Christiane Holmquist Landscape Design

Help! My Gardener is Ruining My Garden!

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my gardener is ruining my garden

Ingredients for your own Eden: Take a bit of space, add an inviting piece of furniture, surround with a beautiful plant screen and groom well.

Just recently I got an SOS call from a client who is desperate to find help with a nightmare she is experiencing with her present maintenance company: Plants in various states of wilt or decay, with bare spots in the landscape; succulents drowned, groundcover smothering everything in its way, and most offensively, “alien” plants willy-nilly planted, presumably as substitutes, that have nothing to do with her landscape design and that she never approved.

dead groundcover

A sorry sight: There are bare spots on this slope where the groundcover died; the succulents are the wrong ones, and other plants are missing from the original design.

She is very upset that the trust that she placed in her grounds-person was wasted and is worried that the quality of her landscape is seriously endangered. As I’m working out a plan to help her, the horror litanies from other clients come to mind: “My landscaper has hedged this shrub into a blob although I told him to leave it alone”, or “My gardener doesn’t know how to prune these perennials”, and “My slope is all washed out and plants are dying on it; should I just pave it over?” and “I don’t know why he chopped my tree”.

Obviously, these home owners don’t have a maintenance company that is well trained; their crew’s work might actually harm the long-term health and beauty of the landscape, instead of safeguarding their investment.

spotty irrigation

Spotty irrigation has caused bare spots in the lawn; shrubs under the trees have been pruned into unnatural shapes.

For these homeowners it is frustrating to realize that, after several years of ‘care’ by their gardening service the actual state of their landscape is far removed from the one they once dreamed of. What happened to original design intent? How is it possible that these landscapes are ‘monotonous’, overgrown or disfigured? Obviously, the regular mowing, weeding, trimming and blowing weren’t what was needed. What went wrong?

Perhaps it helps to consider the type of gardens that we want today: In my view, the showcase gardens (most often lawn-centered) in which we display exceptional roses, exotic palms or other specimen plants are no longer relevant, at least here in Southern California. On their way out also are the gardens designed with stately foundation plants around a lawn that highlight our social status, or that are plain buffer-zones between us and our neighbors.

The gardens of today that many people dream of are extensions of our living spaces. Here we play and entertain, relax in privacy and seek a modicum of nature. For our landscapes to become true sanctuaries to recharge in, we need to create gardens that engage our senses. These are no longer areas to be tamed and trimmed but places to work in with nature, using light, rhythm, space and texture, and where we respect and enjoy the changes that come with time.

Watersedge-Landscape-Design3

A beautiful example of what excellence in maintenance can achieve. Photo courtesy Watersedge Landscape.

So how do we find this maintenance professional who understands this and who will respect the original intent of the design, and who will safeguard our investment? Who nurtures the landscape, rather than whipping and hedging it into shape? Who we can rely on to insure that the landscape matures and thrives as planned?

Communicate with your designer

shrubs

The shrub by this front door is just too big, and its maintenance will eventually result in suppressing its growth leading decline and eventual death. This obviously was not the best design choice.

When you create your landscape plan (whether with the help of a professional designer, or with your own energy and creativity), you will have the opportunity to consider many elements that will inform the design and that ultimately will determine the amount of maintenance:

  • How controlled do you like the plantings to be? More formal, or more naturalistic?
  • What feel? Urban, woodsy, tropical, southwestern, California relaxed, formal Mediterranean, etc…
  • How densely do you like it planted? With a dense plant cover, or more with recognizable “individualistic” plant quilt?
  • Are you comfortable with the old standards, or do you prefer new exotics?
  • Do you like the natural, relaxed shape of shrubs that sometimes can be picturesque with unusually angled branches, or do you prefer it tight and controlled?
  • Would you be a friend of seedheads, or do they look too weedy to you? (Many perennials require regular deadheading to look good and keep blooming.) Can you stomach wispy grasses, or do you want them at all times neat and clean looking?
  • What type of growth on your trees can you expect (this will tell you how soon you need to consult an arborist)?
  • How will the garden look right after installation; what look can I expect at maturity and how long might it take to see a definite change towards fullness of growth?
  • Which plant is supposed to be a single-stem plant; which one will need to be trained into multi-trunk specimen?
  • Who is going to do the maintenance? You yourself, or a maintenance service? Are you interested in protecting your garden, or would you think that the type of work needed in your garden requires specialized training and education?

