Low Maintenance Plants Archives - Christiane Holmquist Landscape Design

A Bench and How It Came to Be

August 3, 2017 By Christiane Holmquist 2 Comments

The basalt bench in the shade of the Macadamia Nut tree is Gordon’s favorite spot in his garden.

Authors: Christiane Holmquist & Gordon J.
Photography: Emma Almendarez

A recent project amazed me in its rapid flourishing and the joy it brought me and the homeowner. Planting started in early January of this year, and by May the garden was awash in butterflies, birds, and bloom, surprising and delighting us all. The homeowner was so excited that he volunteered to give me his view of our collaboration, and I gladly reprint here his words, with my picture comments:

The garden had “good bones” in the form of expertly pruned mature trees, Variegated Mock Orange and Indian Hawthorn. However, on the ground plane I replaced a tired lawn, Agapanthus and Star Jasmine with colorful, low-water use perennials, succulents and a few exotic and unfussy terrestrial bromeliads Vriesea imperialis. We added boulders for permanence and welcome texture contrast.

A Story of a Bench

“As a homeowner, I always thought that the best project outcomes occurred when there was a strong collaboration between the design professional and the homeowner. To illustrate, here’s the tale of a bench and how it came to be.

The pool was “just there”, and the surrounding planter beds were in need of fresh color.

Me– an elderly gentleman, AKA “the client.”
Christiane Holmquist–AKA Christiane Holmquist Landscape Design

My wife and I bought our home in 1980, which was 3 years old, but totally lacked landscaping. Using design professionals, we landscaped our property–pool, spa, patios, trees, gardens, etc. We planted a wide variety of trees, including a gingko, macadamia nut, bronze loquats, citrus, Chinese fringe trees, paper barks, magnolias, cassias, etc.

To rebuild the old dry stream beds, we repositioned the original feather rocks and incorporated many new boulders, pebbles, and gravel with interesting forms and textures. We added many smaller grasses and “water-side” plants, to imitate a mountain stream as convincingly as possible.

As the decades rolled by, the trees became lovely and mature and, correspondingly, we became mature (80+ and counting) (but lovely would be a real stretch). Therefore, with age, we focused on landscape seniorization–how to enjoy and work in the gardens while also minimizing the risk of falls.

Much needed color invigorates the pool area and weaves throughout the garden.

One small seniorization action was to install large stone steps between a concrete walkway and a dry streambed. It gave access to the area and with the solid steps, the risk of tripping or falling was minimized.

Stone steps ended at the dry stream bed. Wouldn’t it be more satisfying to rest here in the shade of the tree, to view the garden?

Next Steps

Enter Christiane. She observed that the garden had “good bones,” meaning that the mature trees and shrubs anchored the new more modern usage of low water plants and native plant material. However, when it came to the stone steps she said, “You can’t have a walkway without a destination! It needs a bench to sit on across from the streambed.” I noted that the spot she was talking about was just beyond a major branch of the macadamia nut tree that I was likely to bump my head on and the bench would be in deep shade. I nixed the idea.

Christiane and I moved onto other elements of the design project — plant species, availability, etc.

Echeverias nestled into ever-blooming Sundrops Calylophus drummondii and ‘Pink Spice’ Pelargonium ionidiflorum. You will find these plants often in my designs; they are absolutely dependable, easy going and low-water use plants.

Weeks later, Christiane came back to the idea of a bench. She suggested that it be placed in front of the streambed, but still under the canopy of the macadamia nut tree. This time I was able to picture it–a big stone slab resting on two stone pillars that fit two people comfortably. By now I have lots of confidence in Christiane’s judgment and design strength. Also, the masonry people had done a great job building a new wall. So, let’s do it!! In goes the bench. It made the nearby birdbath look out-of-place. So, in goes a large stone birdbath in harmony with the bench.

You will find these plants often in my designs; they are absolutely dependable, easy going and low-water use plants.

The Basalt birdbath add to the aged look of this garden.

