Montecito Marvel Triumphs in the WaterWise Garden Recognition Contest

The 2025 WaterWise Garden Recognition Contest is an annual floral celebration in the  County that highlights remarkable water-saving home gardens. The Santa Barbara  County Water Agency and participating local water purveyors encouraged residents to  partake in the garden competition, offering both regional and county-wide awards. This  year’s competitors included the Montecito Water District, Carpinteria Valley Water  District, and the City of Santa Barbara. 

The title for the grand prize county-wide winner went to Teri and Pat Guillies of the  Montecito Water District for their beautiful native-dominated garden.  

Teri and Pat call their garden a “pollinators’ dream,” but wonderland or paradise would  be even more accurate. While sweeping ocean views may initially captivate visitors, the  landscape’s vibrant mix of color and texture quickly steals the show. Built along a  descending flagstone path, the first peek of the garden offers a showcase of shifting  green hues that belie the colorful spectacle below. Thoughtfully designed for beauty and  resilience, it’s an eco-friendly masterpiece bursting with blooms from over 65%  California native plants, such as artemisia, sagebrush, yarrow, blue-eyed grass, island  buckwheat, California lilac, an abundance of salvias, and more.

Teri, a certified Master  Gardener, designed, built, and maintains the entire garden, utilizing hand-watering and  drip irrigation techniques. The recirculating fountain, rain barrel, and an array of fruit  trees, including olive, avocado, and pineapple guava, provide the garden with a final  polish that doesn’t neglect functionality. And why does Teri go through all this effort?  She’d rather not pay for a gym when she can get a great workout tending the garden  while also welcoming a buzzing pollinator brigade of birds, butterflies, and bees! With its  coastal, colorful landscape, this year’s grand prize winner is clearly a Santa Barbara  County classic.

Other finalists included Jeanette and Robert Munoz from the Carpinteria Valley Water  District, and Fred and Janice Maggiore from the City of Santa Barbara, each  showcasing their own dazzling water-wise creations. You can view the winning gardens  at www.WaterWiseSB.org/4707/_2025.  

This year’s prizes were more enticing than ever—beyond the traditional engraved  sandstone boulder trophy, winners received native wildflower seed samples from S&S  Seeds, and an array of equipment from landscaping and irrigation kits to shears  provided by Aqua-Flo Supply, SiteOne Landscape Supply, Arbor Services, Inc. The  regional champions were awarded a $100 gift card for SB Natives Nursery, while the  county-wide winner received an impressive $250 gift card from Lotusland! 

These exceptional gardens demonstrate that water-efficient, sustainable landscapes  can be lush, colorful, and wildlife-friendly. The choice is economical, too – many winners  replaced their original lawns and now enjoy the added benefit of a lower water bill. With  lower-than-average rainfall this year, smart water usage remains crucial—rain or  shine—to make Conservation a Way of Life in Santa Barbara County. 

Visit www.WaterWiseSB.org to discover more about this year’s garden champions and  to acquire tips on low-maintenance gardening, rainwater harvesting, and more!