Sunnyvale Teaching and Demo Garden

COVID-19 update: Most in-person events have been canceled. We are offering online talks and some of our demonstration gardens are open to the public on a limited basis.

Our office is closed but we are working remotely to answer gardening questions. The best way to contact us is to submit a question. We also check voice messages but response times are generally slower.

This garden showcases vegetables and ornamentals growing organically in raised beds, in-ground beds, and containers, with an emphasis on using recycled, recyclable or salvaged materials.

Address: 433 Charles Street, Sunnyvale, CA 94086 (View map)

Directions: Located in the southeast corner of Sunnyvale’s Charles Street Community Garden

Visiting hours: The garden is open during Open Hours for the community garden. Signage at each growing bed provides “what’s growing” and gardening technique information if we are not present to explain.

Visitors to the garden must wear cloth face coverings and observe social distancing. Please do not come to the garden if you are not feeling well.

Teaching in the Sunnyvale Garden

Built in May 2006, our teaching and demonstration garden was created to be part of Sunnyvale’s Charles Street Community Gardens. Here we have a space to provide the gardening public with University of California Cooperative Extension’s research-based growing information through monthly gardening talks and the demonstration of seasonably appropriate edible and ornamental gardening techniques and best practices for soil management, irrigation, and pest control.

Our garden consists of raised beds, in-ground beds, containers, and a table height accessible bed for growing annual edibles. We have 2 large beds planted in perennial California native plants selected to attract native pollinators to the garden and a shady bed of drought tolerant UC Davis Arboretum All-Stars ornamental perennials. Joining the community garden’s emphasis on sustainability in gardening, we repurposed many materials as we built the garden and we continually seek to conserve, reuse and recycle garden materials.

Key techniques demonstrated in the garden include:

Organic and sustainable methods of gardening
No-till and low-till growing
Drip irrigation
Barriers for crop protection from predation by insects, ground squirrels, tree squirrels and birds
Cover cropping
Encouraging beneficial insects for pest management and pollination
Drought tolerant ornamental plants
California native plants as ornamentals