There are some really lovely public gardens to visit in Southern California. Some of them are larger establishments, while others are sweet, smaller parks, such as those built by the environmental non-profit North East Trees.
Of course, public gardens such as the Huntington and Descanso Gardens are wonderful to visit. We particularly love the Children’s, Rose, and Cactus/Succulent Gardens at the Huntington. But on a smaller, more neighborhood scale, we’re interested in parks and other public places that are integrating water-wise plantings and are really creating a new type of public landscape, one that is more intimate and less impersonal feeling than miles of lawn and anonymous shrubs.
One of our favorites is a pocket park in Sierra Madre called the Marion & Harriet Goldberg Recreation Area. Designed by Swire Siegel Landscape Architecture, it features fragrant native plants, boulder seating and very naturalistic feeling sand/play area for tots. La Canada Public Library has a wonderful drought tolerant garden created by Form LA. North East Trees and other groups have created wonderful pocket parks filled with native plantings along the Los Angeles River. These non-traditional landscapes are perfect for our climate and are creating a new model for public landscapes that are eco-friendly and people-friendly.