Front yard before re-landscaping

I never thought I would have to come to the defense of trees in the landscape.  One of the most perplexing moments in my profession happens when a client says that they don’t want trees in their garden. Upon my rather baffled question why, their response is usually “too much water use”, “too much maintenance”, “not needed” or “just too much trouble”.

Hearing this makes me cringe, but I imagine what might have given rise to their feelings: High maintenance (such as pine needles in their pool filter), nuisance (like olive stains on the pavement), or danger (such as a branch dropping out of a Eucalyptus tree). With these images in mind, trees are for them undesirable members of the plant family that they don’t want in their garden, and they don’t share the notion that “trees are deeply rooted into the human psyche; in a hectic and chaotic world, greenery provides you with a safe, nourishing haven”. (Fran Lambert, Consulting Arborist, in “Trees and Turf”, April 2006). 

Front yard after introduction of trees and other colorful plants

I am passionate about good design as well as about plants, so remaining calm in this situation and not becoming “preachy” is a challenge. The role of trees in the landscape seems uncontested, but when you think about them, what comes to your mind besides beauty, shade, stature?

 For me as landscape designer, I am foremost interested in the architectural aspects of trees. First of all, their size and mass establish the overall framework of the spatial composition; in this way, they are among the most important landscape design elements, creating floor, walls and ceilings of “outdoor rooms”. A vegetative ceiling can provide a sense of vertical scale in an outdoor space, a feeling of comfort and shade.

Trees give a house scale and place it in proportion with its surrounding; a house without trees therefore feels like a box that isn’t grounded, like a container that hasn’t settled into its site. 

Back side view of house with tree

Back yard without trees

 Trees can act as windbreaks or screen of an unsightly view, or frame an attractive one like a picture frame. With their color and structure, they can be used as an accent point in your landscape picture.

Besides being indispensable parts of a design, trees play a great role in human as well as the environment’s health: Their canopies contribute to air quality by filtering dust; they also provide some noise reduction (the tall, densely planted trees with fleshy broad leaves do the best job). And, as a tree provides nesting and shelter for birds, they assist in insect control, and listening to the song of birds is usually very pleasant.

Shady pond

As energy consumer I consider also the energy savings through trees, and last but not last SHADE! “It never rains in California”, and the whole world envies us for it, but to have endless sunshine in a garden would be like living on a sunny plaza that has no shelter from the sun. A man-made shade structure can be a great element in a landscape, but it doesn’t quite have the same effect as the dappled, cool and moist shade of a tree! Summer shade from the deciduous trees placed on either south or west sides can lower utility cost by amazing 10-15% (and allow for solar heating in the winter months).

These are measurable benefits that we gain from trees (not to mention the delight that a tree in full bloom can create). And the cost of trees, you may ask? Of course, there is some maintenance: A young tree will benefit from yearly inspections and minor corrective pruning during its infancy to assist it in growing into a well-shaped healthy specimen; this way a costly restorative pruning can be avoided when the tree is much older.

And water needs? Of course you will need to water your trees; even trees indigenous to our dry Southern California need water during their establishment phase which can last a couple to 3 years depending on the amount of rain during the winter months and other factors influencing establishment.

Weighing the investment in trees against their benefits, consider this:  The National Arbor Day Foundation states that “A well placed and properly irrigated tree will have a measurable return on investment”: In deed, the Foundation estimates the value that trees add to properties at 15-20%!

In order to assure the most pleasure out of your trees and the least trouble, here are some suggestions how to avoid problems with your trees:

Select trees that:

- are in the most natural state as possible and have a good trunk taper

- have juvenile branches spaced throughout the trunk (until trees are anchored and established, lower juvenile branches need to remain on the trunk and main stem and therefore looks more like a shrub)

- are appropriately sized for the container

- have branches with wide angles of attachment (larger than 45 degrees)

Avoid trees that

- have been pruned into a lollipop shape

- are supported by a nursery stake (whenever possible)

- have pot-bound or girdled roots

- appear weak, sick, or unhealthy

- show mechanical damage or other wounds

And don’t plant trees too close to power lines, nor closer than 10 ft to permanent structures. (Check also on proper guide lines for tree planting in fire-prone areas).

There are great resources in our County for people that want to learn more about trees: The book “Ornamental Trees for Mediterranean Climates; the trees of San Diego” is a colorful guide and compendium of a host of trees that thrive here, with descriptions, photos, and even addresses where the photos were taken. The Water Conservation Garden in El Cajon (more info at www.thegarden.org ) showcases many suitable and lovely trees for our area. And of course there is Balboa Park with its trees, and the San Diego Botanic Garden (formerly Quail Gardens at www.qbgardens.com ).

I don’t think I’ll ever be detached and impartial when it comes to trees, but armed with the above list of arguments and paybacks I hope to be more neutral and professional when explaining how trees will benefit my clients and how fundamental (could you say imperative?) they are for their home landscape. Despite of their initial rejection none of my clients has yet refused to concede interest in trees, and fortunately, I haven’t yet had the commission to design a “tree-free” garden. That would be the saddest thing, and I hope it will never happen.

In this and a couple of future articles I’ll be considering the role of the front garden in landscape designs – and in people’s lives. Perhaps I can add some points to the on-going discussion in the gardening community about landscape design that is not only contemporary and sustainable, but also homeowner-friendly.

