Western Hills Garden

Our purpose is to link people, plants, and place with possibility.

Western Hills Garden is a unique three-acre nonprofit botanical refuge in Occidental, California that delivers a sensory explosion of textures, colors, shapes, and sounds. It’s a stunning example of cultivated biodiversity, home to rare and important plant species, many that are nearly extinct in nature.

The garden was founded in 1959 by Bay Area renegades, Lester Hawkins and Marshall Olbrich, as a social and horticultural experiment that broke with convention and ushered in a new era of gardening: informal, eclectic, and distinctly Californian.

Through trial and error and the stewardship of successive owners, the garden evolved into a naturalistic wonderland with hundreds of trees, shrubs, and herbaceous perennials from around the world. A network of paths meanders around ponds, across wooden bridges, and over rustic stone runnels, leading visitors through layers of plants to discover intimate resting spaces in both sun and shade. Mingling fragrances, birdsong, and the sound of running water provide a full sensory experience. .

Our goal today is to carry on the vision of founders Lester Hawkins and Marshall Olbrich by preserving significant specimens and experimenting with both native and exotic plants that thrive in our warming, summer-dry, coastal climate. We will continue to build a collection that blends eye-catching plants in surprising combinations. Our curation is grounded by anchor plants that establish the garden’s unique personality, while companion plants work together to provide rich layers of color, form, and texture. We thoughtfully remove those plants that prove too aggressive or incongruous, while maintaining a lush woodland feel. Planting decisions are also guided by our commitment to conserve resources, build ecosystem resilience, protect the Dutch Bill Creek watershed, and support biodiversity.

We focus on sharing the garden with the community offering day visits, tours, and programs that inspire, heal, and teach. We also build partnerships with others that extend our respective missions.