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Hamshire Crt. Garden
This oak woodland plant community garden was designed to provide summer shade, seasonal color, low water and maintenance and wildlife habitat, and it thrives without any pesticides or fertilizers. In the front, vibrant annuals and coffeeberry shrubs grow under a young coast live oak, blue elderberry and western redbud. The casual woodchips garden path was later upgraded to flagstones. In the back, red fescue meadow replaced a high-maintenance bermuda lawn, and the fence was softened with evergreen and deciduous shrubs that provide seasonal interest. This garden was featured 3 times on the Going Native Garden Tour.
Front garden:
Arroyo lupine brightens the front yard in spring, 2009.
The coast live oak is over 15' tall after four years.
Parking strip with deer grass and lupine.
Chinese houses mingle between the elderberry and coffeeberry shrubs during the garden's first spring, in 2005.
A mulched garden path, edged by mahogany poppies and Chinese houses,circles the young coast live oak.
California fuchsia, western penny royal and moonshine yarrow provide summer color and food for the hummingbirds and butterflies.
Back Garden:
Deer grass, underplanted with yarrow, provides a transparent live fence in this side yard bed.
The red fescue meadow, planted from small plugs, have filled in by rhizomes and seeds.
Close up of meadow; toyon and pink-flowering currant line the back fence. Monkeyflower blooms in the foreground.
California morning glory climbs the trellis along the side of the property.
Island alum root blooms in the shade by the chimney.
The evergreen huckleberry hedge, at the back of the house, produces edible fruit.