New garden on the 2011 Tour! See all of the gardens here. The front garden of this contemporary home was completely re-designed and installed in December 2010.
Grow Native Nursery will have a guest booth at this garden.
The homeowner met the landscape designer Nancy Knapp, Weeds Garden & Interior Design, at the Mar Vista Fall Festival earlier in the year and together they envisioned a garden that incorporated plants for a natural wildlife habitat, a vegetable garden, a fence to create a sense of privacy, a water feature and many of the existing boulders.
This freshly planted garden is now a Certified Wildlife Habitat; a large part of the design process was making sure that all of the criteria for the certification were met. Just about every single plant provides seeds, berries, nectar, pollen and shelter for whatever bees, birds, butterflies and wildlife visit, as well as plenty of flowers to satisfy the homeowner. There are nooks for shelter created in the placement of boulders – which are arranged for comfortable human perching too. The multi-height re-circulating water feature also serves as a butterfly, bird, critter and dog drinking area and even as visual entertainment for the cats and dog through the front window.
Filled with California native and climate-appropriate plants, vegetables, a gravel/stone/plant infiltration area at a downspout, drip irrigation with a weather-based controller, a composting area, a step stone path made from recycled broken concrete (from the site demo), permeable surfaces such as unstabilized decomposed granite, mulch and groundcover (no lawn), LED landscape lighting and a berm to utilize some of the excess soil, this garden exemplifies sustainable outdoor living in an urban environment.
To top it off, the home also has solar panels that were installed several years ago and provide approximately 75% of the household’s electrical needs. Although the back yard is not accessible (stay tuned for Phase 2!), there are fruit trees, more veggies and a rain barrel in the rear. The landscape designer, irrigation installer, contractor and solar panel company will be present to answer questions.