My garden aesthetics are forever shaped by childhood memories where our garden gate opened to a romantic hide-away with play lawn, perennial borders and shade trees that we kids could climb in to hide, have our private “club” meetings, tell stories and make plans. The romance and seclusion of that place is still shaping my attitude towards gardens that I visit today: If it doesn’t give me a feeling of privacy and I can’t see any significant evidence of the owner’s personality in it, it’s not a garden for me but only an impersonal outdoor space.

A typical sub-division front garden in University City/San Diego

Almost everywhere in our County we can observe the legacy of an American garden design approach that is neither suited to our California lifestyle, our changing tastes nor to our environment: Although ever smaller lots are making garden space more precious, the setback regulations in most Californian communities have not changed, to the effect that houses are still built with a considerable portion of their front garden given over to the public. The attitude towards front garden design is still dominated by the unquestioned expanse of “green”, and all other elements seem to be mere after-thoughts. One of my horticulture teachers called this lawn the “most expensive crop that is watered, fertilized, cut, and then thrown away”.

This was sadly evident in our own community in University City/San Diego where we lived with our 2 young children for a few years. In the front yard there was a lawn, a shade tree and some shrubs – the typical subdivision landscape. Although the children discovered that they could climb the tree easily and we built a tree house in it, all activity here was in the public’s eye; there was no shelter from noise and passers-by and certainly no visual interest.   Aware that water is not in abundance in Southern California, we asked ourselves also whether it made sense at all to water here when we clearly had so little enjoyment from our front yard.

Front yard showing signs of becoming a garden

So the lawn had to make room for a flower and shrub buffer between street and front door. We stopped watering the lawn and at the end of summer dug up the dead sod, imported a few cubic yards of good soil and created a low stretched-out mound along the street. We planted California Natives and compatible drought tolerant plants on this little berm to create a living “lacey” screen between the street and the mulched play area.  The following spring our front garden was a blooming sea of foliage and flowers which attracted bees, birds, neighbors, and kids who came to play in the tree house. By the second year most of the shrubs were tall enough so that the play area felt even more secluded, and we added a swing so that the adults could enjoy some of the fun here, too.

Flowering shrubs create privacy and suspense in front garden

As Rita Sackville-West, the English garden designer and writer, observed about the lack of fencing or boundary in the American front yard: “Americans must be far more brotherly-hearted than we are, for they do not seem to mind being over-looked. They have no sense of private enclosure.”

Flowers and children in the front garden

This is an interesting thought, but I don’t think that my attitude towards gardening and design is born out of the reluctance to be “sisterly” or democratic. When a design has fulfilled the first demand: To satisfy the homeowner’s needs and marry them pleasingly with the constraints that the terrain, the architecture and the environment present; my second and vital desire is to make this outdoor space enjoyable and appealing to all senses and make every square inch of it count. But how could I enjoy this space when it’s indistinguishable from those on either side and when it is not mine, but the public’s?

I view the front yard as an opportunity for creativity rather than as a space given over to convenience or to the obligatory anonymous, park-like setting of the past.

In my next article I will continue to share some of my experiences and thoughts on this topic, and if you are interested, please read more about this in a couple of weeks.

Mass-plantings of Crown-of-Thorns Euphorbia milii

I have a special predilection for the color Red: Not only does it become me as a blonde, it also fires up my mood, makes me cheerful and revs up my energy. I am drawn to Red like a hummingbird, and if Red on me invigorates me, I believe seeing red “lights” in the garden would do the same. Even in a garden space where the main hues are cooler and more restraint, and where there are lots of calmer tones in rocks, timber, pathways and other hardscape elements, a few red splashes warm up the planting scheme and make the tones more saturated. Red works particularly well in South-West style gardens, where it makes a lively contrast to lighter colors such as DG, sand or gravel whose tones look washed out in the strong sunlight; used as color on a background wall it adds drama to succulents and cacti.

Bloodred Trumpet Vine Distictis buccinatoria

  Red can provide a bright focal point, such as a Bloodred Trumpet Vine Distictis buccinatoria drooping from a wall or from an arbor, or a Crown-of-Thorns Euphorbia milii, mixed with Firecracker Broom Russelia equisitiformis, spilling from an urn. Used as accent plant in the background, such as in groupings of red-flowering Aloe behind shorter, softer perennials or clumping succulents, the Aloe’s red flower spikes will show like exclamation points, and their pointy leaves will create a dynamic contrast in structure and texture.

Firecracker Broom, Crown-of-Thorns and Kalanchoe manganii in container

When planted in the foreground as border accent, or hugging the curves of a path, Red creates a bright ribbon through the garden that your eye can follow; as foreground plant repeated throughout the garden it ties different areas together and adds cohesion.

If used as red winter bloomer, f.e. Cyclamen Cyclamen persicum, it will bring much needed warmth into your planter beds, and in dark and shady places the red flowers will shine like lights.

Delightful summer-blooming Cantua 'Hot Pants'

 I am having fun doing this and have compiled lists of plants with red flowers that I like to use. Of course each landscape prompts a different choice because of its design style, its existing sun/shade conditions, its soil type, the character of the architecture and the hardscape materials chosen. The following compilation of “Reds” contains plants with various growing conditions, but all are long-lived, low in maintenance needs and more or less water-wise and tolerant of xeric conditions. (However, it’s important to note that a plant’s location will determine how tolerant of dry conditions it is: For example, a Crangrape Cuphea C. llavea “Crangrape” is more drought tolerant in coastal locations and soils than in hotter inland valleys.) Nor is the list all-inclusive, and if you have more suggestions, I will be happy to add them.

