The lush dry garden of landscape designer Cricket Riley

Cricket Riley is a professional landscape designer based in Walnut Creek, California. For a number of years, she was the Director of Design Services at the Ruth Bancroft Garden (RBG), which is literally a mile away. In 2021, she and Alice Kitajima, at the time the Program Director of the RBG in charge of educational events, created the RBG’s Dry Garden Design Certificate Program, a comprehensive course of study focused on the principles and practices of creating beautiful, water-wise gardens suitable for dry climates. The curriculum is designed to provide a deep understanding of the plants and design strategies that thrive in summer-dry climates.

Alice Kitajama (left) and Cricket Riley with their new book

Based on Cricket and Alice’s experience at the RBG, they have co-authored the book Designing the Lush Dry Garden: Create a Climate-Resilient Low-Water Paradise, just published by Timber Press. Cricket’s and Alice’s part of the book is complemented by portraits of 20 California gardens inspired and influenced by the RBG, written by Bay Area author Kier Holmes. To celebrate the book launch (in-depth review here), Cricket held a garden party at her house last Saturday. I feel very honored that I was invited, and of course I brought my camera along to photograph Cricket’s garden.

Cricket lives in Walnut Creek’s Rancho San Miguel neighborhood where developer Joseph Eichler built 300 tract homes in the mid-1950s. Like all Eichler homes, they are much sought after today. Cricket has a large lot, 14,000+ sq.ft., so plenty of room to experiment with design ideas and plants.

I had visited Cricket’s garden during the 2023 Ruth Bancroft Garden Waterwise Garden Tour and blogged about it here. In the program for that event, Cricket described her garden style as “Wild Modern,” stating, “I wanted to install a climate-appropriate garden where I could experiment with a wide variety of species. I love the beauty of this space and how it provides a place of refuge.”

What Cricket said then is still true today — maybe even more so now.

As you can see below, Cricket’s garden has reached a point where plants no longer look gangly or awkward, like they often do when young. Since my first visit two years ago, the garden looks noticeably more mature.

Courtyard before you enter the back garden proper

I love this wooden panel. I need to ask Cricket if she made it herself.

This photo is from 2023. Look how much smaller the variegated Euphorbia ammak was!

Euphorbia ‘Sunrise’, another eminently photogenic columnar euphorbia

Standing near the house, looking towards the back garden proper. This is a very effective example of hide and reveal, a design technique where you partially screen a view to create a sense of mystery, discovery, and anticipation. The massive flower stalk is from a variegated Agave desmetiana.

A great place to sit and take in the garden

Prime example of layering plants for contrast. Of course I was thrilled to see an agave (Agave parryi var. truncata).

Cricket’s garden is large enough to have multiple paths

Foxtail ferns (Asparagus densiflorus ‘Myers’, not ferns at all) and lomandras make for a great pairing

In fact, foxtail ferns, lomandras, and blue agaves (here Agave ovatifolia) are repeated throughout the garden

More agaves and palms, leading to a wonderfully protected spot to sit and eat

Steely blue Agave ovatifolia in front of a golden-hued clumping bamboo

Blue form of the Mediterranean fan palm (Chamaerops humilis var. cerifera) in an urn in front of a variegated Agave americana

Agave ‘Blue Flame’ and another Chamaerops humilis var. cerifera

Prior to visiting Cricket’s garden in the spring of 2023, I hadn’t been a fan of using gravel in a garden. But after I saw how great she makes it looks, I became a convert. Beyond that, I like how she has plants growing in what you’d think would be a pathway. I’ve been trying a similar approach in my backyard, both to soften the expanse of the surface material (in my case 5/8" red lava) and to simply have more planting space.

This was the first time I’d seen leucospermums combined with pomegranates. To me it says “fall in California.”

A great shady spot to enjoy food and drink and chat with other folks

This was right next to the gate to the back garden:

Free variegated Agave desmetiana bulbils! When this agave species blooms, the pollinated flowers become bulbils (live plants that are genetic clones of the mother) instead of seed pods. Each bulbil has the potential to root and grow.

As you saw earlier, there’s another Agave desmetiana in the back garden, its flower stalk laden with thousands of bulbils. Very soon Cricket will have more baskets of bulbils to give away!

Cricket is a co-founder and principal of Lush Dry Gardens (LDG), a landscape design studio specializing in creating climate-resilient gardens. On the LDG website you can see samples of their work. Cricket frequently posts photos of their projects — both in progress and completed — on her Instagram feed (@cricketriley_).

Click here to read my review of Cricket and Alice’s book, Designing the Lush Dry Garden, co-written with Kier Holmes and featuring photography by Caitlin Atkinson.

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■  Review of Designing the Lush Dry Garden

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