Your responses to these questions help determine the selection of plants and the amount of maintenance. It will then be important to communicate this design intent to the maintenance service.

These questions will also influence your selection of the right maintenance company that has a track record of doing quality work.

barren slope

A barren slope despite of regular irrigation… Most likely the irrigation water was applied so fast that it ran off before it had time to sink into the earth… which left plants on this slope to die from thirst.

In my next post I’ll write about the other pieces of the maintenance puzzle.

Beautiful drought tolerant garden in San Marcos

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drought-tolerant garden in San Marcos

This landscape was transformed from lawn-centric static space into a living garden designed for outdoor living.  It is colorful and entertaining year round, and invites to enjoy and relax, play and garden.

Shade trees and pergola

 We transformed the yard into a drought resistant landscape with room for many activities: A patio roof and shade trees make outdoor living comfortable; with play lawn and plenty of garden beds (both homeowners are avid gardeners) there’s room to play outdoors year round.

A colorful waterwise landscape is more to the homeowner's liking

PROJECT SUMMARY: After sitting down with the homeowners, we opted for lawn-removal in front and kept only a minimum of lawn in the backyard for the children to play on. With this landscape re-do, the homeowners have reclaimed their front yard and created a private “buffer zone” at their front door. The homeowners are passionate gardeners, so we significantly increased their garden space and filled it with exceptional drought resistant plants.

  

We replaced the paving material of the existing terrace with a tumbled paver placed on sand and added a shade structure.  Although the terrace was reduced in size, it is comfortable for the many uses of this family, and the large shade cover creates lovely dappled shade in this space. A wrap-around seat wall invites garden visitors to observe the plants and the fish in the small pond placed at the edge of the terrace for close-up viewing.

A low water landscape after the renovation

As the trees grow, they will not only cool the entrance and protect shade loving plants, they will also complement the horizontal lines of the architecture, anchor the house to its site and “shrink” the home to a more human scale.

Tricycle path in the backgarden

To allow more water to penetrate into the subsoil, compacted pervious DG (decomposed granite, a local material) was used to create paths through the garden.  These paths lead to benches and arbors and provide a clean, fast-drying surface to walk on or ride a tricycle.

  Raised beds and DG path

Partners:

Nature Designs Landscaping, Vista, CA

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From Boring Yard to Garden Joy: Six Steps to Help You Create Your Dream Landscape Design (Part I)

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Rachel's outdoor living area Are you dreaming of a peaceful, functional and relaxing outdoor living space?

One that you want to spend every free minute in?

For a successful home landscape design that brings you enjoyment, peace and comfort, take these ingredients:

  1. Dream it (and now’s the time to pull all the stops)
  2. Determine your needs (i.e. what you can realistically do);  assign required space dimensions to each element
  3. Define your style
  4. Draw a plan (or get landscape design help)
  5. Remove and keep only what’s desirable (f. ex. a shade tree) and put it all together
  6. Enjoy!

It’ll work for you, too, with this recipe!  Here’s how we did it for Rachel’s garden:

Grasses soften the edges of the walls1. Dream it 
When I first met Rachel she had come with her garden club to visit a garden that I had designed. She complimented me on the beauty of the design and asked if I’d be interested in helping her with her yard:  She didn’t think much could be made of it since it was so small, but could I come to see it anyways?

Rachel, at her wonderful age of 83, is a very active member in a few different clubs, and as we talked it was apparent that she had a clear idea of what she dreamt of:

  • Have more friends over and entertain them in her garden.

She hoped for a space in her garden in which to serve some light foods and drinks, surrounded by color and beauty.  The lawn wasn’t comfortable anymore to walk on, and over the years the shrubs had been disfigured and pruned into boring blobs; many had just disappeared and had never been replaced.

  • Where would I create this entertainment space, since the yard was so small?
  • And would there perhaps be room for a lounge chair in a reading nook?
  • And could she have a fountain, or other water feature?
  • And would we have enough room still for many flowers and interesting textures?
  • The entire yard was enclosed by a 5 ft wall not high enough to block out the neighbor’s window.  Could we make the garden more private without blocking her view of the ocean?

A comfortable chaise-lounge invites to reading and dreaming

2. Determine your needs (i.e. what you can realistically do);  assign required space dimensions to each element

The first thing I asked Rachel was to define and tell me about how she planned to entertain her friends:

  • Would she want to sit down at a table and serve food there?
  • And how many people would she like to seat?
  • And where would the food be served from, since the main kitchen was upstairs, on the first floor?

