Water Wise Garden Examples

Local examples of Water Wise Demonstration Gardens can inspire you to incorporate sustainable, ecological, or water-wise plants and techniques into your own garden or landscaping. Demonstration Gardens are pleasant places for taking a walk in nature without leaving your neighborhood. Two maps below provide information about:

Gardens to view in Santa Clara County
Valley Water's demonstration garden

All gardens are open to the public at no cost.

Demonstration gardens in Santa Clara County

These demonstration gardens are not maintained or managed by Valley Water, and may feature plants that are not found on the approved plant list or garden elements that are not eligible for our landscape rebate program. However, you may be inspired during your visit by plants or garden elements that are eligible for a rebate.

View a list of demonstration gardens in or near Santa Clara County [PDF], organized geographically, then alphabetically by city name.
This list can also be viewed in the interactive map below.
To add a garden to this list or adjust the information shown in the interactive map, email [email protected].

Santa Clara County Interactive Garden Map

View the interactive map of Demonstration Gardens in Santa Clara County.

To use the interactive map of Santa Clara County demonstration gardens, follow these steps:

Step 1: Access the map
Agree to the terms and conditions and click 'OK."

Step 2: Find a garden
Click on any of the color-coded demonstration gardens to find the garden name, address, website, other contact information, or photos of the garden.

Step 3: Explore the map
Zoom in or out to your area of interest. The attribute table at the bottom of the page will automatically refresh to show information for the demonstration gardens visible in the map.

Step 4: Find gardens near address
Locate all gardens within a specific distance from address by clicking the "Near Me" gray circle at the bottom of the map above the attribute table. This will open a dialog box to enter your address and a search distance. The map and attribute table will refresh to show the gardens closest to you.

Turn the legend on or off

Change the type basemap (the visible map features)

Valley Water's Demonstration Garden

Take a walk around Valley Water's Demonstration Garden and get inspired.

Valley Water is fortunate to be located next to the Guadalupe River and two percolation ponds. We have created a campus that is water-efficient and sustainable. Several years ago, Valley Water converted all rotors and sprinkler heads to in-line drip irrigation, helping to reduce the water use on campus by more than 30 percent compared to 2013.

Most of the plants you'll see are drought-tolerant and many are California natives. The resilience of these plants helps our landscaping endure the extreme weather of our changing environment while minimizing maintenance. Many of the California native plants you see haven't been irrigated for over 10 years. We also have plenty of birds, butterflies, bunnies and other critters.

A special note about our landscape: We’re continuing our efforts to remove any remaining invasive species on our campus. Although low-water-use, they compete against native plant species and do not bring as many of the benefits of plant species native to California. Any remaining invasive species will be phased out. We encourage you to avoid planting invasive plants in your landscape and to choose California native plant species whenever possible.

Self-Guided Walking Tour

Valley Water invites you to take a Self-Guided Walking Tour around our campus. Download the flyer or find a printed copy in the lobby of our Headquarters Building at 5700 Almaden Expressway, San José.

Download Self-Guided Walking Tour Flyer

The plant signs you see around campus have information about water and sunlight requirements, whether a plant is deer resistant and/or a California native.

It also gives you the common name of the plant, the Latin plant name, a photo and a short description. Most demonstration gardens provide plant signs to help you incorporate sustainable, water-wise plants in your own landscape.

Interactive Map of District’s Demonstration Garden

Experience Valley Water’s Demonstration Garden before visiting in person with our interactive map.