Everyone has a story about how they got into gardening. For some, it was being introduced to it by a parent or grandparent when they were a child. For others, it was a friends’ passion for houseplants, succulents, or growing the ‘devil’s lettuce’ from a random seed they came across. Whatever the gateway, it is always a great story to hear.

Mine is not a unique one by any stretch of the imagination. Like many, I happened into gardening as a response to depression. Over 18 months, we lost a half dozen loved ones. Death is a natural process of life, but anyone that experiences this kind of loss knows the effect it can have on the psyche. Compounded over time, it begins to add up like interest. I was never in a pit of despair. I felt as though I was functioning just fine. Really, I was running on autopilot and on an empty tank of emotions. In the middle of this period, I found myself sitting and looking at a dirt patch of a suburban backyard and deciding I wanted to change it. The problem was I did not know how to start.

Influences

At this time, I stumbled onto a program from the BBC on Amazon Prime that helped a lot. Big Dreams, Small Spaces was a garden makeover show unlike any I had seen before. The host, Monty Don, was new to me, and his calm demeanor and just “give it a go” mantra inspired me to bring my big dream to my small space. I wish I could say what made his program and message so inspiring. In one of the episodes, he talked about how gardening helped him through a dark period of his life, something that, in retrospect, probably resonated as something I needed to hear. Whatever the case, episode by episode, as I watched, I would go out and apply (more or less) what I had learned or taken. Doing hardscape first. Then figuring out a plant pallet being sure to not overdo it. With the gentle guidance of my spouse, I went from a very geometrical design to something that coaxed you into the space, surrounding you with seasonal wildflowers and perennial shrubbery.

Hard to believe a show from the other side of the planet would have that effect, but Monty Don holds a special place in my heart. I still love watching Gardners World when it’s carried on a U.S. streaming platform.

But there are two sides to every coin. Where I was inspired to do the work came from overseas, I found a passion for California native plants from someone on YouTube.

Read: Embracing the Fifth Season

Joey Santore is a horticulture and botany household name these days with his Crime Pays But Botany Doesn’t website. With a podcast, YouTube, and internet presence, Santore is a raconteur when it comes to talking about plants, plant environments, and why we should care about them. Watching his videos gave me permission to be an inspired novice. Watching and learning from him helped ignite a passion that allowed me to jump headfirst into what felt like a closed-off or snobbish world of native plant lovers. He took no prisoners, and neither would I. I wanted into this world and felt like Santore gave me permission.

With mantras like “Stop Humanity” and “Kill Your Lawn,” this was just the spark of divine anti-creation I needed to kill off what was left of my lawn and ignore the influence of the big box home improvement stores that just wanted to sell me drought-tolerant plants.

I found the inspiration and was given permission. Now all I needed was the know-how.

Learning About Native Plants

With the vision and permission, I needed to learn about plants. Not just any lesson about plants, I needed to consume a lot of information about California native plants and synthesize it into a planting plan for my backyard. Sadly, I did not know where to begin. The internet was not a great help. Yes, it had message boards, websites, and groups, but none of them really captured or conveyed the essence of what it was I needed to know. It was not until my spouse took me to the local native plant nursery that I found the early tools to learn about native plants.

Theodore Payne Foundation in Los Angeles is a bit of a historical anachronism. It was not until recently that planting California native plants came into vogue. With drought becoming an annual recurrence having a bushy green grass yard becomes more expensive. TPF, as the Theodore Payne Foundation is affectionally called, is named after an English horticulturist and gardener that came to southern California in 1893. In time, his passion for native plants led to the creation of several botanic gardens dedicated to the, then, fast disappearing native plant habitats. The foundation after his name, founded in 1960, continues his work. My intersection with TPF began with their nursery but soon led to taking classes, buying books and seeds, and immersing myself in the environment to absorb all the native plant knowledge I could.

Besides trial and error with planting native plants and walking their habitat gardens, the best tool I came away with was the book California Native Plants for the Garden by Carol Bornstein, David Fross, and Bart O’Brien. This one book continues to be a source of inspiration, knowledge, and growth for me on native plant knowledge. 

Another great place I found to learn about native plants was the California Native Plant Society. Like any club, CNPS is broken into several local chapters that each serve its unique geographic location and audience. Locally, they host events, plant sales, and host monthly seminars where knowledgeable speakers share their scientific work. It tends to be more on the scientific side of the field, but not so much for a novice to engage with and take something away from it.

Being part of the California Native Plant Society has given me an affection for the work to protect the natural spaces in California. What I found is that I wanted to be more hands-on. This led me to become a certified California Naturalist with the UCANR.

Becoming a Naturalist

I have written a whole post on what it means to become a naturalist. The process, while time intensive, was a hands-on experience that brought everything I had learned full circle. The title, certified naturalist, is a catch-all of sorts to describe an individual who has taken a class with a lab that helps inform their understanding of the natural world as it relates to the state of California. Personally, the naturalist certification synergized these experiences synthesizing a new/better understanding of how they all work in balance.

Today, as a naturalist, I volunteer with a local CNPS chapter to restore native habitat in the Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve, growing and planting regionally appropriate plants to mitigate the encroachment of invasive plants like wild mustards, thistle, and clovers. When able, I like to share with passers-by why we do the work, and the value of removing invasive weeds and planting native species.

One takeaway for me is that, for some, the value of native plants is hard to understand. Often, I hear people say they look like weeds, they look ugly, or they attract bugs. This is what brings me back to California native plants time after time. These plants belong in this environment feeding the native wildlife—something centuries of human presence have degraded. My passion for this vein of horticulture is the growth and cultivation of the natural world and the restoration of local flora and fauna to heal the plant. 

It sounds a little hippy-dippy, but after experiencing the loss of so much, I have found a renewed purpose in exploring, understanding, and restoring the natural world. Be it: looking at plants in the wild, collecting a seed, cultivating it into a plant, or putting that plant into the ground—that process of celebrating and preserving the natural world encourages me to continue doing it and sharing it with others.

Today, the grief and depression of losing those loved ones has passed. In its place is a passion for preserving the natural world. What was a barren yard is now a thriving pollinator garden. And what was the burned-out space of the Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve is a budding natural space that will become a thriving ecosystem. 

Hopefully, my sharing this about my gardening journey will inspire you to start on yours.