THE SHORT & MEDIUM STUFF FOR SUN & PARTIAL SHADE

Aloes (many): Aloe ‘rookappie’, Aloe saponaria, Aloe arborescens, Aloe nobilis
Autumn Sage & relative Dwarf Crayon Sage Salvia greggii, S. grahamii
Baja Fairy Duster Calliandra californica & Fairy Duster Calliandra erophylla
Blanket Flower Gaillardia grandiflora
Bottlebrush Callistemon citrinus and C. viminalis
Butterfly Weed Asclepias tuberosa
Cantua ‘Hot Pants’ Cantua buxifolia
Chuparosa Justicia californica
Coral Bells Heuchera sanguinea, Heuchera micrantha
Croscosmia
Crown-of-Thorns Euphorbia millii
Emu Bush ‘Valentine’   Eremophila species ‘Valentine’
Royal Beard Tongue Penstemon spectabilis
Firecracker Penstemon Penstemon eatonii

Grevilleas ‘Poorinda Constance” , Grevillea lanigera
Kalanchoe Kalanchoe blossfeldiana & Kalanchoe manganii
Kangaroo Paw “Bush Blaze” & “Sunset”, Anigozanthus flavidus
Many Daylilies: Red Hot Poker, Cardinal Spokes Hemerocallis hybrids
Nodding Pincushion Leucospermum cordifolium
Propeller Plant Crassula falcata
Red Hot Poker Plant Kniphophia uvaria
Sticks on Fire Euphorbia tirucalli
Watsonia Watsonia intermedia
Zonal Geranium Pelargonium hortorum

(See also my previous article “Exceptional Winter Blooming Plants for Southern California”)

RED-FLOWERING TREES
Here only an incomplete list:
Australian Flame Tree Brachychiton acerifolius
Coral Trees Erythrina x bidwillii, E. caffra, E. coralloides etc.
Crape Myrtle “Watermelon Red” and “Tonto” Lagerstroemia indica & Lagerstroemia x hybrids
Firewheel Tree Stenocarpus sinuatus
Mimosa, Silk Tree Albizia julibrissin

This project was one of the most satisfying transformations that I have worked on, and in this neighborhood it presents the most dramatic deviation from the traditional Rancho Bernardo landscape which consists of large lawns and foundation plantings. Frankly, I would never call these landscapes gardens because, besides clipping and mowing, these outdoor spaces can only invite a yawn.

Fortunately, the homeowner shared this feeling and wanted all his lawn removed:  He felt that he had neither an enticing space to indulge in his love for tropical plants, nor that the existing patio offered sufficient room to entertain his family and friends, and that a lawn would not serve him anylonger.  Although the outside of the home did not reveal the client’s taste, I noticed many modern art objects inside his home. A little bored with the ubiquitous curved and “free-form” lines for pathways, lawns and patios, I hoped he would be open to a more modern or contemporary approach to the desired re-design of his landscape, and I was excited when he said he was.  

 I was now free to examine whether an orthogonal or right-angled arrangement of spaces and elements would work, and it turned out that the combination of both would produce the best results: Since the existing patio was not only crammed into the smallest portion of his back yard but also too close for comfort to a more private and quieter sitting area that he wished to create by his bedroom, the dining and entertainment terrace needed to be moved out into the garden, into the previous lawn area had been.  A patio of the desired dimensions would only fit if set at a 45 degree angle to the architectural lines of the house.            

This invited to repeat the angular layout in the walkways that connect the main patio with a small breakfast area by the front entrance as well as with the quiet-zone by the bedroom:  Colored smooth concrete pavers of varying size cross a garden that is populated with a variety of tropical and subtropical plants. Even the fenced utility enclosure jots out at a 45 degree angle from the house.

And whereas the quiet-zone at the bedroom received a traditional shade cover with only a slightly sloping roof, the homeowner splurged in a custom peaked-roof trellis over the dining patio– a fun variation from the traditional flat roof that is more economic to install.

In order to keep the water bill at a moderate level in our hot dry climate, I combined many brightly colored sub-tropical moderate water-users: leafy succulents such as Rock Purslane Calliandra surinamense, the more intensely blue Catmint “Blue Wonder” and shrubs such as Lantana, Blue Hibiscus Alyogyne huegelii, Golden Wonder Senna Cassia splendida ‘Golden’, Firecracker Broom Russelia equisitiformis and Cape Honeysuckle Tecoma capensis, with thirstier tropical plants such as Princess Flower Tibouchina, Pink Trumpet Tree Tabebuia impetiginosa, and Canna Lily Canna. With separately timed irrigation stations and drip irrigation a combination like this is very well possible and gives the garden the tropical feel that the homeowner desired. Most of these plants are easy to maintain (the Canna perhaps needs the most maintenance to keep it clean looking), yet moderate in their water consumption, and the homeowner is happily experimenting with add-ons of his own selection.

In my first landscape design consultation with Rob and Lisa, I found a familiar scenario:  Unable to agree on what the main focus in their garden design should be and concerned that a design would force them into sacrificing his or her desires, they hoped that I could find a solution that both of them could be happy with.

