Green Thumb Getaway: Explore Napa's Climate-Smart Gardens
By David Layland
NAPA VALLEY, Calif. — Saturday, May 18, is the date for this year’s Climate-Friendly Garden Tour, a partnership between the Napa County Resource Conservation District, City of Napa Water Division and the University of California Master Gardeners of Napa County.
The tour is from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and includes 10 private home gardens plus the Napa County Master Gardeners’ demonstration garden at Las Flores Community Center in Napa. At Las Flores you can tour areas devoted to succulents, pollinator plants, California natives and low-water/low-maintenance plants.
Also at Las Flores, Master Gardeners will conduct a demonstration of the “Heat Island Effect,” using temperature guns on ground surfaces, and another titled “Bread and Flour,” highlighting the effect of tilling on the soil’s ability to absorb and retain water. Yet another is called “Good Bugs, Bad Bugs.” There will also be a free compost giveaway at Las Flores.
The 10 private gardens come in all shapes and sizes, and all are within the City of Napa.
Workshops are also included in the tour at several of the gardens. One will address the effect of tilling on soil health and water absorption, and another will focus on irrigation conversion. The one I would most like to see is the “Bury Your Undies” display at Las Flores Community Center, designed to show how to measure healthy soil life.
The organizers see this event as an opportunity to showcase gardens, both residential and commercial, that are climate-smart and water-wise. That means you are likely to encounter gardens on the tour that incorporate drought-tolerant and native plants or that exhibit good soil-health practices. You might see rain-catchment systems, clever use of recycled materials or graywater, smart irrigation systems and model veggie gardens.
I haven’t seen all the gardens on the tour, but I have seen the one in the Carneros District — my own. The only negative to having your garden featured on the tour is that you can’t get around to see all the others. I’ll be there to welcome visitors all day.
I was probably one of the first gardeners to volunteer my garden for this year’s tour. I’m not sure why I wanted to be on the tour as my garden is my personal and private “happy place,” to be enjoyed primarily by my wife, Jeanine, and me. All serious gardeners feel a sense of pride with what they have created, but we are rarely competitive. Instead, we enjoy learning from one another.
My home garden includes flowers and vegetables, of course, but also berries, olive and fruit trees, and a vineyard that’s currently being replanted. Our 13 goats aren’t part of the garden, but they are great at weed control. If we aren’t careful, they will nosh on anything within reach. We also have 13 chickens that do a great job of providing manure year-round.
To me, a garden is never complete. Mine is constantly evolving, usually due to my latest whim. A few years ago, I converted part of my vegetable garden to native plants. This year I converted part of it to raspberries and boysenberries. After constructing a fence to separate the goats from the garden and vineyard areas, I was left with a perfect area for four more fruit trees. Also new this year is a rainwater-catchment system designed and constructed by Jeanine.
One of the tenets of climate-friendly gardening is using recycled materials. I started doing this years ago when I used scrap lumber left behind by the previous property owner to make raised beds. At a friend’s garden, I noticed she planted flowers in many types of old containers. I realized I had a lot of old containers, too, so I followed suit. I began planting flowers in the old blue bins no longer used by Napa Recycling.
Most gardeners in Napa Valley irrigate their gardens, often with fancy gadgets such as timers. If this is smart irrigation, then what I do must be dumb irrigation. I prefer hand-watering as it gives me a chance to monitor each plant at least once a week. Fortunately, hand-watering requires just one hand, so in the evening I can use the other for my wineglass.
Although I have not seen all the other gardens on the tour, I do know a little about them. Almost everyone has removed their lawn through the city’s Cash for Grass program. Every garden on the tour includes California native plants. Attracting pollinators is an objective of almost every garden, and most of the gardeners have taken steps to lower water use. Two gardens feature apiaries, and one features a rain garden. Another gardener is an avid seed-saver.
Tickets for the garden tour are $5 and will be available at the Las Flores Community Center beginning at 10 a.m. on May 18. Don’t miss this great opportunity to see what your Napa neighbors have done to make their gardens more climate-conscious.
Workshop: Join the UC Master Gardener of Napa County for a workshop on “Worm or Backyard Composting” on Saturday, May 18, from 10 a.m. to noon at Napa Valley College, Upper Valley Campus, 1088 College Ave., St. Helena. Learn about backyard composting, hot composting, cool composting and worm composting — choose your own adventure. Attendees can purchase a discounted backyard compost bin for $20 or take a home a free worm compost toolkit, including the worms. Register here.
Garden Tour: Enjoy a “Climate-Friendly Garden Tour” on Saturday, May 18, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., sponsored by Napa County Resource Conservation District. Tour 11 private and public Napa Valley gardens that showcase climate-friendly and water-wise landscapes. Mini-workshops will be held at some sites throughout the day. Purchase a ticket to receive the tour map.
Library Talk: Join UC Master Gardeners and Napa County Library for “All About Lavender,” on Thursday, June 6, from 7 to 8 p.m. via Zoom. Have you ever wondered what you can do with that gorgeous lavender growing in your backyard? Learn what lavender needs to thrive, and harvest ideas for how to incorporate it in your own homemade creations. Register to receive the Zoom link.
Help Desk: The Master Gardener Help Desk is available to answer your garden questions on Mondays and Fridays from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. at the University of California Cooperative Extension Office, 1710 Soscol Ave., Suite 4, Napa. Or send your questions to mastergardeners@countyofnapa.org. Include your name, address, phone number and a brief description. For best results attach a photo.
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David Layland is a U.C. Master Gardener of Napa County.