Garden or Arboretum 
Public California Native Plant Gardens in Three Rivers
14 Thumbs Up!
Click here to give your thumbs up.
Three Rivers currently has five public gardens which were designed and planted by members of the local Redbud Garden Club. These gardens are located at prominent sites, mostly along Highway 198 (Sierra Drive), so that the community and visitors can benefit from their beauty. About 8 years ago the Club began reviewing its historical garden projects with a closer focus on their sustainability, since plantings in earlier projects didn’t always survive the harsh climate extremes of Three Rivers.
The Garden Club has developed Garden Watcher teams who monitor sites to ensure their continued health and vitality. They also do the fine-tuning, like pruning, so that the gardens remain community treasures as well as educational tools and inspiration for the home gardener. The goal is to have gardens maintained and funded by the agencies whose sites they are on, although the Redbud Garden Club continues to support some gardens where this is not entirely possible.
Veterans Memorial Building, 43490 Sierra Drive (HWY 198)
The native trees, shrubs and wildflowers in this garden, initially planted in 2005-2006, brought the site into harmony with the natural landscape nearby and reduced the expensive water consumption on site, a prime concern for the Veterans Memorial Board. The Club was fortunate to have labor provided by Mountain Home inmates who removed large areas of overgrown plants so that new plantings could be established. So many redbuds, deer grass and other plants successfully reseed themselves here that this garden is becoming a nursery for seedlings that we transplant to other newer gardens. A second phase of the Memorial Building Garden has been designed and will be installed in the near future.
U.S. Post Office, 40857 Sierra Drive (HWY 198)
The Post Office is a hub of Three Rivers where many residents have post office boxes and visit daily. The lovely native plant garden, originally planted in 1996, was extensively reconfigured and redesigned in 2007, at which time a formal dedication of the garden was held in memory of long time Redbud Garden Club member, Jean Darsey.
Tulare County Fire Station, 41214 South Fork Drive
The Garden Club, partnering with the County and fire personnel who staff this station year round, designed and planted this native plant garden in January 2009.
There are two more native plant gardens located at the Tulare County Public Library in Three Rivers and the CAL Fire Station.
photos
Shirley Keller wrote on May 20, 2011: A trip to the post office or drive by the fire station, or wandering around the school gives you a glimpse of how lucky we are to have the Redbud Garden Club in Three Rivers. Active members add to what is already a lovely place to live. We are very grateful to them.
Pam Lockhart wrote on April 03, 2011: The garden at the Three Rivers Post Office, developed and maintained by the Redbud Garden Club, has inspired me to incorporate more California native plants to my existing landscape. The Lupine backed by Redbud is a picture just waiting to be painted!
Jana Botkin wrote on March 01, 2011: These public gardens are beautiful, well-maintained and fragrant. They are also excellent places to get ideas for our own yards. This is an active and relevant Garden Club!
We encourage healthy dialogue and interaction. Please include your first and last name. Comments must be accurate, family-friendly, based on personal experience and relevant to all travelers. Comments with profanity, threats, personal insults, or commercialized content will be deleted. Thank you.