Garden Snapshot
In 2002 when Dinah and Larry bought this place, the yard featured a dead hot tub that was breeding possums, a rotten deck and pagoda from the early 80’s, a fence that had fallen over and a backyard that was almost entirely covered in cement. Luckily he’s an architect and she’s an interior designer; they have their own company called Sightworks Architecture and Design. Their professional experience adapting spaces and developing sustainable designs is evident in their work on their own backyard. They realized it was finished when they used the space for a large birthday party for their daughter, before the conversion they wouldn’t even let their friends walk through it.

Create Wildlife Habitat
The no-mow native sod is covered in soft rolling waves of green in the spring. In the summer, robins collect the dry grass to make nests. Flowering plants like yarrow attract bees and butterflies. Native plants make up more than 50% of the garden. A solar powered fountain provides water for wildlife.

Protect Local Watersheds and the Bay
Part of the recent garden makeover was fixing drainage problems so that water flows to planting beds or the native grass meadow instead of the foundation of the house. The concrete paving was cut, shaped and reused to create permeable patio areas and pathways. Concrete blocks were also used to make a curvilinear retaining wall that doubles as a seating wall and helps level out the backyard. The soil excavated to fix the slope was shaped into planting berms. Rain barrels collect water that would otherwise run-off.