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| Red flowers at left are California fuchsia, purple by porch is Mexican bush sage, yellow at left is bladderpod |
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| Mexican bush sage (purple flowers) in foreground Sycamore and persimmon trees growing. |
This garden was inspired by the first MV Green Garden Tour when they saw a garden with decomposed granite that was totally rainwatered. They wanted a native plant garden that would support native pollinators and be like walking up in the Santa Monica mountains. Their goal was that it would eventually become just rain watered to save water.
In summer of 2009 they took out the lawn with the help of their gardener. In December 2009 they planted 80 native plants out of the 120 on the full plan by a landscape designer who loves native plants. They were able to get a $2,000 rebate from DWP which was paying $1 per square foot of lawn removed.
Many of you saw this as a newly planted garden on the 2010 tour and will love seeing the result! Some plants grew and some died. They've replanted some areas and decided to change some plants from the original plan. It has a beautiful rain chain to decrease rain runoff; a persimmon and a pineapple guava tree. In 2011 they added a circulating fountain and 3 more rain barrels. The 1 gallon sycamore tree is now 15 feet tall 2 years after planting!
They love the fact that birds, butterflies and bees are attracted to the garden. It looks good and smells fabulous. In good weather they love to sit on the porch, look at the flowers and watch the wildlife. They’re still learning how to prune, how to water optimally (they still hand-water once a week during dry weather) and how the plants will look when mature. Pruning is free aromatherapy. And they've cut their water bill by more than 1/2. Jacky Bolbat, the landscape designer, is hoping to be available the day of the tour.
Hello all!
ReplyDeleteI am so excited that this garden will be on the tour once again, so that you can all see how much this garden has grown in just three years! Especially the Sycamore from just a one gallon is truly impressive. I am so pleased that the garden is now a Certified Wildlife Habitat, complete with running water, forage and native habitat. Please come see us on the tour!