We determined that she wasn’t going to serve hot food but only salads and finger foods prepared in the smaller downstairs kitchen in her guest apartment. This way she wouldn’t need any tables to sit down as most people (mostly groups of up to 10 to 15 people) would be standing or strolling through the garden; some seating could be provided with benches.

(Note: To seat 4 people around a table we would have needed at least 10 sq ft ; this seems to be the bare minimum, and if you need circulation space around it or your chairs are a bit oversized, 14 sq ft for this dining area would be needed.)

However, to accommodate these groups, two “entertainment” areas would be best, and I suggested to allow for each about 12 x 12 ft : This would allow room for benches, some additional (temporary) seating if necessary, and still have enough planting space around them to soften all.  Also, these spaces would need to be connected with easy pathways.  (Inviting people to stroll from one area to the other would be a perfect way to display plants to be discovered on the way.)

Since most of her friends are elderly, the pavement under foot needed to be safe, which in my mind excluded any materials with uneven surface such as flagstones or gravel.

This left stabilized/compacted DG (decomposed granite), concrete, tiles and interlocking pavers; which one would we be using?

A plain as-is 3. Define your style

Examining her house and garden for elements that would help define the style of this new backyard landscape design, I noted these clues:

  • The main assets of the existing garden were a mature Pine tree in the corner that provided lovely shade (unfortunately pruned very unprofessionally but not beyond repair); also two mature fruit trees in the other corner, and a beautiful view of the ocean, in between a couple of roofs in the neighborhood. We would try to keep the mature trees.
  • Enclosing the garden was a 5 ft wall that had the potential of making it more private if it could be raised in a few critical areas?
  • Architectural style:  Her house is a Southwest/Perceived Spanish 2-story building with white stucco and red tile roof, and an upstairs balcony from which she views her garden and the ocean.
  • There was an existing, albeit small patio paved with grey concrete; any new pavement would need to harmonize with it since we there was no budget to remove this pavement.
  • About Rachel’s preferred style:  The strongest clues as to Rachel’s taste were, as with so many design clients, visible inside the home:  She loves Mexican and Southwestern art, as displayed everywhere in terracotta tile floors, furniture, colorful cushions, glazed ceramics, paintings and souvenirs from the Southwest. Red tile was used everywhere, and the walls surrounding her garden are reminiscent of a Spanish courtyard whose surrounding walls allowed a beautiful view of the ocean.

We have now assembled the first ingredients of this recipe .  For how to put them together for your dream garden, please read my follow-up post.

Thank Heaven for Little Trees, for Little Trees Grow Bigger Every Day! The Role of Trees in Landscape Design

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Tipu foliage and flowers

Recently, on a hot Sunday afternoon, I noticed a curious thing:  On a comfortable chaise-lounge in the shade of my Tipu tree,  I was reading a good book when I felt drops of water or some other liquid falling on me.  Was it raining? The drops were so tiny that I couldn’t even see them on my skin, but there was no doubt about what I was sensing. Wondering if I was experiencing aphid droplets falling out of the tree canopy, I examined the surrounding furniture on my deck, but there was nothing of that sticky substance that aphids exude and that is known as honeydew.  What could these droplets be?

Tipuana tipu

Knowing about how trees cool themselves, I imagine that it was the tree itself that sprayed on me:  Evaporation (“transpiration”) of water from its foliage in the hot afternoon was extra fast and generous to form the minutest droplets that ‘rained’ on me.

A gentle spray to cool me off – how awesome!

Have you ever noticed how wonderful the shade under a tree feels, especially on a hot day? The lovely sensation on my skin made me think again about how important trees are in the sustainable landscape design, no matter which climate you live in.  Consider the most obvious at this time of year: Beauty from bloom and form; shade and reduced energy cost, and an emotional connection that we all have to trees.

As I was lounging in the shade, I was wondering how big the temperature difference was that I felt there:  In the full sun it was close to 100° F that afternoon; in the shade by contrast a comfortable 85° F!  And the air that I was breathing under it was fresh and cool – the tiny droplets were just an added pleasure.

