Franklin County
Certified Gardens
Take a virtual tour through the Certified Heritage Gardens of Benton & Franklin Counties. These gardeners have worked hard to convert their high water-use landscapes and under utilized spaces into works of native plant art. View their transformations below.
Many of these gardens were certified and photographed while the plants were young. If you see your garden here and would like to submit additional pictures of your established garden, contact your Heritage Garden Representative.
MARVIN HERITAGE GARDEN
2024 Est Water savings- 16,000 gal/yr
Throwback to this Spring certification in Franklin County! Marla started her Heritage Garden journey with the goal of dramatically reducing her water usage. Success! 💧This garden is estimated to save over 16,000 gallons of water per year compared to a traditional lawn! Inspired by the sandy, sagebrush covered slopes in her neighborhood, her garden incorporates big sagebrush, snow buckwheat, lupine, globemallow and bunchgrasses. On her extremely windy and sandy site, the weed barrier fabric has helped hold the soil in place. As plants establish, she plans to remove the barrier and allow the plants to fill in and volunteer as they will to help fill the space. Congratulations, Marla on your waterwise space!
ALLISON HERITAGE GARDEN
2024 Est Water savings- 94,502 gal/yr
Master Gardener Alice knew that she wanted to ditch the lawn and plant an array of native + drought tolerant species in her new neighborhood. She dove right in and opted for a Heritage Garden for the full front yard! In early August, the summer bloomers were popping. Showy Daisy, Blanket flower, Western Aster, globemallow and Richardson’s Penstemon were bringing in pollinators while providing summer interest. She’s even started collecting seeds from her established plants to sow around other areas of her space and to share at educational events and activities with the Master Gardeners. Her favorite part of the garden? Seeing the first blooming penstemon after year one ‘sleep’ phase! Words of advice: Start Small and expand as you go! Beautifully done and congratulations on creating such a bright and cheery space!
TURNER HERITAGE GARDEN2022
Kelli turned her boring blank flower beds from blah to beautiful by adding native plants. Kelli relies on irrigation over spray to water those plants that do best with just a little extra water.
MARTIN HERITAGE GARDEN
2022
Congratulations to Joni of Pasco on her certified Heritage Garden! Joni installed pathways, plants and plant id labels in addition to beating back a mountain of weeds to restore her front yard to a pollinator paradise!
PRINCE HERITAGE GARDEN
2021
“What a journey our lovely garden has traveled. My favorite part is seeing how the garden changes every season, every year and in every light. The Heritage Garden always provides interesting new looks and unexpected guests!” - Amy and David, The Heritage Garden at Seven Pines
After
After
SOLOMON-OBLATH HERITAGE GARDEN
2021
Naomi and Noah wanted to reduce their amount of grass while increasing biodiversity in their yard. This beautiful Heritage Garden featuring a dry riverbed was the answer.
CUUC HERITAGE GARDEN
2021
Sandra and members of the Community Unitarian Universalist Church of Pasco created a native plant garden on their property complete with a walking path. Sandra continues to add plants to the garden to add color and provide food for pollinators. The garden is an oasis in the City for church and community members.
After
Before
After
HOLLERAN HERITAGE GARDEN
2021
Molly admittedly is not an avid gardener; however, she wanted to beautify her space by adding native plants. We searched her property and found the perfect sunny patch to begin her yard’s transformation. Molly had her landscaper assist with clearing unwanted vegetation, adding landscape fabric and drip irrigation and a finishing layer of river rock along with lots of native and low water-use plants.
ALLISON HERITAGE GARDEN
2019
Alice’s Heritage Garden focuses on plants noted during the Lewis and Clark expedition. Her cat loves her Heritage Garden!
CARRIER HERITAGE GARDEN
2019
Tawney wanted to maximize the landscape bed at the corner of her lot by adding large geologic features and native plants.
COOLEY HERITAGE GARDEN
2019
Lynne and her husband spent three years planning and implementing their landscape which included this beautiful Heritage Garden full of family heirlooms.