Their Mediterranean-style house was built on the edge of a slope; the long and narrow back garden was wide open to a magnificent 180 degree view of the valley and the hills beyond, unspoiled by housing developments. Their wish list for this part of their property was typical: A small patio, situated at one end of the house by the breakfast nook, to enjoy the morning sun; at the other end of the house, a spa pad surrounded by fragrant plants; and between these two areas, by their dining room, the main patio where they would entertain. On these things Rob and Lisa agreed; hoping to achieve them without sacrificing the complete view for the sake of creating more separate and private spaces, especially for the spa area, seemed unrealistic.

There was no doubt in my mind that Rob and Lisa’s back garden that presented itself like a long hallway between house and slope needed to be divided into separate areas. Also, without any sort of screening the spa would have been visible from the “morning” patio at the other end of the house, and nobody taking a bath there would have felt privacy in such an exposed place.

My first step was to seek a way in which the break-up into separate spaces could be achieved while preserving as much as possible of the beautiful view. I devised imaginary transparent “walls” to do this but left large “windows” in them: Raised planters flanking the main patio would represent the lower part of the walls, plants in the planters would be the upper part, and looking over and through the plants would be like looking through windows so that the 180 degree view was not diminished. I placed arbors in the planters whose beams would be reaching across a passage through the planters, thus creating an overhead ceiling and framing the “doors” in the walls. Vines on the arbors would soon be adding a leafy décor. An added benefit of the low planters was their height: At 18 inch height their wall caps would provide added seating at the entertainment area

While the planters were now framing the main patio, they also divided the long back garden into three distinct spaces, and by separating the main patio from the spa area, a good portion of the demands on this space were now met.  It still needed to be less exposed, and this was achieved by creating an 18 inch deep pit into which the spa was lowered. Both Lisa and Rob were now ready for a real compromise: We erected a wooden trellis behind the spa that soon would be supporting a fragrant Jasmine; a seedless “Little Ollie” Olive that can be easily pruned “lacey” and transparent would add protection from the wind as well as an additional screen. Both elements would intensify the sense of privacy for the spa user – and the view into the valley was still almost 180 degrees.

We planted  low-growing drought tolerant Mediterranean-type plants such as Lavender Cotton, White Rockrose, Blue Fescue, Iris, Blue Queen’s Wreath, Sages, Wormwood, Lavender, and roses…. and signature trees such as Olives, Cypress, London Plane Tree, Pomegranate, Citrus and other fruit trees. For fragrance by the spa we used Hyssop, Catmint, Germander, Thyme, and Angelwing Jasmine on the trellis. The California Natives on the rocky slopes would provide a colorful transition from the local chaparral to the garden-space: Mountain Lilac, Flannel Bush, Toyon, Redbud, Coyote Mint, Evening Primrose etc. would also draw birds and other wildlife closer to the house.

With mulch and DG for the garden paths, and local field stone used for the raised planters, the hardscape materials felt like they really belonged in this landscape. When the plants were beginning to grow in, softening the outlines of the structures and draping around statues, urns and fountain, the feeling of this garden was definitely Mediterranean.

Our first winter rains have blown through and and brought a welcome refreshment after the long and hot months.  As our summer bloomers are going into their winter rest, our gardens are beginning to look a bit drab (unless you have one of those ever-bloomers such as Bougainvillea).   The approaching holidays are creating an atmosphere of hope and expectation, and when we add to this the notion that this is an ideal time for planting, we find ourselves searching the garden centers for the colorful plants that can cheer up our winter gardens.  However,  you’ll notice that most nurseries reserve the bulk of their space for the big sellers:  Poinsettias, green wreaths, Camellias and Azaleas of course, and many winter blooming annuals.  If you are more interested in the exceptional plant that doesn’t have to be replaced at every change of the season,  that will  flower through the winter months and that will add color to your garden for many years to come, read on.  From the many that come to mind I have chosen a few that are un-demanding in maintenance, low in watering needs, and just outstanding plants. This list is just a first selection, and I’ll be happy to share many more with you if you contact me.

THE SHORT STUFF / Perennials

 Santa Barbara Daisy Erigeron karvinskianus, is a free-blooming perennial with dainty, white/pink daisy-like flowers to ¼ inch wide and narrow leaves to 1 inch long, that gracefully trails and slowly spreads to about 3 ft with a height of 10 to 20 inches. It’s not really a winter bloomer as it has already been in bloom all summer long, but the flowers never stop coming. It likes full sun but can tolerate partial shade and is very drought tolerant. It can be a bit invasive but is not overwhelming.  Use it for edgings, as groundcover,  in containers and in rock gardens, in naturalized beds, hanging baskets or in dry laid walls, especially to offset plants with a coarser texture, such as fleshy succulents (f.e.  Ghost Plant Graptopetalum paraguayense, as described in my post ‘The “work horses” in my garden’).

Sundrops and Trailing Buttercups Calylophus drummondii and C. hartwegii

These perennials are look-alikes that grow  to 1 to 1 1/2 ft high by 2 ft wide. Although not true winter bloomers, they will, if planted in a sheltered spot, continue their bloom from summer to winter, although a little more sparsely.  They are among my favorites (see my post on ‘The “work horses” in my drought tolerant garden’) because they are so undemanding in water or maintenance. Sheer them down to a few inches in mid spring to give them a rest and tidy them up for the next flowering season. Both  love sun but tolerate dappled shade and are very drought tolerant. Their brightly yellow flowers will cheer up many drab spots in your garden, and their fine textured foliage is an excellent companion to coarser textured succulents. 

