waterwise

Learn how to design your low-water garden with easy plants and great tips to get them started.

Followed by Open Garden and tours of the gardens with Master Gardeners from 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.

Autumn is the perfect time to start planning a drought tolerant garden that saves water, attracts wildlife and enriches the environment.  Learn design basics for a lush and waterwise garden, including plant selection for year-round bloom and eco-friendly planting techniues and ideas to reduce, reuse and recycle landscaping materials from around the home.  

In September, representatives from the Santa Clara Valley Water District, Kurt Elvert and Kevin Galvin, will join us for the first hour, 10 a.m. - 11 a.m. to talk about the current state problem in water shortages.  They will also discuss the landscape and irrigation system rebate programs for homes and businesses along with other useful water-wise information.

From 11 a.m. - noon, we are inviting people to talk about water-saving ideas. Master Composter Lee Phillips will join us to talk about how he has saved money from the Santa Clara Valley Water District's water rebate program. He will lead off the show with a water-related song he composed! For more infomation on the rebate program, see valleywater.org.

 Time permitting, we will also discuss a movie which has recently opened in selected California cities called "Flow: For Love of Water" and the soundtrack of the movie trailer will be played.

Master Gardener Sharon McCray will also be on hand with Dr. Craig Kolodge, Master Gardeners Bader Kudsi and Jim Maley to discuss water-wise gardening. 

In the final half hour, Sharon will discuss the Prusch Farm Park Harvest Festival that is taking place on October 4 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Sat, Sep 13

Join the 90,000 people in the United States who have certified their yards and homes as backyard habitats for wildlife. Master Gardener Sharon McCray, whose yard is certified by the National Wildlife Federation, will show the four basic elements required by wildlife for survival and how to provide them in basic landscaping. You'll learn about gardening with natives, how to build a toad house and learn about other wildlife-friendly shelters, discover ways to reduce water use while providing ample resources for animals and so much more! We will even provide the paperwork for you to begin certifying your own backyard habitat. Let's make the world a greener and more wildlife-friendly place.

Wed, Sept 17

Fall is the best time to plant ornamentals in the San Francisco Bay Area. Come and learn how to design your dream garden, get ideas of the plants most suited to our area, and where to find them.

FIfth Year, 2007

PADG Home | First Year, 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2008 | 2009

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.

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.

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.