Beverly's Garden

 

Origin: Beverly Maloof conceived of a water wise garden on the site that would be compatible with, and celebrate, our local climate. She was aided by a Metropolitan Water District Water Wise Grant in 2003. The gardens were designed to be a partner to the Maloof Historic Residence museum; places of discovery, delight and inspiration. The plantings were done by community volunteers and officially opened to the public on June 19, 2004.

The Garden's Mission: The garden was developed to complement the museum, home, and Sam's shops and to demonstrate the practical ways a garden can reflect California native and other Mediterranean plants. It is designed in harmony with the Southern California climate and respectful of California's limited water supply, while showing a wide variety of plants and garden styles. We hope that this garden can both delight you with its subtle beauty and inspire you to adopt appropriate landscaping for your own home.

Site: The Foundation occupies almost 6 Acres located at approximately 2400 feet in the Alta Loma region of Rancho Cucamonga. The site is situated on an alluvial fan with silty/sandy soil and an abundance of rocks. It retains the original regional character typical of the Inland Empire grove culture. The dominant elements include specimen Coast Live Oak, mature citrus trees from the relic groves, English Walnut, Sycamore and a dramatic Eucalyptus windrow.

Planting Scheme: The garden was constructed with traditional regional elements though the use of a wide variety of long-lived planting strategies that require far less watering than currently typical for the region, and require relatively low maintenance. When the newly placed plants are established, they will need irrigation only once or twice a month. Special attention is paid to plants that attract beneficial birds, insects, and wildlife. It is a Certified Wildlife Habitat.

The garden has been designed to lead the visitor through a number of little discoveries. Bends in the path disclose varied vistas, growth over the path encourages a pause to notice particular plantings and each region opens up a different approach to native and Mediterranean gardening.

Garden Areas: There are eight distinct areas or zones in the gardens; two areas have associated screen plantings. Each area presents a different theme designed to take advantage of that specific location on the site.

Plants: There are over 354 different types of plants (127 different genera, 199+ species and 155 different cultivars & varieties) in the garden with some plants repeated in several zones. Large specimen Palms, Japanese Maples, Olives and other plants were moved onto this site in 2000-2001 as part of the relocation of the Maloof workshops and residence.