Silk Tree Albizia julibrissin

Numerous authors and organizations have made a valuable contribution to this subject and demonstrated to homeowners and planners alike, with hard numbers, the measurable payback of trees, even the increase in real estate value! There are many fun facts about the social, environmental, economic and communal benefits of trees at sites like these:

“Trees are Good”,  by the International Society of Arboriculture; “Canopy”, a publication by a volunteer organization in Palo Alto that cares for trees; “Why Shade Streets? The Unexpected Benefit” by the Center of Urban Forest Research.

DSC_6214 rev

As gardener and landscape designer San Diego  passionate about sustainable landscape design another benefit comes to mind that many gardeners have certainly noticed, too:

The canopy of an evergreen tree provides a perfect microclimate for cold-sensitive plants as well as for those that prefer the dappled shade over a sun-baked situation. This is particularly true of inland valley or desert situations where many plants, even the desert plant species, that tolerate full sun closer to the coast appreciate the reprieve that a tree canopy provides as too much sunlight creates problems with the plant’s ability to regulate photosynthesis (this is the chemical process by which plants convert water and carbon dioxide from the air into carbohydrates).

Palm shade

The shade also translates into lower water needs for everything growing beneath as well as prolonged growth and flowering:  While many plants, even drought resistant plants, go limp or floppy in the mid-day heat of summer, the ones in the shade show more intense color and firmer foliage. (Some plants respond to the heat and drought by going dormant and dropping their leaves, such as California Buckeye, a California native plant.)

Drought resistant plants that actually prefer the dappled shade (or afternoon shade from a building) are many succulents, such as Aeoniums, Sedums and Echeverias, even Foxtail Agave Agave attenuata prefers this situation.  Also many flowering perennials and soft-leaved plants such as Sundrops Calylophus drummondii, Copper Canyon Daisy (Mexican Marigold) Tagetes lemmonii, and Purple Sage Salvia leucophylla come to mind.

Bougainvillea TreeAnd then there are the strictly aesthetic-driven aspects of designing with trees, and I can’t even begin to consider a home landscape design without them, or any landscape design for that matter. (I wrote about it already in a previous post “Trees in my garden? No trees, please!”). They are a garden’s upright support and beams; they are the main structural elements around which all other plants are arranged.  They feel to me like the “ceiling” and walls in the garden; shrubs and flowers are the furniture so to speak…

Trees also give a garden its mood:  Compare the feel that a palm tree creates in a garden, with that of a deciduous Sycamore; or picture the branches of a pine tree and the “whoosh” of a breeze going through it, and compare it with the burning orange fall-foliage of a Crape Myrtle or Western Redbud!

Trees can mark a spot as focal point; they can denote a boundary; they can frame and enhance a view or screen out an unsightly one.  Most  important perhaps is the comforting, protected feeling that we experience: There’s something primordial about sitting under the canopy of a tree:  It connects us with ancient, genetically anchored memories of our cave days, I imagine, and sitting in an open field has a very different, un-sheltered feel.  A landscape without them is feels lifeless to me, depressing even; there’s not much shelter for birds so they stay away, and it doesn’t feel nurturing.

If all this makes you want to design your landscape and select the best tree for it, here are a few more resources specifically for San Diego homeowners:

San Diego Tree/Palm/Plant Pictures at http://www.geographylists.com/sandiegoplants.html

And perhaps the tree down the street that you have been interested in has already been identified and listed in our own San Diego Tree map?

This fun interactive map lets you search for a particular tree by neighborhood:  Just locate your street, zero in on it and see whether the tree you are interested in has already been identified.  Conversely, if you have identified a tree in your neighborhood and want to contribute to this database, just upload a photo and the information, and you’ll help your neighbors learn about it.  This great resource also shows you some of those ‘hard numbers’ that I mentioned above as the trees’  “Yearly Eco Impact”.

tree protecting pond

To get a feel for the physical presence and characteristics of a tree, especially at maturity, nothing suits this better than a visit to any of the resources that we have here in San Diego:  There’s the San Diego Zoo of which its founder, Dr. Harry Wegeforth said,  “A luxuriant growth of trees and foliage was one of the chief features of the Zoo as I planned it in my mind’s eye.” (Read also “San Diego Zoo Gardens”).

Then there’s the San Diego Botanic Garden in Encinitas, and the Water Conservation Garden in El Cajon. Or the San Diego Safari Park that  is home to 4 ac of California nativescapes, with more than 1500 individual plants representing 500 species, all of which historically call SoCal home.   And then there’s their conifer forest with more than 1,000 plants representing 400 species of conifers..