WINTER-BLOOMING SHRUBS

 Baja Fairy Duster Calliandra californica:  This native to Baja California and Sonora, Mexico, is an evergreen shrub with an open growth that can reach 5 ft to 5-6 f wide.  This species is sometimes compared to Fairy Duster Calliandra eriopylla, which is smaller (to 3 ft x 3-4 ft wide), summer deciduous to evergreen, with less luxuriant foliage. There is also a hybrid available called ‘Maricopa Red’. These sturdy yet fine-textured shrubs like hot dry situations, although the Fairy Duster C. eriophylla can also tolerate the warmer coastal environments. They all like the full sun and need good drainage. With little to moderate water the Baja Fairy Duster C. californica and its cousin ‘Maricopa Red’ bloom year round; Fairy Duster C. eriophylla starts in late winter and goes into early summer, but leaves and bloom last longer if some summer water is given (the Fairy Duster is summer-deciduous).   All produce the characteristic exotic duster-like flowers that are puff balls of deep red or light to deep pink stamens (C. Eriophylla) ½ to ¾ inch in size that are irresistible to hummingbirds.

Baja Fairy Dusters  C. californica produce flattened seed pods 2-3 inches long and dark brown;  those of Fairy Duster C. eriophylla  are quite attractive:  to about 2 inches long, brown with red margins and a fuzzy coating that catches the sunlight. This one can be used for erosion control as it spreads by rhizomes.

These shrubs work well in the garden as accent or massed as groundcover (especially the smaller C. eriophylla). Try setting off their fine textured foliage next to more sturdy succulents or cacti to lend them a softening effect; The Fairy Duster C. eriophylla also makes a great specimen in a glazed container.

Feathery Cassia (also called “Old Man Senna”)  Senna artemisioides (sometimes sold as Cassia artemisoides).  This Native to Australia has silvery-grey, needle-like foliage and is 3 to 5 ft tall and wide with an airy open structure. It can take full sun or partial shade and likes well draining soil. Beginning in late fall, it covers itself with a profusion of yellow ¾ inch clusters of 5 to 8 flowers puff balls of flowers that can continue into early summer when the shrub takes a rest, to start again in late fall.  Its  reddish-brown flattened, 1½ inch long narrow seedpods hang on for a long period of time, but in the heat of summer this provides an attractive contrast to the silvery foliage. It is very drought tolerant but looks best with moderate to regular water. 

Grevillea ‘Poorinda Constance’

Grevilleas are evergreen shrubs and trees most of which come to us from Australia.  Of the many that we can grow in our County this one displays an open, graceful growth and can reach 8 ft tall by 12 ft wide.  Its needle-like, deep green 1 inch long leaves are almost white beneath. The shrub produces clusters of orange-red flowers in winter and spring and intermittently at other times. It needs full sun or partial shade and little or no water.  As a spectacular screening or specimen shrub it will mask unsightly views or provide privacy.

 WINTER-BLOOMING SUCCULENTS

 Aloe  Aloe arborescens

The Aloes are primarily South African natives that range in size from 6 inch to tree-like, but all form rosettes of fleshy, pointed leaves.  To me, this is the most striking and imposing Aloe as it forms a large, rounded shrub-colony that over the years can reach 10 ft high and wide.  Branching stems carry big clumps of grey-green, spiny-edged leaves.   Is is easy to grow in well-drained soil, can take  full sun or shade and salt spray,  needs  little water but can take more.  This makes them nice companions to perennials that have similar water- and drainage needs. Its foliage can be damaged at 27 F but will in most cases rebound.  In winter, this plant produces spiky torch-like clusters of bright brick-red flowers.  A variegated form is also available. 

  Cotyledon Cotyledon orbiculata

This south African native can quickly reach 2 ft tall, about 2 ft wide.  It has fleshy paddle leaves that may be green edged with red or whitish-gray, depending on variety, and carries drooping orange-red bell-shaped flowers from late fall into spring.  It is quite drought tolerant and needs excellent drainage and reduced irrigation in summer to prevent roots from rotting.  Although my garden is in Zone 20, it has survived many light frosts, and another factor makes this one a great plant in the garden:  It is easy to propagate from cuttings, and it also makes a great container plant.

WINTER-BLOOMING TREES

 Pearl Acacia (also called Queensland Silver Wattle)  Acacia podalyriifolia.  Native to Australia, Mexico or the southwestern US,  many attractive, winter-blooming and fragrant Acacias are available to us.  The evergreen Pearl Acacia grows to 10-20 ft tall and 12-15’ wide with roundish, 1 1/2 inch long silvery gray satiny leaves.  It is a shrubby plant that can be trained into a small tree.  Brilliant bright yellow puffy and sweetly fragrant flowers are produced in late winter/early spring.  It is tolerant of our soils and needs full sun little or no water.  The Sunset Western Garden Book recommends to prune the Acacias that are grown as tree form  to open up their interiors which will reduce dieback of shaded branches. 

 Sky Flower Duranta erecta (D. repens, D. plumieri)

This is a fast growing evergreen shrub that can be easily be trained into a small tree.  It grows 10-25 ft tall and 6-10 ft wide. Especially as a multi-trunked plant it can make a beautiful specimen for the landscape.  Its glossy green leaves are about 2 inch long on broadly arching branches that may or may not have spines. Pretty ½ inch sized violet-blue flowers in fragrant clusters are produced nearly all year and attract people, butterflies and hummingbirds. They are followed by pretty yellow  berries (toxic if ingested).  It grows easily in most soils in full sun or partial shade, needs only average watering and tolerates temperatures down to around 20 F. 

