Thank you .. ‘Dirt du Jour’

for the glowing review! "Go ask Alice ... where all the best vineyard gardens are. She's an erudite charmer; you'll have fun!"

Garden Travel

The Wave Garden

Wave Garden: Point Richmond, CA

Wave Garden Bay View

Vistas of San Francisco Bay, the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, and Mt. Tamalpais in Marin County enhance the flowing hardscape and knockout plantings of the Wave Garden, an off-the-beaten-path San Francisco Bay Area destination.

Wave Garden © Alice Joyce

Designed by Victor Amador, whose artistry as a third-generation concrete contractor gives the landscape its terraced form, the Wave Garden embraces a hillside setting adorned with a captivating palette of drought tolerant plants:

Aeonium Sunburst © Alice Joyce

Wave Garden Sculpture Concrete Detail  © Alice Joyce

Species from all 5 Mediterranean regions–from California to Mexico and South Africa, Europe to Australia–thrive in the waterside microclimate of Point Richmond, California, where succulent plants serve as stunning accents.

Wave Garden Vista © Alice Joyce

Garden designer Kellee Adams created a plant-scape that pivots upon “the goal of a garden with no trees.” And so, ground covering Sedum ‘Angelina adds golden tones alongside the walkways, with the brilliant rosettes of Aeonium ‘Sunburst’ a standout amid rush-like restios. Fleshy, colorfully splashed, spiky leaves of Mangave ‘Macho Mocha,’ an Agave hybrid is representative of the Wave Garden’s trove of eye-catching specimens.

Wave Garden Ironwork

During my visit to the garden, the variegated bracts of Leucadendron salignum present a glowing display, to decorate planting beds and play off the terra-cotta hue of the garden’s curving walls, staircases, and intimate patios.

Amador added sculptural texture by hand, as in an element that suggests waves. Rounding a bend, the expressive lines of hand-forged ironwork railings add a unifying, artful effect to the landscape.

The Wave Garden is open daily, year-round, 8am to 6 pm — 615 Western Drive, Point Richmond.

  

Wave Garden Stairway

Wave Garden Sculpture © Alice Joyce


6 comments to The Wave Garden : San Francisco Garden Travel

  • Alice ,
    thanks so much for writing about this marvelous garden.
    I have seen wonderful pictures of it ( including yours ) but I did not know it was open to the public.
    What a nice little gem !
    Michelle

  • Dear Alice, What a bold and dramatic garden. The sinuous structures, weaving round the steeply sloping site and the highly simplified plantings make, for me, the elements of a bravely modern garden maximising the landscape in which it finds itself. I am not sure whether I should like this garden, but that is not really the point. It does, I feel, push the boundaries of garden design and makes one rethink more ‘traditional’ approaches and that is always to the good.

  • Dear Alice, This garden is fascinatingly ‘different’. I can’t imagine a garden without trees, but this one seems to work in its simplicity. I’m still not sure why it is called the ‘wave garden’. Pam x

  • I think it would be wonderful to be there and meander through this beautiful garden.

  • The Wave Garden is very beautiful. Everwhere I see gorgeous blooms and scenic views.