 chicken coops (with chickens), 2 raised permaculture spiral gardens, several fruit trees and an aquaponics (hydroponic vegetables fertilized by fish) unit. There's also a small native meadow, a butterfly/hummingbird garden, and several fountains.

Gardening for Wildlife: Finches, hummingbirds, bees, butterflies, wasps,and salamanders visit the yard.

Years of CA Native Gardening at this Location: 6

Garden Size: 1000 sq. ft

Designer: Homeowner
Installer: Homeowner

Click here to display the plant list in a printer-friendly format (from year 2013).