ABOUT BRIARPATCH
 

 

BriarPatch Native Plant Demonstration Garden

Explore the native plant garden at all its stages.
There is always something to discover!

 

A Partnership

The Redbud Chapter of the California Native Plant Society adopted the retention basin of the BriarPatch Co-op landscape at the start of 2007 to establish a native plant demonstration garden. The garden is a place for the community to come and relax, take a stroll and learn about native plants. See firsthand the beauty of native plants and their adaptability for use in landscaping.
Local native plants are adapted to the conditions of the soil and climate, making them easy to grow and likely to succeed. Being naturally adapted translates into minimal requirements for supplemental water, fertilizer and maintenance and into saving money.
Native plants are necessary for all native wildlife. They help the local pollinators, as many insects depend on specific native flowers and plants for food and to lay their eggs.
In addition, the retention basin serves to catch, filter and percolate all runoff before it leaves the site, thus ensuring better water quality for the community.

The Garden Vision:
•  To showcase locally native plants suitable for gardens and landscapes.
•  A place for wildflower and native plant field trips and other educational events.
•  To use the plants in the garden as mother stock for cuttings and seed to propagate local genotype plants (by local growers) for Redbud Chapter’s semiannual native plant sales.

 

Native Plants: Good for Wildlife, Good for the Environment

Approach: To develop the garden in stages, with phases of planting, hardscaping and maintenance, guided by the ebb and flow of the seasons and the natural progression of the basin as the plants get established and grow.

Who does the work? The community is asked to sponsor various aspects to fulfill the garden requirements. Thus far, 45 volunteers, from age 3 up, have helped to shape the garden from planting and weeding to trail building and sign installation. Fifteen tons of donated crushed rock and fines creates a pathway to be used around the garden rain or shine!

Sponsors: We are grateful to the following businesses that generously sponsored materials: B & C True Value, Far West Bulbs, Foster & Son Trucking, Hansen Bros. Enterprises, Hills Flat Lumber, Pacific Coast Seed, ­Peaceful Valley Farm & Garden Supply, Shilling Seed, Sierra Plumbing Supply.

Future Plans: Additional informative signage, shade stucture, picnic table, benches, native lawn, garbage & recycling receptacles, doggie station, native rocks, and more great looking species of locally native plants.

What can you do? Walk the pathway and enjoy the area. Contribute at customer service to sponsor future items. Join the gardening team to meet great people, learn something new, get outside and get some exercise while creating a beautiful public garden!

Contact person: Cindy Rubin
273-1816 crubin@nccn.net

 

California Native Plant Society
Redbud Chapter
Western Nevada & Placer Counties

The mission of the California Native Plant Society is to increase understanding and appreciation of California’s native plants and to preserve them in their natural habitat through scientific activities, education, horticulture, and conservation.

www.redbud-cnps.org • www.cnps.org
228 Commercial Street, No. 125 • Nevada City, California 95959

 

Bush Lupine, Lupinus albifrons
by and courtesy of Peg Steunenberg

Purple Needlegrass, Nassella pulchra
by and courtesy of Kristin Jakob

  

 

What kinds of plants are in the garden?

Look for hundreds of California native bulbs, including Fairy Lanterns, Blue Dicks, Sierra Fawn Lily, Superb Mariposa Lily, Soap Plant, Brodiaeas, and other native beauties to bloom in spring to early summer, along with a multitude of annual and perennial wildflowers and forbs. The garden features Purple Needlegrass, California’s official state grass, and other native bunch grasses, including Deergrass and Idaho Fescue. An alternative lawn area was seeded in fall 2008 with native, low-growing annual and bunch grasses to enhance the existing post-construction mix of Yarrow, Western Blue Flax, California Poppy and fescues. This area will become the picnic area for you to use in the future.


Throughout the garden one can find young trees: Blue Oak, Black Oak, California Laurel, White Alder and McNab Cypress; and shrubs: Bush Lupine, Western Redbud, Coyote Brush, Deerbrush, Buckbrush, Lemon’s Ceanothus, Toyon, Spicebush and willows. The garden also includes a mature Ponderosa Pine and Whiteleaf Manzanita.
At the far end of the garden, Three-Weeks Fescue and ­California native wildflower mix were seeded to revegetate impacts from Litton Construction up the hill. Potentially a dozen different flowers may blossom. The upper part of this area was seeded with taller native grasses, including Blue Wildrye, California Brome and Meadow Barley to serve as weed and erosion control, restoration and wildlife habitat.

 

Download the full Plant List

 
 
 
 

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BriarPatch Co-op 290 Sierra College Dr, Ste A, Grass Valley, CA, 95945 • (530) 272-5333 • Open 7am - 10pm, 7 days

 

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