CRYSEL HERITAGE GARDEN
2019
Betsy has converted her backyard into a pollinator paradise. Her yard is an excellent example of how you can use Fringed Sagebrush as a groundcover. The silvery foliage of Fringed Sagebrush is highlighted by the red flowers of Firecracker Penstemon in the background.
DAUBLE HERITAGE GARDEN
2019
Dennis created a poolside retreat with a view of his Heritage Garden.
EVERITT HERITAGE GARDEN
2019
Nina did not let her small front yard stop her from creating a gem of a garden. By adding signage she hopes to educate her community about native and low water-use plants.
McKEEN HERITAGE GARDEN
2019
Jade’s Heritage Garden has a very cottagey feel with plants selected for color and texture throughout the growing season.
ROSS HERITAGE GARDEN
2019
Lannie and Rocky have created a garden with a western feel. Corral fencing has been repurposed to divide the garden into rooms. Pathways bordered with wood rails, spent agave stalks standing guard and geologic features artfully placed make this garden a feast for the eyes.
WILDE HERITAGE GARDEN
2019
One of Justin’s goals for his Heritage Garden was to include as many plants as possible to attract hummingbirds. We are thrilled to announce that he has recorded all four species found in Washington in his garden!
WRIGHT HERITAGE GARDEN
2019
Joan and Tom wanted to pay tribute to the amazing flora and fauna of our area. They incorporated native and low water-use plants that would provide food and shelter to our native pollinators.
COLE HERITAGE GARDEN
2019
Amy creatively incorporated a dry river bed into her Heritage Garden. The dry river bed doubles as a stormwater runoff system diverting rainwater away from her home.
SHEPLER HERITAGE GARDEN
2019
Val has turned her front yard into a Xeriscape paradise featuring cacti and lavender and she has transformed one of the side yards in the back into a Heritage Garden oasis.
CARPENTER HERITAGE GARDENS
2017
Bill & Donna’s garden started when Bill brought home a sagebrush plant his friend had given him. Living on a farm in Franklin County they designated an area between a farm field and their windbreak for their native plant garden. Bill focuses on the “true” natives to our area while Donna brings home regional plants of interest.
BRON HERITAGE GARDEN
2017
Marten’s vision came to life with a little help from us in the form of a planting plan. He knew many of the plants he wanted to include he just wasn’t sure how to bring it all together.
WINTCZAK HERITAGE GARDEN
2017
Dustin created this beautiful oasis in his front yard much to the delight of his two small children and the family cat.
GRABER HERITAGE GARDEN
2013
The Graber's wanted to embellish an existing naturalized area at the corner of their property that was dominated by rabbitbrush. They utilized overspray from their vegetable garden and added some drip irrigation to increase the diversity of plants. If you listen closely you can almost hear the buzz of pollinators enjoying this Heritage Garden oasis. (DIY)
CANNON HERITAGE GARDEN
2013
Cheryl did most of the planning and execution with the help of her handyman on the hardscape. Features include a dry creek bed and the strategic placement of potted plants to provide added color. Instead of removing the existing concrete landscape edging, Cheryl simply covered it up with basalt rocks and backfilled with soil. Cheryl is a meticulous gardener whose passion has turned her garden into a living piece of art. (DIY with a little help)
COKER HERITAGE GARDEN
2012
Carol's informal HG reminds me of an English garden. Plants are allowed to propagate creating a layered, lush and vibrant landscape. This type of garden does require a little bit more intensive weeding but the result is well worth the effort. (DIY)
SLOVIC HERITAGE GARDEN
2012
Randy's landscape is a great example of a formal Heritage Garden. Randy designed her HG to highlight native low water-use plants. Her garden also showcases several different geologic features including two different sizes of basalt mulch, basalt boulders and a river rock dry river bed to add interest to the garden. (Installation by Cachys Landscaping, Tri-Cities)
RYKIEL HERITAGE GARDEN
2012
Ed's Heritage Garden takes full advantage of that area we all have in our yards where the grass inevitable does not want to grow. A combination of unrelenting sun and hot pavement from the adjacent sidewalk make this planting strip the perfect location for native, hardy drought tolerant plants. A little overspray from the adjacent lawn sprinklers and voila! A lush, pretty landscape is realized. (DIY)