And don’t forget San Diego’s Balboa Park!

Take a stroll one of these summer days and marvel at the beauty and cool comfort that the shade of the trees provide.  Send me photos of our finds, share your landscape design ideas with me and let me know if there’s a resource that I didn’t think of!

ART IN THE HOME LANDSCAPE DESIGN – Is It a Case of “You Know It When You See It?“

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Realizing that the competition among landscaping companies San Diego is strong, landscape designers vie for the homeowner’s choice with their best photo of their most artful work because to do so is accepted theory practiced and taught by marketing experts.

This puts me into a bind of sorts:  What is my best work?  I thought I knew that, but when I show my portfolio to potential clients I get the most divergent comments on my work that make me question this assumption. Take this example:

Lots of grasses, a large boulder and colorful perennials give this scene a naturalistic look.

This landscape design appeals to me, and I feel it is one of my more successful ones.  I love how the grasses capture the light, and how the pinks and purples in the foreground harmonize with the greens.  It’s a romantic and successful arrangement of textures and shapes, evoking an idealistic and earthy mountain scene, and many people who see it exclaim “How beautiful this is!”  and “I love this”.

You can perhaps imagine my amazement when I experienced for the first time a client who, with a crinkle in her eyebrow, said “Nah… This looks too weedy for me”.  Other comments have been “too crowded”  and “too jumbled”.

Or take this example of a DIY landscape design:  Here I helped a homeowner fine-tune her front yard landscape design ideas, advised on her selection of drought resistant plants and assisted with the plant layout (this was in order to qualify for the City of San Diego’s  Lawn Replacement Rebate Program.)

Example of DIY design showing front yard landscaping design ideas

The application for the rebate was successful; the homeowner received a partial reimbursement of the turf removal/installation cost.  Better still, her front yard captures the admiration of her neighbors who admit that “there’s now so much more going on” in her yard and that “it is so alive”! My client loves it and is very happy with the design.

(The project is shown here right after planting; nothing has grown in.)

Would you say that the photo of this garden deserves a place in my portfolio as my “best work”?  Is this design artful? Would you like it?

Contrast this project now with this:

Two chairs against a green backdrop invite to sit and relax

I just love this arrangement of two classy chairs, the glimpse of an elegant pavement and a pretty table décor, against a green plant screen that evokes privacy and peace.  The vase and flowers on the table add beautiful, warm colors to the scene and give it a lively spark. Who wouldn’t want to sit here? Don’t all elements combine to make you relaxed as you imagine yourself sitting here?

Without doubt this is a very inviting scene, and I have yet to hear an indifferent comment about it, but is it artful?

In the end I think this is a fairly irrelevant question.  I have found that what counts to my clients is the style they prefer, that speaks to their aesthetics.

Since I have realized this, I find my work much more satisfying.  Of course there’s the tough project once in a while: Designing a garden that excludes anything attractive to bees is “unnatural” to me, even though I understand the client’s fear of bee stings… …(This design incorporated lots of grasses and plants that don’t flower very often, such as Agaves, and wind-pollinated plants, as much as I could determine this.)

Equally, creating a landscape that categorically excluded trees was a challenge.   But I tried my best and gave him what he wanted -  he wouldn’t have felt at ease in a landscape with trees.  So even this was in the end a good experience, and the homeowner was very comfortable with the design.

When I help my clients turn their landscape design ideas into a project that works for them, I’m successful, and they enjoy the beauty they see. And although I have my personal preference as to how I want to use plants to give life to a space, I try to temper it and put my client’s glasses on, so to speak. (That’s why designing a garden without trees or flowers is harder to do).  Sometimes the happy circumstance puts me together with a homeowner who loves my own style, and those designs are most inspiring to me.  But whether those designs or any other ones that I do are artful only you, the user, can say.

 

 

 

Not Happy With Your Yard Design? Improve Your Plantsmanship

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Woman tending a gardenWhen you look into your front yard and backyard what do you see? A beautiful, sweeping vista of plants and colors or just a big pool surrounded by plain grass?

Think about how much time and effort you spent decorating your house; turning it into a unique place that reflects your tastes and preferences. Your front and back yards deserve a similar treatment. If you’ve just got a carpet of grass with little or no landscaping, you are missing out on what could be an amazing, dramatic and relaxing extension of your home.

It’s time to get in touch with your inner plantsmanship.

