Path through Notable Gardens Leads to New Friend

It’s a story within a story. While visiting two Highland Oaks homes in Pleasanton this week to learn about their participation in an East Bay garden tour this Sun., May 1, I inadvertently planted a seed of friendship. The story, as it evolved, was about far more than the horticultural talents of two Pleasanton households, but about the friendship between two neighbors and one unsuspecting journalist who stumbled through the neighbors' flower beds.

It started with my simple, brown-thumbed admiration for my friend Ward Belding, and his wife Pat, whose Highland Oaks gardens will be featured in the annual this Sunday, May 1. The event canvasses cities across the East Bay.

With my inadequacy in the garden, meanwhile, the plants outside our house remain alive on sheer luck. For the 14 years we’ve lived in Pleasanton, I’ve been tripping over sprinkler heads and strangling roses with irrigation drip-lines to keep their “feet” wet.

By contrast, Ward has developed lush, naturally-growing gardens of native plants – using little or no irrigation – at the house he and his wife have owned for more than 30 years.

So when Ward told me that his and his neighbor’s gardens are among 49 gardens in Alameda County and Contra Costa County to be featured in Sunday's garden tour, I jumped at the opportunity to share the news with the community. Selfishly, I also hoped for free advice from someone who doesn't trip over sprinkler heads or drip lines.

What I didn’t know before visiting Ward’s gardens is that I would step down a path toward a new friend.

Wednesday evening, Ward and Pat took me through their gardens, pointing out cleverly fashioned beds and meandering swaths of plants native to our region. I quickly noticed his yard had little or no lawn, but that dozens of patches of California fuschia, poppies, salvia (sage), peach trees, golden currants, ceanothis and red and yellow monkey flowers surrounded the perimeters of walkways through the front and back gardens.

“I’m the one who’s passionate about the gardening,” said Ward. “But I had to get Pat’s permission to get rid of the lawn first!”

Within a year of starting on their native-plant gardens free of lawn, they noticed significant drops in their water use and expense.

Meanwhile, Colleen Clark, who lives next door to the Beldings, became interested in their project.

“Ward was my inspiration,” Colleen said. She and her husband were previously frustrated over a lawn constantly torn up by wildlife – and their five children. Replacing the grass with native plants provided a solution that no only simplified, but beautified, their yard management – and added a hobby to their lives.

Now, Colleen spends a mere 30 minutes a day weeding and maintaining her gardens.

“And once the rain stops, I spend much less time weeding,” she says. Her gardens, too, require very little irrigation.

A few minutes into our discussion of plans, we were sharing self-deprecating stories of gardening woes. For me, those include the fact that, although the perennials I planted last year in my front gardens are thriving this year, they only do so with hundreds of gallons of water per month.

Over the course of half an hour, Colleen and I began talking in more detail. Soon we covered topics including parenting, kids’ school work, whether or not to allow preteens to use cell phones, and the ongoing debate many moms have with themselves over whether they should, or can, return to work after the youngest child enters kindergarten.

We discussed our past or current professions and remarked on how both writing – and gardening – can double as hobbies and careers.

Who knew that writing an article on the Bringing Back the Natives garden tour could lead to a new acquaintance?

Colleen’s two eldest daughters, it turns out, attend Hart Middle School, where her sixth grader participates in the band my son has enjoyed for two years, and which my daughters will join in sixth grade this fall. With eight children between us (Colleen’s are 13, 11, 8, 5, and 3), come August, five of them will be enrolled at Hart.

We quickly realized that the reason we hadn’t yet met is that we live parallel lives in this family-focused community, both running here and there on the same schedules but with little opportunity to intersect. Now I want to treat Colleen to an iced Italian tea or homemade biscuit sandwich at Café Main soon, so we can continue our conversation.

Upon leaving, I stopped back at the Beldings to thank them for their garden tour and for introducing me to Colleen.

“Isn’t she something?” Pat said of Colleen. “She’s so interesting and insightful and has so many great stories to tell.”

Continuing our conversation is an added reason to attend the garden tour this weekend, or to visit both the Beldings and the Clarks gardens when they’re included in the May 15.

Cameron Sullivan is the author of the blog, Candid Cameron.