palo alto
Palo Alto Demonstration Garden
The First Six Months' Report - December, 2003
PADG Home | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009
The summer of 2003 was the first growing season in our new demonstration garden, located in the Eleanor Community Garden within Eleanor Pardee Park at the corner of Channing Avenue and Center Drive. On this site we started work on our project's goal of creating two gardens that each emphasize pleasing design and best practices for home gardening.
Our initial focus was on getting the Edible Demonstration Garden started. There we planned to grow edible and decorative plants together in one garden, showcasing new and unusual varieties of flowers, vegetables and fruits. Our Water-Wise Nature Garden of drought tolerant ornamental plants that attract birds and beneficial insects would be started in the fall.
Start Your Spring Vegetable Garden: Seed Starting and Direct Seeding
Palo Alto Demonstration Garden, 851 Center Dr., Palo Alto, 94301
Palo Alto Demonstration Garden
Second Year, 2004
PADG Home | First Year, 2003 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009
The second year of the PADG project has been a productive and rewarding one. To fulfill the goal of demonstrating attractive edible landscaping, the Edible Garden was divided into three international-themed beds; Asian, Latin American, and Mediterranean. A fourth bed was dedicated to testing various varieties of lima beans. The four beds were planted with appropriate vegetables and enhanced with ornamental flowers. Decorative structures to support climbing plants were constructed in each bed.
Fruit trees were added in a high-density orchard area, an espaliered fruit tree row, and along the fence line. A raised blueberry bed was also made. We were able to obtain donations of fruit trees and several varieties of blueberry plants.
Additional perennials were added to the Water-wise Garden, and the beds were "adopted" by team members to assure their weekly hand watering. The Santa Clara Water District has donated funds for an irrigation system, that will be installed in 2005.
Palo Alto Demo Garden
Project summaries: First Year, 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009
Workshop Handouts: Irrigation Talk
Look at the Waterwise plant dictionary for specific plants from our garden: Water Wise Ornamental Plants
(Map pdf) -
The Palo Alto Demonstration Garden (PADG) is located at Eleanor Pardee Community Gardens, on Center Road near Martin Street in Palo Alto.
Starting in the spring of 2003, Master Gardeners began work on this former streets' department storage yard and turned it into a north Santa Clara county showplace for best and sustainable gardening practices.
The garden, a total of about 7300 sq ft, has two distinct areas - the 'edible' garden and waterwise garden.
Palo Alto Demonstration Garden
Fourth Year, 2006
PADG Home | First Year, 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009
Now at the end of its fourth year, the Palo Alto Demonstration Garden is truly becoming what it was originally conceived to be: a resource for sustainable gardening information for the community. In 2006 we focused work at PADG on supporting the strategic goals adopted by the Advisory Board in late 2005. Specifically, we have sought to increase our educational contacts with the public at the garden and to focus those contacts on demonstrating and teaching sustainable gardening practices.
2006 events at PADG included a monthly workshop series, open garden, plant sale, Going Native Garden Tour, a post-conference tour for Master Gardeners, and more. These events brought more than 800 people to the garden. Visitors, many of whom return to the garden again and again, express their appreciation for the opportunity to learn more about how to grow both familiar and unusual vegetables, herbs, and flowers and to see how colorful and graceful a low water ornamental garden can be year round. Elements of the garden that draw special interest are the Mediterranean and native plants in the water-wise garden, the 3-in-1 fruit tree plantings, the ethnic vegetables, the blueberries, the unusual garden structures and plant supports, the drip irrigation system, the composting effort, and the use of wood chips and mulch throughout the garden.
