Welcome to Daily Acts’ Demonstration Gardens
Daily Acts has 43 total demonstration gardens located throughout Sonoma County. The gardens listed below are open to the public for harvesting, gathering or just taking a stroll. We’d love for you to visit!
We regularly hold maintenance days, workshops and tours at these gardens where participants can learn about a variety of different topics including planting and growing native and low water-use plants, replacing lawns by sheet mulching, building a healthy soil profile, planting a food forest, installing and maintaining drip irrigation systems, pruning woody perennials and fruit or native trees, building rain gardens, storing and using rainwater, creating pollinator habitat and more.
We hope community members leave these gardens feeling inspired and empowered to use and share this knowledge!
Visit One of Our Gardens
Click on one of the demonstration garden web pages below to learn more about the history of the garden, download seasonal maintenance and harvesting plans, navigate plant libraries that include water and sunlight requirements, and more!
Cavanagh Center Food Forest
426 8th St, Petaluma, CA
Petaluma Library Learning Landscape
100 Fairgrounds Dr, Petaluma, CA
Petaluma City Hall
11 English St, Petaluma, CA
Join Our Garden Stewards Volunteer Program
Are you looking for a regular volunteer opportunity where you can get your hands in the dirt, help maintain a beautiful water-wise garden, and connect with your community? Daily Acts is seeking Garden Stewards to commit to regular volunteering at several of our Petaluma Demonstration Gardens.
“I can’t imagine not taking advantage of what Daily Acts offers. I’ve been interested in the planet and the health of the planet for… 60 years at least, and it’s rare to find an opportunity that any given person can participate in caring for the soil, the pollinators, the food. I’ve been following Daily Acts for, what feels like, 20 years. I’ve always followed Daily Acts for the soul that I feel your work contributes to. I think that probably half the answers to our troubles at this time could be solved in community, taking care of the earth, and you guys offer me an opportunity to come down the road and dig in the dirt. I can’t imagine not being here.”
“I was welcomed immediately into the group. We all introduced ourselves. There’s a sense of community here within our small little community and I think that’s a big thing for me personally- to be welcomed, and accepted and let’s do work together and see what we can do together.”
What You Can Expect to Find at Our Demonstration Gardens
Lawn Replacement
Many of our demonstration gardens began as lawns that were transformed into thriving gardens through community sheet mulching and planting mobilizations! Transforming your lawn into a water-wise garden is a great way to save water and money while growing food, medicine and habitat. Learn more about lawn replacement by checking out our resources or signing up for an upcoming program.
Drought Tolerant and Native Plants
When designing these gardens, beautiful blooms weren’t the only thing taken into consideration. These gardens are made up of water-wise plants that not only save resources but create habitat and food for local fauna. Plants such as Yarrow, Jerusalem Sage, and California Lilac, live at both of our demonstration gardens. There is almost always something blooming, no matter what time of year it is!
A Place to Learn
Beautiful, bountiful and bursting with knowledge. These gardens are a community space where people can learn about many water-wise gardening topics and walk in wonder along the way. We want our community to connect with one another and share the bounty of our gardens. We hope to stimulate peoples curiosity and give them the opportunity to learn how they can support local climate resilience!