There are also light-blue and dark-blue flowered selections of this shrub available, as well as a white one called ‘Alba’.  ‘Sweet Memory’ is thornless, with flower petals edged in white. ‘Gold Mound’ is a small one, only 1 ½ ft wide and high, has brilliant gold leaves and flowers rarely, but it is excellent for adding color to container plantings.

SUPPLIERS & RESOURCES

 Nurseries and growers:

Daylily Hill, also called Designed II, located just a few miles north of Escondido, grow exceptional repeat-flowering daylilies as well as drought tolerant perennials, shrubs, succulents, cacti and roses. Their availability list with photos and descriptions is online at www.daylilyhill.com ;

Briggs Tree Company in Vista carries a wide variety of landscape plants, and their list is available online at www.briggstree.com ;

Barrels & Branches in Encinitas at www.barrelsandbranches.com  sell unusual perennials, shrubs, succulents and trees. 

www.debraleebaldwin.com :  Great photos, ideas and tips for designing with succulents are  presented by Debra Lee Baldwin, author and  photo journalist.  Her book ‘Designing with Succulents’ has been a wonderful resource in my design work, and I look forward to her next book, ‘Succulent Container Gardens’ that will appear shortly.

Of the many colors I love to see in my garden and that I like to use in many of my landscape designs yellow is one I gravitate to again and again. It lightens up shady places, makes green shine even darker and stands out as softening persistent glow in the stark summer light, whether against bare dirt or fresh mulch. Here are some exceptional plants that bear yellow flowers, are very drought tolerant and low in maintenance and well worth your consideration.

The first I would like to recommend to you is Flannel Bush or Fremontia Fremontodendron californicum, a California native (and parts of central Arizona). It has a flamboyant and thrilling display of yellow-orangey star-shaped flowers that cover the deep green maple-like foliage almost entirely for 4 to 6 weeks in spring, between March and April, depending on your local microclimate. Even when the blossoms begin to fade, they hang on in dark golden, rusty tones for several more weeks. (Some people find them unsightly, especially the rust-colored seed capsules – I like their look.)
Give this fast growing evergreen shrub room – it can grow to 20 ft typically reaching 12 or 15 ft with an irregular shape, although there are hybrids that are much smaller. It profits of some pruning or tip-pinching to remain dense – but wear a long-sleeved shirt; the fuzzy hair on the leaves can irritate your skin. By removing the lower branches you can even train it into a small tree, according to some books, but I haven’t tried that yet. There are several hybrids of this shrub grown here that are regarded as some of the most spectacular native plants in California. In my garden in Ramona it is planted in loamy decomposed granite and doing well. I guard against watering it in the hot months – it could die prematurely from fungal root or crown rot if watered in summer. Give it a place with good drainage in sun or partial shade and tie it up while it’s young – the roots are shallow and in a strong wind it could topple over from which it wouldn’t recover. One of my gorgeous shrubs succumbed suddenly last summer – perhaps it was planted too close to my septic/leach system… but the remaining 3 are doing well, now in their 5th or so year, without any supplemental water even in the hottest months.

By the time the Flannel Bush steps back into the round of other plants, my rambling rose ‘Mermaid’ is in full bloom. Make sure to give this shrub room, too: it is a vigorous shrub whose long canes with serious thorns need training unless you can give it all the room it needs (I assume it would make a large mounding shrub; according to my book the canes can reach up to 30 ft!); mine is trained into a single-trunk small tree whose branches are supported by an arbor. The flowers that appear in clusters are very charming: large 3 or so inches, single, light-yellow with a darker center, deep buttery-yellow stamen and a lovely orange scent. What I also like about it is that the petals fall neatly without hanging on faded, and most of the dried dark remaining bottom receptacles can be knocked off cleanly. It blooms until the summer heat reaches the upper nineties in July and picks up again when the nights get cooler in September, to go at a little slower pace until the beginning of January when we usually get our coldest temperatures. It doesn’t require much water, even in this hot zone 20/21. It likes my light soil well and is very healthy and disease resistant; of course it requires regular fertilizer to keep producing flowers for so many months.

A surprisingly persistent perennial is Coreopsis grandiflora (one of the common names is Tickseed – I wonder why?). To 1-2 ft high in my light soil, it spreads to 1-2 ft wide. Although the faded flowers and seed heads remain on the plant making it somewhat unsightly in summer (this is a note for lazy gardeners like myself), several considerations stop me every year from pulling it out: the plant is remarkably tolerant of drought, neglect and heat and reseeds itself freely (whether this is a trait worth recommending is a personal choice). But mostly its warm yellow flowers are so bright and cheerful throughout the long warm months that now and then I ‘bite the bullet’ and prune it back, pretty hard, and within no time the plant is again noticeable from afar because it’s covered with lovely bright flowers.

Last but by no means least is Trailing Buttercups Calylophus hartwegii . This western native sports one of the most enduring, bright yellow, four-petaled flowers against narrow leaves, and after giving it the hardiness test in my lean soil and intense summer heat, I will set it out all over my garden as ‘tie-together’ plant: low to about 8-10”, spreading to about 24”, in protected spots it has not stopped blooming since I planted it last year. Once this plant is established it can tolerate a great deal of drought but can take also regular water if drainage is excellent. It makes an excellent companion to purple flowers like those of Sandpaper Verbena Verbena rigida, or the red-margined, sculptural succulent Paddle Plant Kalanchoe luciae, or even mixed in with my natives like Cleveland Sage where it has withstood many weeks without any water at all, although here it was in partial shade.

