This garden has many beautiful drought tolerant plants, solar power, a compost bin, a rain barrel, tankless water heaters, and raised vegetable beds. It hosts the sign-in booth for the solar tour with guest presenter Sierra Club’s LA Beyond Coal, a great source of information about solar power.
The owners’ green journey began 9 years ago with the design (by Linda Endler) & installation of an almost grass-free garden. After trying and failing to grow a chamomile “lawn,” they spread redwood chips instead and turned off some sprinkler heads.
As they toured other gardens and learned more about being green, their desire for drip irrigation and some new plants grew. In March 2010 they took the plunge, bringing in Gary Kamisher of Gary's Greenery to install a Netafin drip system and transform their landscaping, and Constant Solar to install solar power. Stunning—the name of one of the unusual plants Gary brought in—best describes the result. Old mingles with new in a wonderful mélange.
Gary used many of his favorite Australian and California natives as well as other eco friendly plants. They have thrived! Some of the more unusual ones are: Lecodendron ‘Jester’ with its beautiful striped foliage; Leucodendron ‘Spider hybrid’ and L.’Yellowbird’ which produce beautiful pincushion cut flowers; Leucodendron ‘Stunning’, a new plant introduction; and P. plumosa, which has a wonderful glow sitting next to one of their "pet rock" Golden Granite boulders. Rocks and boulders accent the trees, with different succulents peaking their heads out between the rocks. Hummingbirds dance among the pineapple and Waverly sages as well as on the Grevillea ‘Superba’. Herbs and vegetables grow among the many rose bushes as well as in raised beds. The owners are experimenting with a square foot garden in one of the raised beds and heirloom tomatoes grow in another. A chair carved from the stump of a large tree removed many years ago is a fun place for children to sit.
Gary of Gary's Greenery will be at the garden with samples drip irrigation and low flow heads and answers to your garden questions.
Robert Constant of Constant Solar will be there to show their solar system and answer your questions. Using Google Earth, he can give you an immediate assessment of your solar energy potential.
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