What’s plantsmanship? It’s a character trait that involves the celebration of plants. A grass yard or a yard completely taken up by a pool and barbeque doesn’t present a colorful, texturized environment. Plants add these features. They also help express your unique character and bring your yard to life, literally!

Throughout my many years as a landscape designer in San Diego County, I’ve found so many ways to use different plants to design a front or backyard retreat homeowners enjoy spending time in. Trees can cast shade, succulents provide color and require little maintenance and water.  Bamboo can add dimensional texture as well as a natural privacy wall.

These are just a few examples of how plants can help homeowners design their yards with purpose. This is plantsmanship.

How do you get plantsmanship? It’s easy. Just open your eyes and start looking around you. You’ll begin to notice the plants in your neighbor’s yards and how they function in the overall design of the yard. Ask your neighbors the names of the plants you like and then do a basic Google search to learn more about what environment the plant requires, how much maintenance it needs to thrive and how it grows.

If you live in San Diego or Southern California, it’s especially important to learn about the water needs of a plant before you put it in your backyard garden. You’ll most likely want to look into drought-resistant plants, which will require less water and maintenance.

Take some time and gather information naturally. I also recommend that you visit a local botanical garden and a local nursery to get even more ideas and great information. I volunteer at the Water Conservation Garden in El Cajon and love answering questions.

Once you feel your plantsmanship growing (pun intended), it’s time to start planting. Begin with a small project, maybe just one side of the house and see how it goes. As you gain more confidence and a better understanding of how outdoor design works, you might want to take on your whole yard.

If that seems too intimidating, you can always call a landscape designer like myself to help you create something truly magical. Landscape designers are experts at helping homeowners turn a plain yard into a destination full of color and natural beauty.

Tune into your plantsmanship, and go out and make your yard beautiful!

Lush and Waterwise Landscape Design in Carlsbad, CA

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Front garden showing plant-driven design This drought resistant landscaping -  front and back – is lovingly planted with exuberant, dramatic greenery that is a pleasure to care for.  Shady sitting areas, water play features for children and adults, and comfortable walkways made from beautiful materials invite year-round outdoor enjoyment. A stunning example of xeriscape design in San Diego.
 
Overgrown landscape hides modern architecture BEFORE: The front yard landscape design was a plant jumble that obscured the entrance to this modern home and darkened the front yard.

WANTED:  The homeowners desired a low water landscape with low maintenance plants; in addition, these gardens should provide year-round gardening pleasure with plants sculptural and bold enough to hold their own against the striking architecture of the home.
 

 
 plant-driven low water landscape in Carlsbad

From the existing planting scheme we kept the palm trees as accents and overhead canopy.  To this we added terrestrial Bromeliads, Echeverias, Aeoniums and Agaves selected for their dramatic foliage, easy care and permanent allure.  A large Aloe bainesii, Bronze Loquats, Leucadendrons “Safari Sunset” and an exotic Trevisia palmata add weight in the mid-plane of the composition.
 

 
 Vriesea sanguinolenta is a striking terrestrial bromeliad The flower bed designs show a plant combination that works well:  The Leucadendrons, Aechmeas and Vrieseas will need watering every 10 days or thereabouts (this of course after the establishment period). They’ll make good companions to the Agaves, Echeverias, Sedums and Coral Bells.
 

 
A naturally rusted cor-ten steel fountain in the front garden

A sleek re-circulating fountain stands across from the window and can be viewed from inside.  A flat-topped boulder and a chair nearby invite to sit and watch the grandchildren play with the water.

This fountain was fabricated from naturally rusted cor-ten steel.  Water is pumped up from a subterranean reservoir into the fountain trough and sheets over its sides.
 

 
Aeonium Black moon pairs up with Peruvian Lily Although Peruvian Lilies and Iris provide a lot of color in the summer months, most of the visual interest is provided by the permanent textures and colors of foliage plants, as here by the Black Moon Aeonium, variegated Foxtail Agave, Dymondia Silver Carpet and Sedum kimnachii, all very fine drought xeriscape plants.
 

 
 A flagstone path bisects the front garden A flagstone path bisects the front garden, connecting the driveway to the front door and continuing around the house to the back garden. It allows viewing and exploring from all angles and increases the enjoyment of so many fascinating plants.
 