Prompted by the rising water cost and irrigation restrictions, San Diego homeowners consult the many resources available at the Water Conservation Garden in El Cajon (at www.thegarden.org  ). Among these resources are landscape, design and horticulture experts offering consultations on subjects like “California Friendly Plants”, watering, construction issues and landscape design. I enjoy being one of those professionals, and I thought you might be interested in reading about how such a consultation might work for the people that come there.

In my consultations I encounter generally the same objective: Interested in finding solutions to their thirsty and oftentimes outdated planting design the homeowners are ready to re-design their gardens that are in most cases, true to tradition, centered on lawns. Many of these visitors are ready to remove their lawns, and their common question is: What do I plant now? Most of them believe that planting the right plants would make their gardens better and solve their problems.

I understand this thinking but, as designer and horticulturist, I don’t think that suggesting different, although drought resistant or low water use plants, would address the underlying problem. I feel that planting random groups of plants into the former lawn area would not create attractive, comfortable spaces for outdoor living that “work” and meet the various needs of the homeowners. Since that is my focus, I explain to the visitors that it would make their garden better if they considered first how to make enjoyable outdoor living possible, in spaces designed for different uses. I see therefore some beneficial elements in the growing public awareness that our water resources are limited, because it will engender the realization that we need new garden designs, not just different climate adapted plant material.

What needs to happen in a yard so it can become a refuge and a place to connect with nature for adults, an amazing and adventurous play area for children, a place that you can fill with greenery? A garden space needs to be organized spatially and hierarchically, and I start my design process, in which I involve my visitors, by asking them if they can think of an activity that they would like to do but never had room for, or that was done in a back corner of their garden, or that they hadn’t thought of before. Take the example of my last visitors at the Garden:

This family, husband, wife and son, arrived well prepared for the consultation, with photos and a sketch of their garden drawn to scale. They had decided to take out most of the lawn, a large expanse right by the patio, and keep only a small part of it for their son who loves to mow the lawn. Opposite the patio, far across the lawn, was a planter bed, but since it was so far away and confined also by a low wall, the flowers in it were not recognizable. To my surprise, the lady told me that it held roses! Her husband mentioned, almost in passing, that he would like to grow succulents. Some trees were there, but they had been planted far away around the lawn so that they couldn’t throw any shade where it mattered most, which was on their hot south-west facing patio.

Hardscaping – the “hard elements” of the garden, such as patios, walk ways, fencing, arbors, boulders – are elements of a garden that convey permanence and add structure. They usually don’t have to be maintained, except for some new coat of paint or occasional sweeping, depending on the material used. And they don’t demand watering, fertilization, pruning… So I suggest to incorporate them as much as
possible into a design and let them “furnish” the garden, organize the space into areas of different use, provide separation as well as access, focal points, delineation and definition.

In the case of the before mentioned visitors, we found that a swing for adults, placed under a shade tree, would be lovely to have; I suggested to place it at the far end of the garden from where the house and the patio could be seen from a new perspective, and I drew its outlines on transparent paper taped over their sketch. And why not pull rose bed and succulents closer to the patio from where they could be seen? Of course not into one flower bed, but in different areas that are perhaps even mounded up, separated by a walk way: Gently curved mounds give movement to an otherwise flat plan, and the plants on them can be seen better, like on a painted canvas. And if your soil drains poorly, creating those mounds helps improve the drainage because you can mix the mounded soil to provide the drainage your plants need, such as many Mediterranean plants, California Natives and succulents, and even roses.

As for the lawn, we drew a kidney-shaped area that started at one end of the patio, wrapped around behind the rose bed and the succulent mound, and ended at the other end of the patio. This way it was still visible and easy to get to from the patio without dominating the foreground. And to make all the different areas accessible, we discussed stepping stones and DG (compacted decomposed granite) as possible material for the walkways, even coarse landscape mulch was considered.

Lastly we reviewed the possible locations of trees, and I pointed to my favorite reference books on this subject: Ornamental Trees for a Mediterranean Climate, The trees of San Diego, by Steve Brigham with book design and photographs by Don Walker, and the Sunset Western Garden Book. Here gardeners can research all their favorite choices before making the final selection; they can actually visit the trees shown in the tree book where they are growing.

Our time was up, and we had not really talked much about plants, which they weren’t disappointed about. Rather, both husband and wife had information and tools in their hands that will make “playing” with their spaces, on paper first, and the selection of their uses and goals that are achievable with their budget and time, a fun and exciting activity. And finally, armed with the proper reference books and resources that the Water Conservation Garden and other public gardens in San Diego County offer, they will be on their way to a garden that they can enjoy, and live in.

I am fortunate that as a landscape designer I can experiment to some extent  in my own garden with  layouts and plants that books and nurseries describe as  ”drought tolerant” and “water wise”, and that, as horticulturist, I can practice the planting, care or irrigation techniques that I explain to my clients. 

Plants have always been my passion, but in the long hot summer months, followed by more dry fall months,  gardening becomes a worry and a chore:  With continued temperatures in the upper nineties here in Ramona, in an inland valley of San Diego County, with Santa Anas from October on and DG soil  (decomposed granite) with fast drainage, proper watering becomes my main concern, and determining the right irrigation amount, frequency and duration is an on-going task.