Fast Forward a Few Months

The stone bench and birdbath are the feature attractions of the center of the gardens. The bench is my favorite spot. One can watch the butterflies–monarchs, swallowtails, sulphurs–fluttering in the sunlight and the birds– sometimes chirping away, sometimes silent, sometimes bathing–enjoying the yard. The bench is a great place for conversations with others. It’s a great place for visitors to enjoy the gardens. A great place for memories.

Many years and much creativity went into this garden, and various people have shaped it. The bench invites to sit and contemplate its history and present beauty.

Thank you, Christiane, for your insight and your persistence.
Sincerely, Gordon.” (End of quote).

A Brunfelsia in full bloom is a stunning attraction in this entry courtyard.

Heartfelt thanks to you, Gordon; I much enjoyed working with you!

Gordon’s comments reinforce my love of helping homeowners see the strengths and weaknesses of their existing gardens, and of developing landscape design plans for their improvement, while keeping the client preferences in mind. With Gordon’s detailed involvement we found exceptional plants that bring life to “good bones” and produce enjoyment year round while keeping the upkeep to a minimum. A project like this teaches me a lot about gardens and how to make them better; it fuels my work and propels me on … to the next garden.

Verbena bonariensis ‘Lolly Pop’, Geranium sanguineum, Sundrops Calylophus hartwegii, Vriesea imperialis, Daylilies. A few very commendable plants for low-maintenance and low-water needs gardens. And don’t forget boulders!

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A Matter Of Balance: Don’t Allow the Hardscape to Dominate the Planting

March 9, 2016 By Christiane Holmquist 2 Comments

Don’t allow the hardscape to dominate the planting

Part 2

In my last post I endeavored to put plants in the forefront of our gardens in order to make them softer and more welcoming: Under our southern sun pavements, structures and other built structures create glare and very deep shadows. How can we reduce the harshness of this bright white light in residential landscape design?

I think the primordial quality of a well-designed garden is its ability to let our eyes and minds rest. To that effect, I want to employ shade, light-absorbing textures, coolness, perhaps even the sound of water. I try to balance out the hard structures with drought resistant landscaping and let the plants play an equal if not greater role in the organization and feel of the design. Here are a few tricks how to employ plants to that effect:

hard surface balanced with softening plants

This entrance area can be extremely bright, but Redbuds and oaks add a “roof” to the approaching visitor and create shade.

Don’t let too much hardscape take the warmth out of your garden

No massive gate columns here: The framing of this garden entrance is done by the swollen trunks of Floss Silk Tree Ceiba insignia, which also provides shade; the young mimosa in the island has a very soft light-absorbing deep green foliage and will create a wonderful welcoming coolness.

Even in full non-day sun, someone sitting on that bench would be able to admire the cool blue of this beautiful Potato Bush.

Even in full none-day sun, someone sitting on that bench would be able to admire the cool blue of this beautiful Potato Bush.

Here, a low water and low maintenance clumping grass reflects light like an animal’s fur, and the shade of the shrubs beyond is in contrast to the bright patio on the right.

A boulder echoes the horizontal line of the eaves, while grasses repeat the vertical lines of the window frame.

Plants have many roles: They create the visual pleasure that changes through the seasons because of the seasonal bloom, and they offer a juxtaposition of delicate textures with the outlines of strict architecture or rugged boulders. Plants can repeat the dynamic contrast between horizontal and vertical lines already present in the architecture of a house. Leaning pine branches intersect with vertical grass blades, while vertical flower stems stand at a right angle to a boulder’s edge.

These dark bromeliads provide contrast to the lightness of the house’s walls, strappy irises play off of the low horizontal stone wall, and palms throw their interesting shadows on the walls.

Although many “hardscape elements” are used here, plants scale down their proportions and make them soften until they almost disappear. Plants are employed to edge this stone path, and instead of an umbrella or arbor, the tree canopy on the left shelters a bench.

While the stone and wood create light and dark structure, plants soften the overall effect. Even the light-colored pavers are more inviting when edged in grass.

Here, the stone flower beds will start to look less heavy when the vines start to take over the arbor and the perennials and shrubs gain their mature height, cascading over the sides to soften them. While distinctly dividing the side of the house into different areas, each area becomes its own secret garden.

