Succulents and More™

This is part 2 of my post about landscape designer Mat McGrath’s gardens at his new house in Rodeo, California. If you missed part 1 (front yard), click here . As I mentioned in part 1 , I sent Mat a series of questions about this massive project. His answers are interspersed with my photos. ⸻ ⸻ The changes Mat and his wife Mali made to the front yard are astounding, but the transformation in the backyard is nothing short of extraordinary. Here are some “before” photos provided by Mat. Keep them in mind as you work your way through this post: The previous owner tamed the steep slope on the east side by building two retaining walls, each with a planting strip above, as well as a wooden deck at the top that affords stunning 180° views. When Mat and Mali moved in, the plantable areas were bare dirt or mulch. This gave them a clean state to start with. Q:   Where did you even begin in the backyard? What did you tackle first? A:   The first steps were hardscaping and infrastru...

With its hillside full of succulents and tropical plants, landscape designer Mat McGrath’s garden in the Berkeley hills (see here ,  here and here ) was one of the most beautiful private gardens I’d ever visited. A year and a half ago, Mat and his wife Mali moved to a new place in the small town of Rodeo , about 25 miles northeast of San Francisco. A few weeks ago, Mat invited me to see what they’d done. I had high expectations, but I was still floored by what I found: a garden so unique that it defies comparison. I took so many photos that I’ll have two posts: one about the front yard (this post) and another about the backyard ( click here ). I sent Mat a series of questions, and his answers are interspersed with my photos below. Here is an aerial photo of the property from the original for-sale listing: Drone view of the property from the original for-sale listing The property is a third of an acre, huge for coastal California. At the time Mat and his wife bought it, it was a bla...