Native gardens provide so many benefits. They are beautiful, low water, low maintenance and support a wide variety of wildlife. A major advantage of native gardens is that they can be a great place to help us preserve biodiversity. 

California is a hotspot of biodiversity: it “is home to more species of plants and animals than any other state, and is home to about one third of all species found in the United States, including more rare plants than most states have plants.”  However, “More than 30% of California’s species are threatened with extinction.”

The good news is that our gardens can help restore and preserve biodiversity. By planting a wide variety of native plants, including those that are facing extinction, native plant gardens can support plant biodiversity while supporting a large number of insects, pollinators and other forms of wildlife.  In this meeting, Shelkie will talk about the biodiversity benefits of native plants, and go through some of the plants she uses in the gardens she designed.

Shelkie Tao is landscape designer and founder of WaterEfficientGardens.com, an online landscape design business that excels in low water and native plant garden designs. She is a sustainability-driven entrepreneur committed to developing water-saving and ecosystem-friendly solutions.  Prior to Water Efficient Gardens, Shelkie worked over 10 years in the high tech industry in Silicon Valley.  She received her Certificate of Achievement in Environmental Horticulture and Design from Foothill College, and MBA from the Anderson School at UCLA.

This talk will be live streamed on YouTube and Zoom (requires advance registration).