Plants create suspense: Where is the path leading? Your eye bounces down the path from the Aloe to the pink flowering Rock Purslane to the yellow Mexican Marigold. They thus create the illusion of a larger yard.

A minimal structure for vines will soon create much-needed shade, while all around plants absorb some of the light. The purple-flowered tree is a Jacaranda; the white shrub on the left is Iceberg Rose.

Soon, the three Podocarpus trees along the back wall will be tall enough to screen out the neighbor’s house and all boundaries will be obscured, thus creating total privacy in a natural setting.

Plants help to separate this sitting area from the entrance and to make if feel more private.

This design also creates the illusion of distance, giving the front yard a larger feel. The small deciduous shrub will provide more shade and privacy as it matures, and give an excellent opportunity to use creative landscape lighting to add drama at night by revealing its beautiful branch structure.

Instead of walls and doors, planter pockets serve to break up the pavement and to separate one usable area from another.

Getting away from hardscapes is a challenge; there are sexy materials that don’t need watering or maintenance, and will last close to forever. Stone, wood, glass, metal, and even fiberglass or plastic are very versatile and lend themselves to a variety of different uses. Be it fencing or furniture, these materials can help us give places to ‘hang’ our plants, much like in a big wardrobe.

Many landscape architects and landscape designers in San Diego (and elsewhere) have been trained to use these materials as the back-bones and foundations to build around – and upon – with plants in secondary filler roles. But plants can also serve this purpose; let yourself fall in love with the texture and structure of a plant, or your favorite tree, or a color, and design around that.

Tell your designer that this is the plant you want to showcase or use. Say you want a great big hedge of something to serve as a fence. Think about using our native Toyon Heteromeles arbutifolia, or a Silverberry Eleagnus pungens. Both are tough shrubs with attractive foliage, colorful berries (Toyon) and fragrant flowers (Silverberry) that are very undemanding in soil, water or light and that can be sheered, pruned or trained into small trees or an evergreen screen. If you prefer beautiful craftsmanship, think about how a simple perfect circle carved from stone, laid in brick, or made of wood can’t help but stand out best when surrounded by the chaos and asymmetry of plants.

Right now is a great time to look for California natives, drought-tolerant succulents and waterwise perennials, shrubs and trees at your local nurseries!

I believe this is a topic that will interest many gardeners, and I’ll talk about it in greater detail and colorful examples in a presentation at the Water Conservation Garden in El Cajon on June 11, at 9:30 a.m., in a class entitled “Balancing hardscapes with plants”. Look for a detailed description in the coming weeks at the Garden’s website. I’d be happy to greet you there!

Successful Backyard Landscape Collaboration in La Jolla

January 23, 2013 By Christiane Homquist 8 Comments

How a homeowner with an artist’s love of beautiful details and a receptive landscape designer found synergy and fertile ground in the garden for a beautiful backyard landscape collaboration.

A couple of years after installation, this garden has matured beautifully. I cherish the artistic collaboration with my clients; it contributes to very personalized and satisfying designs. In this project, the teamwork was particularly fruitful, as Melissa F., entrepreneur, artist and singer/song-writer, contributed an immense flow of creative ideas and suggestions. The result is a garden that is beautiful and incredibly peaceful.

Melissa calls it her ‘outdoor home’ because it’s all here: living room, kitchen, sitting room and lounge, and vivid plantings that make all come to life.

The previous backyard landscape design consisted of an uninspiring courtyard that a planter bed set in the middle made user-unfriendly.

Melissa and Todor love to cook and entertain outside. To blend the outdoor kitchen seamlessly, we used bamboo facing, echoing the indoor flooring and the living bamboo hedge. Now, under the cool shade sails, the outdoor dining area feels like it has always been there.

For each material selection we explored the idea of “weathering”, inspired by the mottled copper caps on eaves and fence posts and the home’s faded wood siding. The naturally rusted steel used for edging, planting troughs, fountain and gas lights provides that patina; matte concrete and exposed beach pebbles continue the theme.

Organized to allow for entertainment, relaxation and play, the garden creates a dynamic and sunny ‘outdoor home’ where plants add color, life and interest and prevent the built elements from overpowering the garden.

