The Art of Coastal Gardening

This year's tour features coastal gardens shaped by a mild, ocean-cooled climate-lush, resilient, and naturally beautiful year-round. With less water required and a wide range of plants thriving, these landscapes are both abundant and sustainable.

Color plays a starring role. Plantings are paired with expressive architectural details-painted doors, walls, and garden elements-creating spaces where the garden and home speak the same visual language.

In exchange for working a morning or afternoon shift, volunteers receive free entry to the gardens.
Send an email to Volunteer@sdhort.org or use the button above. 

Volunteer

TOUR DETAILS

• Tour hours are 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM
  
• Ticket sales are limited this year. All tickets must be purchased online in advance.
  
• Join San Diego Horticultural Society and get $5 off Garden Tour tickets.
• Garden addresses and a map to the gardens will be emailed to registrants several days before the tour
• This is a self-guided tour and is at your own pace
• No pets or strollers are allowed in the gardens
• Gardens are not disabled accessible
• Tour is held rain or shine. Sorry, no refunds.

Tickets: Members $40.00  •  Non-members $45.00
Become a SDHS Member NOW for Member Pricing.

TOUR HIGHLIGHTS

Enjoy diverse gardens, typical of a coastal, urban neighborhood.

• Whimsical, contemporary, and traditional gardens
• Front porches, entries, and seating areas
• Frontyard rain gardens
• An enchanted bunny garden
• Gardens in a cottage compound
• Low-flow irrigation
• Permeable paving
• Mulching for healthy soil
• Mediterranean climate plants, including California natives
• And much, much, more!

Garden Descriptions 

THE PERFECT VIEW 

Twisted tree trunks and a diverse plant palette (including several Aussies), exude color and texture that invites you to take a stroll around the front garden. A drought tolerant Carpet of Stars “lawn” gives a place for the eye to rest in the front and back. A relaxing seating area with a fire pit sports an amazing view of the Bay and Downtown San Diego as it sits atop cascading terraces filled with colorful plants. 

THE JEWEL BOX

This Contemporary residence has a lovely complementary garden. The small front garden utilizes color and drought tolerant plantings that coordinate well with the contemporary architecture of the home. The backyard has edibles in raised planters and a recently added avocado tree. 

PURPLE REIGN 

Color drives the design of this lovely front garden both in the plants and the architectural features of the house. The front door and feature wall are painted a striking purple color. The repeated, varying shades of purple move the eye around and through this garden space.

ENCHANTED BUNNY GARDEN

This beautiful garden has a cottagey feel with lush plantings. The curved entrance walkway slows your pace in order to look upon the surrounding plants. The front entrance provides a welcoming landing spot with rocking chairs to sit for spell. Colorful pots decorate the porch with fun plants. Mature trees cool the property and create a feeling of privacy. The back yard is home for the owners’ pet bunnies and a tortoise. 

CURB APPEAL & MORE! 

This property exudes charm all around, from curbside to the outdoor shower in back! It features small, historic cottages that were originally built to house single women in the 1910’s. As you enter the property beneath an eye-catching arbor, you’ll encounter a stunning lounge area where one can relax, read a book, or chat with friends. Each cottage has a small garden set along a meandering paver path that creates a lovely place to stroll throughout the area. 

DITCHING THE LAWNMOWER 

The homeowners of this corner house, with a large, wrap-around front yard, were ready to trade out their lawn for a more sustainable and aesthetically pleasing landscape. This design delivers! It includes a swale for water capture, berms, boulders, and cobble for texture and interest, along with an enticing  plant palette that moves the eye through the landscape. The homeowners now have a “diverse tableau” to view from their gorgeous Spanish-style home. Truly a win-win! 

PLANTING THE RAIN 

Planting the rainwater from the roof into the soil is the main function of this front yard. This front yard garden features a swale that captures 607 gallons of rainwater for every 1” of rain. Capturing this much water with rain barrels would require twelve 50-gallon units. Instead, the swale can easily plant the water in the soil as each rainfall occurs. Ten inches of rain will bank 6,070 gallons of water for the plants. A nice savings in irrigation water! With the added bonus of using California native plants, this garden provides food for native pollinators along with less maintenance for the homeowner! 

UNDER THE SEA 

You’ll hear Calypso music playing in your head as you view this wrap-around corner garden that emulates an under the sea reef garden. The whimsical colors on the house set the stage for plants that resemble sea creatures. A unique, eye-catching breeze block wall adds interest to this fun-tastic tableau. 

THE GNOME HOME 

More purple doors abound on this property, along with some friendly gnomes. A lovely, low maintenance parkway planting and an extensive flagstone entry area lead to a charming entrance. The purple entry gate brings you into a secluded courtyard where the owners love to entertain. A beautiful garden sets the courtyard off for a relaxing space. 

AN HISTORIC ENTRANCE 

Although the designer created the original landscape 20 years ago, it has been revisited for updates and recently refreshed. This is an expansive garden with layered rooms, showcasing unique combinations of color, form, and texture in the exotic plant palette. As you come across the Coronado bridge, a colorful succulent vignette is seen just to the right of the roadway announcing your entrance to The Crown City.. 

A VISUAL DELIGHT & FRAGRANT RETREAT 

After several garden renovations, the homeowners wanted a garden that would draw wildlife to their home. While relaxing in their cozy seating areas, the homeowners delight in watching the many pollinators that now grace their garden. An added bonus are the fragrances that abound in this California native plant garden. 

PALM OASIS

The owner has been gardening on this site for since 1971. The original house was a 1925 fisherman’s shack that, unlike other houses in the neighborhood, was set on the back of the lot.  Over the years, the house and garden has gone through many changes and updates as the owner’s tastes have changed. The garden displays a large collection of palms, cycads and other exotic plants and has a number of winding pathways that lead through the plantings, garden features and several seating areas. However, there still remain a few small patches of lawn in the garden, a reminder of when growing up in Point Loma he earned spending money by mowing the neighborhood lawns.

One notable feature is an unusual concrete wall treatment. When the owner’s daughter was small, he would invite over other children in the neighborhood and to participate in adding tile, artwork and found objects to the wall.

Sin Jen gave him one of the first king palms that he planted. This started a life-long interest in palms and he would visit the San Diego Zoo and palm gardens write down the names of the palms then search them out for his garden. Phil Bergman of Jungle Music introduced him to cycads. Many palm and garden societies have tour the garden over the years, most notably the International Palm Society. The owner has also helped with many other gardens in the Point Loma area and if you see a garden with lots of palms, it is likely he helped. In fact, as you look down the street you will notice that many of the homes are planted with unusual palms. Be sure and check out the palms in the garden 2 doors to the east which were planted with help of our homeowner.

JUST HOT!

Eighteen years ago we purchased our home. The ficus trees and goofy green lawn had to go. The front yard was designed by Erik.  For the back yard, we consulted Jim Bishop (former SDHS President).  We are on our 3rd version of the pond, making it 40” deep to protect the Koi from pesky raccoons. We have used a lot of succulents both in-ground and in containers, and accent with antique stained glass.. Rebecca loves found objects from her walks in the alleys or neighborhood yard sales. It seems we have something always blooming.  Pockets of bromeliads are a recent addition to various areas of the garden. We love the ambient sound of the waterfall.