In the past years our reservoirs have emptied to very low levels and water prices have shot up.  First I learned to recognize drought stress, and then I realized that I had to adapt my planting design, so out came those thirstier plants such as as Garden Penstemon, Kangaroo Paw  and Lamb’s Ears.  Roses of course were sacrificed as well (I’m down to two), and I learned to widen the spacing of new-comer plants to cut down on water and maintenance.  On the way to that easier-to-maintain and less thirsty garden I am discovering many new plants that are doing well here, like Flannelbush from California, Proteas from South Africa and succulents from South Africa, New Mexico or Baja California.

Summer in Ramona

Here are some things and techniques to keep the ornamentals and the vegetables in my garden  healthy and good looking through these hot months:

Lots of organic mulch (I try to keep the layer at least 3 inches thick), water, occasional shallow cultivation in certain areas, and a SOIL TUBE (to stop the guess work).

Mulch is probably being put to good use in your garden, too:  The multiple benefits of this material can hardly be gained otherwise.   But you might have some areas where mulch is difficult to apply, as in a vegetable garden.  Here shallow cultivation between watering cycles, with a hoe to 2-3” deep, loosens the soil, destroys weeds, aerates the roots and assists in reducing water needs. (But stay clear of delicate surface roots around tomatoes and corn.)

Water of course is most needed, regularly and deeply, with the exception of California Natives and other drought-resistant plants if they are well established.  (Of course the term ‘regular watering’  can mean 1 x per month or 1 x per week!)

My most practical gardening  tool is a soil moisture probe, a stainless steel tube, about 24 inches long, fitted to a comfortable T-handle.  When pushed into the soil and pulled out again, a partial cut-out  in the long end of the  tube lets me check the plug of soil in the tube:  I can see how deeply my watering has penetrated, or how much remaining moisture is in the soil if I am unsure whether it’s time to water again.  It also allows me to see how deep the roots have grown and, subsequently, how deeply my watering should penetrate.  If I suspect a disease, such as a fungus rot, the roots in the soil plug tell me how healthy they are by their looks and feel:  If they are grayish, soft and mushy, they are ‘sick’ and unable to perform their job.  The smell test is important, too:  a healthy soil has a good earthy smell, so if that’s off I know that a soil-borne disease is troubling my plant, or that the roots have died because of too much water.

In my design work, too, this tube is invaluable:  Together with a drainage test it helps me determine my client’s soil type and which plants to use.  With all these functions, it’s well worth its cost of around $60 (check with the irrigation and landscape supplier Hydro-Scape, 5805 Kearny Villa Rd,  San Diego)

Christiane Holmquist Landscape Design.     [P] 760-586-6065

Graptopetalum paraguayense Ghost Plant

My house sits on a little ridge overlooking the town of Ramona, in the “Valley of the Sun”, east of San Diego, which the Sunset Garden Book places into zone 20.  Temps here don’t get very low in winter; night temperatures might dip to the low 20s.  Thanks to my geographic situation I was spared the extreme cold that other areas saw in the February 2007 “big freeze”, although some plants looked like a torch had been held to them.  But the fact that in many places in my garden the cold air can drain away to lower valleys has saved many of plants.

My soil is not the easiest to work with, although it is light:  Decomposed granite (often called DG) in most areas,  sandy loam in the remaining ones.  It drains well (too well to my liking), and the DG doesn’t hold many nutrients.  I have experimented with many drought tolerant plants, and found that many of those that in other areas of San Diego County are considered drought tolerant, need more water in my garden than I want to give them.  Now, with several years of trial and error, I am putting a list of my “work horses” together that I like to use also in my designs, and I’ll be sharing with you this list as my next posts go up.

Ghost Plant

Here my first:

One of my favorite plants is Graptopetalum paraguayense Ghost Plant.  I don’t know which aspect is more endearing:  Good looks, low water needs, virtually no maintenance requirements, ability to fit into different design themes, low height and handy size, readiness to grow from leaves, stems or divisions…

A native from Mexico, it is a clumping succulent that reaches to 7 inches in height.  Its branches carry fleshy pointed leaves and terminate in blueish-grey rosettes tinged with pink, and it will spread to at least 1 ft wide or more.  It combines elegantly with any color, and I plant mine next  to either the blue of Salvia chamaedryoides Gentian Sage which also provides a nice contrasting texture, the lovely perennial grass Muhlenbergia rigens Deer Grass, the soft yellow of Calylophus hartwegii Trailing Buttercups, or the red of Salvia grahamii Dwarf Crayon Sage.   It’s extremely low in water use and maintenance and grows well in part shade or full sun.  In fact, planted under my native oaks I water it perhaps 2x or 3x during the summer, just to let the leaves plump up again when the long dry season has let them shrivel up a bit.

It  is suitable as a groundcover in areas where there is no foot traffic or as filler for hanging baskets and rock gardens.  Its rosettes will be more gray-blue when grown in shade and show a pinkish-yellowish tinge when grown in full sun.  Sprays of white or yellow flowers appear on this plant which needs warm dry conditions but will tolerate temps to about 25F.   Leaves will break off easily so handle with care, and the nice bonus is that new plants grow readily from these leaves or from cuttings.

For questions, please contact me at (760)  586-6065