Home Ground Habitats is part of a vibrant network of organizations, educators, and environmental advocates working to restore healthy ecosystems in Marin County and throughout the region. Through collaborations with conservation groups, watershed organizations, schools, and community leaders, these partnerships help expand the reach of habitat gardening and ecological restoration.
By sharing plants, knowledge, volunteers, and resources, broader community is helping create landscapes that support wildlife, conserve water, and reconnect people with the natural world.
The Marin Chapter of the California Native Plant Society promotes the appreciation, conservation, and restoration of California’s native flora.
Home Ground Habitats founder Charlotte Torgovitsky served on the Marin CNPS Board for more than a decade, including as Chapter President from 2014—2016. During this time she helped lead numerous initiatives including the Gardening with Natives program, native plant sales, and the School Garden Program.
Charlotte also collaborated with fellow CNPS members on several community projects, including the installation of the Native Plant Pollinator Garden at the Bay Model in Sausalito, as well as the California Native Hedgerow Project at the College of Marin’s Indian Valley campus.
Home Ground Habitats supports the Marin CNPS mission by growing and supplying many of the native plants offered at the chapter’s seasonal plant sales, helping provide both plant material and educational resources for the community.
The Salmon Protection and Watershed Network (SPAWN), a program of the Turtle Island Restoration Network, works to protect and restore the Lagunitas Creek watershed — one of the most important remaining habitats for wild coho salmon in California.
SPAWN operates a native plant nursery that grows plants from locally collected seed sources within the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. These plants are used in habitat restoration projects that help restore natural creek systems and floodplains.
SPAWN has collaborated with both Marin CNPS and Home Ground Habitats on educational and school garden programs, helping expand habitat plantings and pollinator gardens in local schools.
Home Ground Habitats also supports SPAWN’s restoration work by propagating native shrubs, vines, and trees used in long-term habitat restoration projects in the region.
The Marin Resource Conservation District works with local landowners and communities to protect natural resources and improve watershed health throughout Marin County.
Through programs focused on riparian restoration and creek stewardship, MRCD helps homeowners understand how native vegetation supports healthy stream ecosystems.
One collaborative effort involved developing plant propagation classes that teach homeowners how to grow native plants for their own restoration projects. By learning small-scale nursery techniques, participants can grow plants suited to local conditions while supporting the restoration of native habitats along streams and waterways.
Home Ground Habitats continues to support these efforts by offering propagation classes and providing plants that help restore native landscapes.
The Novato Streetscape Maintenance Coalition works to improve public landscapes throughout the city of Novato by introducing environmentally responsible planting practices and increasing the use of California native plants.
Community volunteers have transformed several traffic islands and roadside landscapes into habitat-friendly spaces using drought-tolerant native plants. These plantings help create small but meaningful habitat corridors that connect larger natural areas and provide food and shelter for pollinators and birds.
Home Ground Habitats has supported these projects by donating and growing native plants used in these community plantings, helping expand habitat gardening into shared public spaces.
The Sonoma—Marin Saving Water Partnership promotes water conservation and sustainable landscaping throughout the region.
Each spring the partnership hosts a garden tour featuring water-wise landscapes that demonstrate practical ways to conserve water while supporting beautiful and functional gardens.
Home Ground Habitats founder Charlotte Torgovitsky has opened her Novato habitat garden for this tour since 2014. Visitors can explore a mature habitat garden in full bloom while learning about native plants, composting systems, and ecological gardening practices.
The garden tours help inspire visitors to adopt water-wise landscaping techniques and create habitat-friendly gardens of their own.
www.savingwaterpartnership.org