Green Thumb Alert: Tour 18 Gorgeous, Eco-Friendly Gardens

SONOMA AND MARIN COUNTIES, CA – The annual Eco-Friendly Garden Tour, sponsored by the Sonoma-Marin Saving Water Partnership, takes place this year on Saturday, May 5 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., giving attendees firsthand looks at 18 stunning gardens throughout Sonoma and Marin counties.

The 2018 tour includes gardens in Santa Rosa, Sonoma Valley, Petaluma, Novato, San Rafael and San Anselmo.

Now in its eighth year, the event focuses on low water-use, sustainable landscaping, and tour participants will learn water-saving strategies and garden tips from homeowners.

Attendees meet in the morning at the new Sustainable Education Garden at Santa Rosa City Hall and join an irrigation controller-programming workshop and tour the garden before dispersing to enjoy the rest of the tour. Free parking and a hydration station will be available at City Hall.

The California Native Plant Society Milo Baker Chapter will present five California native gardens in Santa Rosa, each having plant experts on hand to provide information to visitors. Also planned are native plant talks, demonstrations and a native plant sale at the Laguna Environmental Center.

The Laguna Environmental Center also will feature forthcoming landscape-design templates for the fire rebuild, as well designs by the Habitat Corridor Project and the Master Gardeners of Sonoma County based on small residential properties owned by the Santa Rosa Junior College.

Marin Municipal Water District will present four gardens in San Rafael and San Anselmo -- one of which being the wonderful Falkirk Estate, which will host at 11 a.m. Tom Bressan of The Urban Farmer Store, presenting "Making Every Drop Count: Tips and Techniques for Landscape Watering."

The presentation will look at how decisions made in landscaping affects water consumption.

The Sonoma-Marin Saving Water Partnership involves of 10 water utilities in Sonoma and Marin counties that promote regional water-use efficiency including in Santa Rosa, Rohnert Park, Petaluma, Sonoma, Cotati, North Marin, Valley of the Moon and the Town of Windsor.

The tour is free, but registration is required at: www.savingwaterpartnership.org/eco-friendly-garden-tour.

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--Image via SC Schena