About the Garden

Wild Bee Garden is a permaculture-style garden developed in a suburban residential setting. It consists of two areas: the front yard with 1600 square feet completely converted to flowers with fruit trees and the back yard with a 2200 square foot fruit and vegetable garden. The garden was started in 2011 and has made changes and improvements each year. Wild Bee Garden was featured in the Wheat Ridge Garden Tour in 2016 and again in 2025.

Garden Insights

Wild Bee Garden has absorbed approximately 100 tons of mulch over the last ten years, roughly the equivalent of 21 truckloads of mulch saved from going to the dump
The garden area measures approximately 1600 square feet in the front yard and 2200 square feet in the back yard (3800 square feet).
Wild Bee Garden has 15 fruit trees ranging in size from standard, to semi-dwarf, and dwarf
Wild Bee Garden produces more than 200 pounds of fruit and berries most years, most of which is preserved by canning and freezing and given away to food programs or people in the community for free
Wild Bee Garden usually plants around 200 seedlings of warm weather vegetables each year, in 2025 it was approximately 300 seedlings, all raised on site
Wild Bee Garden has 12 composting trashcans used to liquidate the weeds and brew compost tea for fertilizing plants
Wild Bee Garden draws in local bees and other pollinators year-round to forage pollen, nectar, and water
The bees at Wild Bee Garden have their own water basin (also frequently shared with wasps)
The most unusual creature found at Wild Bee Garden is a yellow slime mold that occasionally blooms in the mulch on very hot summer days
The most troublesome pests in the garden are Japanese Beetles, roly-polys (pill bugs), and rats!

Mission​


Build self-sufficiency in the garden by using perennials and seed-saving for annuals.

Produce enough food to support the needs of pollinators, the household, and have enough to share with others.

Provide endless exercise and opportunities for creativity for the gardener!

Vision


Create a lovely garden that supports pollinators.

Show that permaculture concepts can be applied at a household level.

Demonstrate that a garden can be productive and beautiful at the same time.

Values​


Environment First – Do things that are good for the environment

Pollinator Friendly – Make sure everything in the garden supports pollinators and is nontoxic for them

Regenerative – Make sure the garden is building fantastic soil and continues to improve over time

Community – Share plants, produce and knowledge with the community

About the Gardener

Deborah Salazar has a doctorate in Geography from the University of Texas at Austin. She has studied gardens and gardening for more than 30 years both in the United States and across Latin America. The Wild Bee Garden was started to support local pollinators and develop an understanding of permaculture at a household level.

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