The bamboo hedge is a beautiful response to the construction of an oversized home in the neighbor’s yard that threatened the privacy and intimacy of this garden. The hedge helps focus the eye on the interior and defines the boundary of this backyard. It’s exciting to see how the black Bamboo stems echo the dark pavement in a wonderful contrast to the surrounding green foliage.

Most of the original overgrown “tropical” plants were removed and replaced with low maintenance plants, many of them from the sub-tropics. This xeriscape landscaping was composed in colors of Melissa’s preferred color palette:

Forest Pansy Redbud, bronze Sedge and golden Kangaroo Paw, purplish Echeveria and in-ground Bromeliad with striking foliage. A few splashes of orange and red add highlights to the picture.

One of the landscape lighting ideas was to use steel “fire” troughs. They provide light, warmth and entertainment after nightfall. While their mottled rusty walls continue the theme of weathering, they also tie the different spaces together.

The steel fountain complements the materials used in the landscape and has a calming effect on all senses.

If synergy is “the ability of a group to outperform even its best individual member”, then this residential landscape design is a beautiful example of how two creative individuals with their own aesthetics found common ground in the garden and created a product that will satisfy its owners for years to come. (Landscape designer San Diego Christiane Holmquist).

Photography: Patricia Bean Architectural Photography

Fall is for gardeners – Now’s the time to put your landscape ideas to work

October 4, 2012 By Christiane Homquist Leave a Comment

I imagine that low water landscaping fans here in the south-west share a common tingling sensation in the finger tips these days; the recent harvest moon and the longer nights awakened out plant lust: Without doubt fall is here, and soon we can work outside again without risking a heatstroke.

So what better time to consider our next moves in our low water landscape? On my list the to- do-chores are conveniently intertwined with the to-buy-list:

Replace the plants that haven’t made the mark; there are much better ones available.

In the increasingly hot summers these past years, a number of my drought tolerant plants have been looking sparse, lanky and tired; even when cooler temps set in they didn’t pick up the pace. I’m itching to replace them with tougher plants: Mountain States Wholesale Nursery specializes in desert plant species promised to do better in our climate and soils. Although not ‘a desert’, our climate in San Diego is getting drier, and our occasional ocean winds should be a bonus (salt spray and heavy clay soil excepted – please check on the individual plant’s requirements). Their plants are retailed at Kniffings Discount Nurseries in El Cajon ; (they will order for you what’s not in stock.)

Here a 3 beauties that I’d like to try:

Leucophyllum candidum ‘Thunder Cloud’ Thunder Cloud Texas Sage

An evergreen shrub with compact form, silver foliage, deep purple flowers summer/fall. Blooms repeatedly; needs well drained soil.

SIZE (H X W) 3 feet x 3-4 feet

WATER Low

GROWTH RATE Slow

HARDINESS 10º F, USDA Zone 7

PRUNING : Shear in late spring if at all

Hesperaloe parviflora ‘Perpa’ Brakelights Yed Yucca

Red Yucca Brakelights has vivid red flowers from Sept. to June that attract hummingbirds; it’s a compact grower with narrow, leathery, blue-green leaves. This tough, low maintenance native to Texas and Northern Mexico thrives in full sun and reflected heat; good specimen container plant, suitable for a wide range of climates and soils.

SIZE (H X W) 2 feet x 2 feet

WATER Low

GROWTH RATE Slow

HARDINESS -20º F, USDA Zone 5

PRUNING Remove old flowers

Desert Willow Lucretia Hamilton Chilopsis lineraris ‘Lucretia Hamilton’

The natural form of this deciduous tree is multi-trunked with a graceful, weeping appearance with long, narrow leaves and attractive burgundy trumpet-shaped, orchid-like flowers. Blooms appear in terminal clusters from May through October. The resulting seedpods cling on branches throughout winter. After flowering, long narrow seed pods are produced.

SIZE (H X W) 18-20 feet x 18-20 feet

WATER Low

GROWTH RATE Moderate

HARDINESS -10º F, USDA Zone 6

PRUNING Prune to shape

And now to my to-do-list:

On the very top of my to-do list is “Renew landscape mulch”

My layer of mulch has thinned considerably over the last season, and it’s time to replenish it – benefits will show in a few weeks.

