Going Native

Growing indigenous plants saves them from extinction, provides wildlife habitat, and uses less water.

Nibbling is certainly allowed at Katherine Greenberg’s native plant garden in Lafayette.“Look here,” the California native plant expert says, pointing at the branch of a pink-flowering currant lavishly adorned with dangling blossoms. “You can see the deer took a little taste of this one.”

Greenberg doesn’t mind the deer that wander up from the creek to browse and sleep among the rich tapestry of California natives she has cultivated over the last three decades.

She doesn’t even try to keep them out with fences—although she has carefully selected plants that are naturally deer resistant so they won’t be eaten entirely. It’s all in the spirit of having a garden that features native plants and is also a habitat for wildlife.

“I wanted the garden to preserve something of the state’s natural heritage,” she explains.

By choosing to garden with native plants, Greenberg explains, people can help keep endangered California plants from going extinct, provide food and shelter for native animals, and use less water for irrigation because many native plants are drought tolerant.

Gardening with an environmental focus has been a passion for Greenberg since 1980, when she and her husband built a family home on a 1.3-acre lot in Lafayette, and started the process of turning back the property’s clock.

She set out to re-create the natural landscape but had to move toward what she believed might have existed on her patch of oak-studded Lafayette hillside before the land was tilled for farming a century or so before.

“There weren’t very many examples of California native gardens when I started out,” she says. “It was a big experiment.”

Greenberg’s extraordinary garden now feels like an extension of the open spaces nearby, and it attracts all sorts of butterflies, bees, and birds, and even mountain lions, occasionally.

“I was in my office recently and saw this mangy-looking dog running around the garden,” Greenberg recalls. “I looked more closely and realized, ‘That’s not a dog. It’s a coyote.’ ”

Just about the only things Greenberg wants to keep out of her garden are invasive exotic plants that don’t naturally grow in California. “You do have to be careful what you plant because exotics can displace indigenous plants,” Greenberg warns. “I’m not a purist, but natives are underutilized.”

Greenberg, who gives tours and workshops in her garden to visitors from around the world, is on the board of the Pacific Horticultural Foundation, a Berkeley nonprofit that publishes the magazine Pacific Horticulture and provides other educational resources to gardeners on the West Coast. Her international visitors come to the garden to learn about the wide variety of California native plant communities represented there.

Most gardens throughout California rely heavily on plants that are not native to California: Mediterranean-style gardens full of French lavender and Greek olive trees, Japanese rock gardens with bonsai, English country gardens with lavish perennial borders, Southwestern desert landscapes, and lush tropical gardens.

Most gardeners, even avid ones, don’t know about the ecological drawbacks of gardening with exotics and are accustomed to the aesthetic of these plants, which have been selected for their flashy blossoms, unusual leaves, or other decorative features. Exotics have been made widely available in nurseries for generations.

Only recently has the subdued aesthetic of the Golden State’s bunchgrasses and other plants—the soft colors and textures—started to be appreciated by commercial and residential gardeners such as Greenberg.

“The repetition of forms, colors, and textures brings a mood of serenity,” she says of own her garden.

Informal drifts of manzanita bushes enchant with delicate pink blossoms. Dramatic swaths of arching deer grasses form natural waves of amber. Small groupings of hummingbird sage punctuate the garden with crimson flowers, attracting the tiny birds.

Beneath the soft green of a small grove of newly budded vine maple trees is a lacy meadow of Western bleeding heart with heart-shaped pink flowers. Wood ferns that are native to the site decorate the banks of the creek near a rare native California rose that Greenberg discovered buried under a patch of poison oak.

“The garden is a mosaic in the natural landscape,” she explains, advising gardeners aspiring to work with California natives to begin by taking cues from what’s growing naturally in nearby open space.

When Greenberg started gardening with natives, even finding them for sale was difficult. Aside from horticulturalists, botanists, and other specialists, hardly anyone was interested in buying indigenous plants two decades ago.

Horticultural nonprofits started to make the plants available on a small scale to their members and to gardening aficionados, who were invited to periodic plant sales.

Greenberg was founding president of one such group, the Friends of the Regional Parks Botanic Garden, which was established to support the 10-acre botanic garden in Tilden Regional Park. This public garden showcases thousands of California natives and holds an annual plant sale in April.

