Native & Drought Tolerant Gardens

4 parent questions ▼
Archived Q&A and reviews ▼

Parent Q&A

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  • Knowledgeable gardener for natives and drought tolerant

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    Nov 5, 2023

    Our long time gardener retired so we need a replacement one (or team) who has a good knowledge of and experience working with native, drought tolerant and pollinator attraction plants in the Berkeley-Oakland area. It would be helpful if the person or persons would be good at communication and reliability as well as being of a friendly nature. Our garden is on the small side, is flat and does not have grass. Thank for for your recommendations.

    Nov 5, 2023

    Hello! Fellow native-plant gardener here. I have enjoyed working with the team at Gold Finch Designs and think they would be a great fit for the garden that you have and the style of upkeep and personality that you're seeking. 

    Nov 8, 2023

    I'd highly recommend Will Boone (wrhblandscapes [at] gmail.com) I've recommended him elsewhere on BPN. He's knowledgable about native plants- he created a lovely garden of natives for me in my small yard. He's super reliable (he's helped me by taking care of the yard even when I  rented the house). He's also thoughtful, proactive, and great to work with. Happy to talk more if helpful.

    Nov 8, 2023

  • Gardener for small drought tolerant garden

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    Sep 15, 2023

    Our long time gardener just retired so we are in need of a replacement to take good care of our small, drought tolerant gardens on the front and back yard. We would like to hire a person or persons who are very knowledgeable and experienced in dealing with these types of local, native gardens. It would be a bonus if they are friendly, reliable and personable as well. Thank you for your recommendations.

    Sep 15, 2023

    We work with Aisha Sharpe who has been great with helping get our backyard garden beds going. She's knowledgeable and friendly and has worked around our kids/dog/budget really well. 
    asharpe888 [at] gmail.com
    ‭(917) 304-3880‬ 

    Sep 20, 2023

    Noah +1 (608) 347-3103 tell him Giorgia from Vine sent you his number 

    Sep 20, 2023

  • Garden maintenance: California Natives

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    Jan 23, 2020

    Hi,

    Does anyone have a recommendation for a person or company that can do garden maintenance for our small yard in the Berkeley flats - either monthly, or every other month.  We have a CA native garden, and would want someone who knows native plants.  Thanks for any recommendations!

    Jan 23, 2020

    HomeGrown Gardens specializes in native plants, I use them and they are very good at what they do. They are not the cheapest in the market, but it might be worthwhile for your garden!

    Jan 30, 2020

    Sandra comes to my house once a month in West Berkeley. She's wonderful!

    https://www.greenthumbworks.com/

    Sandra Nevala-Lee s.nevalalee [at] gmail.com>

    Feb 5, 2020

    East Bay Wilds in Oakland does garden maintenance, we've used them for several years.  Once for big re-landscaping job, and now for quarterly maintenance.  Pete is very knowledgable about California Natives and he's friendly and reasonable.

    http://www.eastbaywilds.com/index.html

    Feb 10, 2020

  • Gardener (s) to maintain drought tolerant garden

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    Mar 1, 2017

    Greetings all. We have an existing, rather small drought tolerant garden which is about 8 years old and doing quite well. We are in need of an individual or perhaps a couple to come by on a regular basis and take care if it. Perhaps they could add some plants if needed from time to time. If you have some recommendations for seasoned persons who are responsible and reliable as well as have a good knowledge of drought resistant plantings we would be grateful. Many thanks.

    Mar 1, 2017

    Hi there,

    We've been working with Christine from GardenWise for many years. She offers garden maintenance and landscaping, and she encourages the use of drought-tolerant plants and organic, earth-friendly solutions whenever possible. She is knowledgeable, reliable, and great at what she does.

    More info: http://www.gardenwise-landscapes.com

    Contact email: christine [at] gardenwise-landscapes.com

    Good luck!

    Mar 30, 2017

Archived Q&A and Reviews

I need garden advice on the drought!

Feb 2014

I am a sometime gardener who has become really concerned about the impact of the drought on my garden. I have a lawn that I normally don't water in the winter, but I have my irrigation on full blast this winter and the water bills are through the roof. I need some advice on what to do about the lawn, and how to transition my garden into something more drought friendly. I don't have a lot of money to spend, and I'm willing to do most of the work myself. So what I'm looking for is someone to consult and give advice on how I can make changes over time. Any suggestions would be very much appreciated! Ann

I share your concern! My garden has been suffering from the drought as well, and I recommend you try contacting Heidi Tarver (www.berkeleygardencoach.com). She came out a few weeks ago for a 1 hour consultation with myself and my husband. We got some great ideas on how to begin transitioning our garden to one that will be more drought friendly but still abundant and beautiful. Heidi is knowledgeable, helpful and very reasonably priced. The consult was exactly what we needed. We are hoping for rain, but taking some steps to make our garden less thirsty for the future. Lonnie

I recommend an independent contractor, Robert Garbisch from American Canyon. I met 'Bob' through the house owner where I am currently residing in El Cerrito. Bob has worked on the trees and bushes along the steep slope of Potrero Street 's back yards as well as the many local yards up on the plateau near Arlington for years. He is very knowledgeable and will do almost anything you ask, from fixing cabinet latches, installing screen doors, and landscaping projects. His phone number is 7075574188. I also recommend the well known gardener Diane Bloom of Richmond. Diane does amazing things. www.bloom-gardens.net 510-234-5196 Suzanne

I got great advice recently from Heidi Tarver, 510-928-5591. She also has excellent contacts with contractors who can help with lawn removal, irrigation reworking, plant substitution and so forth. Her website is BerkeleyGardenCoach.com. Good luck!

Heidi Tarver is a garden coach who has a wealth of information about creating a drought friendly garden. Consults are reasonably priced and incredibly useful. Her phone number is 510-928-5591. We have followed her advice with excellent results. Annabella