Christiane Holmquist Landscape Design

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The lawn needs to go – but what then? Water Conservation Issues and Garden Re-do addressed at “The Garden”

March 24, 2011 By Christiane Holmquist

boulder scene in late afternoon with succulents and drought tolerant shrubsrelaxing chair under tree amongst grasses and perennials

Prompted by the rising water cost and irrigation restrictions, San Diego homeowners consult the many resources available 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, arboriculture (the science concerned with trees),  construction issues and landscape design. I enjoy being one of those professionals, and I thought you might be curious to learn how such a consultation might work for the people that come there. 

succulents and perennials adorn boulderIn my consultations I generally encounter the same objective:  Feeling the need to reduce their water bill or wanting a landscape that is more practical and ecological,  these homeowners are ready to retire their mostly lawn-centered landscape.  They come to the Water Conservation Garden with the common question,  “What do I plant now?”   Most of them believe that planting the right plants would make their gardens better and solve their problems; isn’t that what the beautiful low-water-use plants at “The Garden” are all about?

I understand this thinking but, as designer and horticulturist, I don’t think that suggesting different, albeit drought resistant, water-wise  or “xeric” plants, would address the underlying problem (although those plants are generally more sustainable).   I feel that planting random groups of plants into the former lawn area would not create attractive, comfortable spaces for outdoor living that “work”.  Since that is my focus, I explain to the visitors that it would serve them best if they considered first how to make enjoyable outdoor living possible, in separate spaces designed for different uses.

What needs to happen in a yard so it can become an “outdoor living room”?  How do you convert it into a play room, or entertainment space, a space to hang out, relax, dream, rejuvenate? 

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 relegated to a back corner of their garden.  Perhaps there is some almost forgotten vision of a garden scene in the recesses of their memory that they never took seriously?  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; they would only keep a small part of it for their son for whom lawn mowing is a therapeutic activity.  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 from the patio. 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 around the louter perimeter of the lawn so that they couldn’t throw any shade where it mattered most, which was on their hot south-west facing patio. 

“Hardscaping” elements such as patios, walk ways, fencing, arbors, boulders –  convey permanence and add structure.  Most of them 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 family could see house and patio 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.

roses decorate arbor and frame a view

roses framing view

As for the lawn, we drew a much reduced 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 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 most 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 at their location!

Our time was up, and although we had not talked much about plants in detail, the family was happy (I suggested to look to the Water Conservation Garden’s displays for ideas).  Both husband and wife had information and tools in their hands that will make “playing” with their spaces, on paper first, a fun and exciting activity; selecting goals that are realistic and achievable with their budget and energy will now be a manageable task. 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.

Filed Under: Drought Resistant Landscape, Landscape Design Tagged With: drought tolerant gardening, drought tolerant plants, drought tolerant trees, dry climate design, garden design, garden renovation, gardening ideas, irrigation restrictions in Southern California, landscape design, landscape design consultations, landscape re-do advice, landscape rehab, landscape-redo, lawn removal, limited water resources, low-water-use, outdoor living room, redesign of landscape after lawn removal, sustainable garden design, Sustainable landscape design, Water Conservation, Water Conservation Garden, Water Conserving plants, water-wise landscape design, xeriscape, xeriscape plants

Soil Probe and Mulch – Two essential tools to help you conserve water and keep your landscape healthy

September 24, 2009 By Christiane Holmquist

water feature pond and sage appeal to hot gardensI am fortunate that I can experiment to some extent  in my own garden with  layouts and plants touted  “drought tolerant” and “water wise”, and that I can practice the techniques of planting, maintenance and water conservation that I explain to my clients.

Plants have always been my passion, but in our hot inland valley during the long hot summer months and no rain in sight until late November or December, and with fast draining DG soil  (decomposed granite), proper watering becomes important, 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 it became obvious that my planting design needed to become more sustainable:  I had too many plants with greater water needs than I felt was warranted, and the remaining ones were too close together, requiring more water and more maintenance to remain tidy.  Out came many popular plants, such as as Garden Penstemon, Kangaroo Paw and Lamb’s Ears, and most of my roses were sacrificed as well (I’m down to one that can do with less water - the climber Mermaid). unthirsty climbing rose Mermaid adorn hot landscapes

Although it may sound like a painful sacrifice, it was not:  On the way to that easier-to-maintain and less thirsty garden I am discovering many beautiful plants that are doing very well here, like Flannelbush or Mountain Lilac from California, Proteas from South Africa,  Texax Ranger from the Southwest and Northern Mexico, succulents from South Africa or California itself … the list is long and exciting, and I will be writing in more detail about some of these exceptional plants in future posts.

inviting resting place under shade treeHere are some tips and techniques to keep the ornamentals and the vegetables in your garden healthy and good looking through these hot months:

Lots of mulch:   I try to keep the layer at least 3 inches thick,  on top of the soil around trees and shrubs and in between my perennials; even in my vegetable garden I try to apply it where possible.  I prefer a medium textured bark or similar mulch with pieces of about one-inch in size; this will allow water to pass quickly through the mulch into the soil instead of being retained by the mulch.   My irrigation system applies water infrequently and deeply; this keeps the mulch dry and optimizes its water-saving potential.  Every year I replenish a good inch of this layer as it decomposes slowly, enriching my soil.

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. (Be careful not to injure delicate surface roots around tomatoes and corn.)

Soil Probe (soil tube)My most practical, diagnostic gardening  tool is a soil moisture probe:  This is 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 far down 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 landscape design work and horticultural consultations, too, this probe is invaluable:  Together with a drainage test it helps me determine my client’s soil type and guides my selection of the plants that will grow in this soil (usually we send a soil sample to a spealized laboratory to be analyzed for its texture and nutrient content).  This tube is well worth its cost of around $65 (check with the irrigation and landscape supplier Hydro-Scape, 5805 Kearny Villa Rd,  San Diego at http://www.hydroscape.com/ )

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

Filed Under: Gardening tips Tagged With: benefits of mulching, determining soil type, drought tolerant gardening, irrigation of the low-volume garden, irrigation restrictions in Southern California, landscape design, landscaping in San Diego County, soil analysis, soil diagnostic, soil moisture tube, soil probe, useful tools for the water-wise gardener, Water Conservation, water-wise landscape

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Christiane, your design is beautiful. Viewers love the design and color. Thank you so much for all your support while the project was being developed. It would have been more stressful for me had you not held my hand regularly.

Rachel Michel

CHRISTIANE HOLMQUIST LANDSCAPE DESIGN


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Phone: 406-246-6065

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