The Native Here Nursery, operated by the California Native Plant Society and also in Tilden, specializes in native plants. The nursery works with landowners throughout the Bay Area to harvest seeds and cuttings of native plants to be grown for sale. So shoppers at Native Here can buy plants adapted to their exact place of residence, whether the moist valleys of Orinda or the arid slopes of Mount Diablo.

More than 6,000 species of plants are native to California, Greenberg explains—more than any other state.

“Gardening with these natural treasures is a way we can play a big role in preserving endangered plants and in making a connection to the place we live,” Greenberg says. “My garden won’t be complete in my lifetime, but it’s a celebration of our natural heritage.”

And, it’s a great spot for the nibblers in her neighborhood.

Best Places to Buy California Natives

California Flora Nursery, Fulton, (707) 528-8813, calfloranursery.com.
Mostly Natives Nursery, Tomales, (707) 878-2009, mostlynatives.com.
Native Here Nursery, Berkeley, (510) 549-0211, ebcnps.org/nativehere.html.
The Watershed Nursery, Richmond, (510) 234-2222, thewatershednursery.com.
Yerba Buena Nursery, Woodside, (650) 851-1668, yerbabuenanursery.com.

Plant Communities

REDWOODS: Redwoods are too large for most residential gardens, but their companion plants are ideal for shady areas with some moisture.

Vine Maple, Acer circinatum
Wild Ginger, Asarum caudatum
Oregon Grape, Berberis aquifolium
Western Bleeding Heart, Dicentra formosa
Western Sword Fern, Polystichum munitum
Inside-out Flower, Vancouveria planipetala

CHAPARRAL: Chaparral is one of the most characteristic vegetation types in California. It consists of tough mainly evergreen shrubs that grow in poor soil on hot, dry slopes. Chaparral shrubs provide a strong foundation for dry gardens, and their foliage, flowers, and fruits add seasonal interest.

Manzanita, Arctostaphylos (many species available)
Wild Lilac, Ceanothus (many species available)
Western Redbud, Cercis occidentalis
Mountain Mahogany, Cercocarpus betuloides
Silktassel Bush, Garrya elliptica
Toyon, Heteromeles arbutifolia
Coffeeberry, Rhamnus californica
California Fuchsia, Zauschneria californica

OAK WOODLAND: Oak woodland is the characteristic vegetation of California’s foothills and canyons. Oaks are a source of food and shelter for wildlife. Established oaks are adapted to dry summers and do not need irrigation. Their companions are plants that tolerate dry shade. Oak leaf litter makes an ideal mulch.

Buckeye, Aesculus californica
Alum Root, Heuchera maxima
Foothill Penstemon, Penstemon heterophyllus
Catalina Perfume, Ribes viburnifolium
Hummingbird Sage, Salvia spathacea
Snowberry, Symphoricarpos albus

GRASSLAND: Grassland covers large areas of California’s hills and valleys. When rainfall is abundant, there are dazzling spring displays of wildflowers. A wildflower meadow planted with a mix of grasses and wildflowers (both annual and perennial) can take the place of a water-consuming lawn. Native grasses can be planted as single specimens or in drifts for a natural effect.

Yarrow, Achillea millefolium
California Poppy, Eschscholzia californica
California Fescue, Festuca californica
Douglas Iris, Iris douglasiana
Deer Grass, Muhlenbergia rigens
Blue-eyed Grass, Sisyrinchium bellum

COASTAL SCRUB: Coastal scrub consists of low, soft-leaved shrubs and perennials suitable for coastal and inland gardens. They are drought tolerant and prefer full sun, but occasional watering in the late summer and early fall will improve their appearance in the garden.

California Sagebrush, Artemesia californica
Dwarf Coyote Bush, Baccharis pilularis ‘Twin Peaks’
Buckwheat, Eriogonum (many species available)
Sage, Salvia species (many species available)

RIPARIAN WOODLAND: Riparian woodland is composed mainly of deciduous trees growing along rivers and streams. Riparian corridors provide shade and a source of water for wildlife.

Buckeye, Aesculus californica
Wood Fern, Dryopteris arguta
California Walnut, Juglans hindsii
Wild Rose, Rosa californica
Willow, Salix
Bay, Umbellularia californica
Wild Grape, Vitis californica