Thursday April 26, 2012

Napa’s second annual Bay-Friendly Garden Tour will take place Sunday, May 6 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., when a dozen local homes and businesses will showcase natural gardening techniques that reduce waste and pollution, conserve natural resources, and embody a variety of garden sizes and styles. Urban homesteads, wildlife habitat, and eye-catching drought-tolerant gardens are featured, including several that have taken advantage of the City’s “Cash For Grass” Turf Replacement Rebate Program. Along with viewing these inspiring landscapes, tour participants will also have the opportunity to purchase native plants and attend three workshops – Rain Gardens, Losing the Lawn, and Container Gardens.

Registration is required to receive a tour guidebook with directions, garden descriptions, and entrance tickets. Cost is $10 per guidebook. To visit the Napa gardens, participants may register online at BayFriendlyGardenTour.org by April 27, or in person from April 30 to May 4 at the Napa County Resource Conservation District (RCD) office, 1303 Jefferson Street, Suite 500B, Napa. On tour day, May 6, guidebooks will be available for purchase at Fire Station #3, 2000 Trower Avenue, and at COPE Family Center, 1340 Fourth Street.  Registered participants may also join the upcoming Bay-Friendly Garden Tour in Marin County on May 19.

The local Napa event is sponsored by the City of Napa, County of Napa, and Napa County RCD, and is part of the 9th Annual Bay-Friendly Garden Tours organized through the Bay-Friendly Landscaping & Gardening Coalition, a regional nonprofit comprised of home gardeners, landscape professionals, and local governments. The Coalition promotes landscaping practices that work in harmony with the natural conditions of the San Francisco Bay Area.

For more details, visit BayFriendlyGardenTour.org or call (510) 859-8026 ext 2.