Here’s what mulching does;

Mulch will reduce the amount of water that evaporates from soil, greatly reducing the need to water.
Mulch improves the quality of your soil by breaking up clay and allowing better water and air movement through the soil.
Mulch provides nutrients to sandy soil and improves its ability to hold water.
Mulch acts as an insulating layer on top of soil, keeping it cooler in the summer.
Mulch keeps weeds down, and the weeds that do grow are much easier to pull.

Mulch like you mean it;

Before applying mulch, remove weeds and water thoroughly.
Replace the grass under trees with mulch, to mimic the way trees grow in nature.
Keep mulch 6-to-12 inches away from the base of trees and shrubs.
Apply 2-to-4 inches of mulch in all planting areas. Finer mulches (sized a half-inch or smaller) should be applied no more than 2 inches deep. Courser mulches, such as large bark chips, can be applied 4 inches deep.

Shopping for Mulch

Mulch is available by the bag or in bulk. Bulk mulch is measured in cubic yards. You can calculate the volume of mulch you need by multiplying the area (in square feet) by the depth (fraction of foot, not inches), then dividing by 27.

Here’s a link to FAQ about mulch that holds a table that will guide your calculations: http://www.agriserviceinc.com/faq.html

Here are links to more providers of mulches, top soils, amendments:

El Corazon Compost Facility (AgriService), Oceanside.

San Diego Landfill, San Diego (some products are is free for SD residents) .

For the County of San Diego, for locations to recycle your green yard debris and woody material or to pick up compost and/or mulch consult the Compost and Mulch Facilities Guide.

My take on maintenance: Cut down on it.

Garden maintenance may occasionally be tedious, but most of the time it’s simply gardening, and that’s what many of us love to do.

Be confident: a garden is rarely finished.

It’s the journey that counts. You might have a very special micro climate formed by the special building materials of your home, or the particular accumulation of decomposed granite or boulders or sediment soil…

Gardens are not static.

We just don’t have control over climate, or over the individual plants.

Shy away from things that cause frustration:

– Shrubs and trees that outgrow their space ;

– Plants that need better drainage than your soil can provide;

– Flowers that are unsightly after flowering, that are susceptible to diseases or flower only for a short time (f.e. Hybrid Tea roses)

Choose low maintenance plant:

They demand very little but will pay you back with permanent interest from their beautiful structure and exceptional texture:

Agaves
Foliage plants such as the stunning Safari Sunset Conebush Leucadendron ‘Safari Sunset‘, terrestrial bromeliads (see Rancho Soledad Nursery, Rancho Santa Fe, for their great collection of Aechmeas, Vrieseas, Dyckias and more; many of these with very low water needs)
Perennials grasses (f.e. the beautiful Melinis nerviglumis Ruby Grass )
Succulents such as low-growing Graptopetalum or Sedums
Crimson Grey Geranium (also called Kalwerbossie Geranium)

Employ the permanent colors from hardscape – that’s a no-maintenance garden:

colored concrete, flagstones, DG (decomposed granite)
attractive gravels & boulders
glass and concrete balls
attractive furniture
colorful containers
garden art
shade sails
pillow and cushions, umbrellas

Are you getting anxious yet to get outside and let your creativity flow? Shape your garden, enjoy the changing season, experiment? I’m sure you have many landscaping ideas of your own. Enjoy this season; soon the winter rains will help us establish our new plantings and will reward us with new growth and even bloom – the year in the drought resistant landscaping is long from over.

The “work horses” in my drought resistant landscaping

September 18, 2009 By Christiane Holmquist 2 Comments

Beloved Ghost Plant Graptopetalum paraguayense: Must-have among the xeriscape plants

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 my 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 desert plant species 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 xeriscape 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 the Ghost Plant Graptopetalum paraguayense . I don’t know which aspect is more endearing: Good looks, low water needs, occasional pinching-back if spread too far, and ready to root 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.

This very drought resistant plant is suitable as a ground cover 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

A Story of a Bench

Next Steps

Fast Forward a Few Months

Don’t allow the hardscape to dominate the planting

Part 2

Christiane Holmquist

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