Palo Alto Demo Garden

Established in 2003, this 7300 square foot garden has two distinct areas - the 'Edible' Garden and the Water Wise Garden. The former demonstrates edible landscaping using a wide variety of seasonal vegetables, fruits, and flowers, while the latter showcases beautiful landscaping with native and low water plants.

Address: 851 Center Dr, Palo Alto, CA 94301 (View map)

Directions: The Palo Alto Demonstration Garden (PADG) is located at Eleanor Pardee Community Gardens, on Center Drive near Martin Street.

Visiting hours

• 
  The 'Edible' Garden is open to the public during our weekly workdays (Monday 9 am—12 noon and Friday 9 am—11 am, weather permitting) and when events are scheduled. The garden may be viewed over the fence when not open.
• The Water Wise Garden is open dawn to dusk.
• Open Garden Days: Both gardens are open and staffed by Master Gardeners every Saturday morning, 10 am to noon, from May through October (weather permitting). It is an opportunity for the public to explore the edible and ornamental gardens, ask questions, and get plant and garden advice.
• First Saturdays of the month frequently include a workshop.
• We welcome community volunteers during visiting hours to work and learn side-by-side with us.

View signage displayed in demo gardens

The 'Edible' Garden

The enclosed area for edible plantings covers one-half of the PADG area. This area was once a bare-earth parking area for city vehicles. The garden displays innovative approaches to edible landscaping, with seasonally appropriate vegetable and fruit selections. It includes in-ground and raised bed areas, a wheelchair accessible (easy access) bed, container plantings (including self-watering systems), a composting area, and worm bins. The food we grow is donated to the Palo Alto Downtown Food Closet.

This garden combines fruit trees, berry bushes, vegetables, herbs, and flowers to create an aesthetically pleasing design. Flowering plants attract beneficial insects. Drip irrigation promotes water efficiency. Exhibiting a set of horticultural "best practices" for home gardens, the beds illustrate the use of proper soil preparation, seasonal cover cropping, seeding, planting, trellising, staking, plant protection, and efficient irrigation practices as well as a variety of vegetable choices.

 

The Water Wise Garden

The Water Wise Garden (always open) demonstrates how native California and Mediterranean climate plants can be used to create a beautiful, low water, natural garden. Once established, the plants in this garden require a minimum of supplemental summer water and provide food and shelter for beneficial insects, butterflies, and birds.

The diversity of plants and the presence of beneficial insects keep the garden healthy without the use of pesticides. The mulch on the beds helps reduce water evaporation and breaks down slowly releasing nutrients for the plants.

Visitors can meander among six areas and enjoy a huge variety of plants. Each area has distinct plant groupings as well as common plants that tie the garden together. There are plants native to California, Australia, South Africa, the Americas, and around the Mediterranean Sea.

Most California natives are planted directly in our native soil which is a fertile, moderately well-draining clay soil. Our non-native plants have been planted on one-foot mounds composed of gravelly, well-draining soil with little or no organic matter.

The Lawn Alternatives area demonstrates replacement plantings for conventional high water-using sod lawns and includes turf for kids and pets to play on, groundcovers for low foot traffic, and grasses for creating meadows. Features shown are plants that use less water, less fertilizer, and have lower maintenance.

Signage throughout the Water Wise garden and Lawn Alternatives areas identifies individual plants and offers research-based educational overviews of many garden topics.

See Santa Clara Valley Water for drought/saving water tips, rebate programs for lawn and pool conversions, and qualifying plant list. See our Water Wise Plants pages to search for plants to suit your own landscaping needs.