 
Pergola and play lawn invite into the garden

This xeriscape design in San Diego has become a garden with generous and exuberant greenery; there is just enough lawn for grandchildren and dog to play on.  A beautiful flagstone path invites strolling past Mexican Marigolds, ornamental grasses, Rock Purslane, Sundrops and Brazilian Coppertree, to name a few.
 

 
Sandbox and splashing boulder in the shade of the Jacaranda The sandbox was placed under the Jacaranda right next to the pergola, and a “splashing boulder” adds another attraction for children and adults. Now parents and children can enjoy their playtime in the comfort of these shady places.
 

 
Vegetables are planted at the feet of perennials in raised beds The raised beds are holding Roses, Lavender, ornamental grasses and Irises of “her” collection as well as vegetables planted at their feet.  With careful placement and their own irrigation cycle no plant interferes with another, and all are doing well.
 

 
Under water world suggested by succulents and cacti Fantastic succulents and cacti evoke a world of other-worldly marine creatures that was inspired by the “sea-scape” created at San Diego Botanic Garden by Jeff Moore, Owner of Solana Succulents. Red Octopus Aloe, Myers Asparagus Fern, Star Fish Aloe and Medusa Plant were set into two earthen mounds decorated with scree, lava rock and boulders to evoke a coral world populated with sea weeds, anemones and star fishes.
 

 
Plants are partners in this garden with man and man-made structures Partners in this project:  Mark Sterk of Columbine Landscape, Escondido, CA, one of the finest landscaping companies in San Diego, executed this project with a never-tiring attention to detail, creative problem solving and absolute dedication to quality performance. Rancho Soledad Nursery, Rancho Santa Fe, CA provided the “exotics” (Vrieseas, Aechmeas, Agaves, Echeverias). Green Meadow Growers in Bonsall, CA provided perennials and succulents. Solana Succulents provided the plants for the “sea scapes”. This is truly a breath taking example of xeriscape in San Diego.
 

 

 

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

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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.

Essentials for the scented winter garden in Southern California

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When I got home last night in the rain, I took in the air in deep breaths:  Such a wonderful smell of wet soil and decaying leaves mixed with something sweet and flowery -  where was this powerful scent coming from?  So I put on my boots, took a flash light and went into the garden. 

California native spring blooming shrub Allen Chickering Sage California clevelandii  I got my face wet as I poked my nose into foliage and flowers of shrubs, perennials and succulents, and not far from my front door I found the first: A grouping of Cleveland Sages Salvia clevelandii that had just opened their buds. These California natives are known for their incredible fragrance, and for those who have never seen or smelled any, the description alone should make your mouth water:  This is an evergreen shrub of the mint family with a refined, rounded and arching form, to 3 to 5 ft tall and wide and wider for some cultivars.  It has wrinkled, toothed gray-green or dark green leaves that can be used in teas or as substitute for culinary sage and that are deliciously fragrant; a breeze blowing through your garden will take the sweet fragrance far. The flowers are an inch-long, pale lavender or violet-blue, arranged in whorls along the stems, and they are also fragrant.  To encourage re-bloom you will need to cut back these flower spikes back, but the shrub is also attractive with its dried flower spikes. 

This plant is so popular that several hybrids have been created:  Mine is the ‘Allen Chickering’ which gets  to 4 ft tall but spreads out to about 6 ft and sports pale purple flowers.  Check out also ‘Winifred Gilman’ with lavender-blue-purple flowers, or ‘Aromas’ with gray-green foliage and deep lavender flowers, ’Pozo Blue’ that is hardier than Alan Chickering’  (to 10 degrees F).  California native shrub Allen Chickering Sage blooming in winter with fragrant flowers

The Cleveland sages need sun (partial sun only in the hottest, driest regions), fast-draining soil, and are drought tolerant although they can tolerate occasional watering. There are differences in their cold tolerances that could be important for your location;  please check with the growers  below for the appropriate one. 

A little deeper in my garden the beam of my flashlight hit a tall lanky shrub whose buds were just opening, and I know it carries its name Mountain Lilac for a good reason: The flowers look like miniature Lilac clusters, and to me even their smell reminds me of true Lilac.  Mine is the hybrid ‘Ray Hartman’ which is the best known and most commonly grown of the bigger ceanothus hybrids that can reach 18 feet in height and width; its rose-colored buds open to display profuse clusters of sky blue flowers. drought tolerant evergreen California native Mountain Lilac shrub Ceanothus Ray Hartman

California’s Mediterranean climate supports 60 species and varieties of ceanothus, and the choices can be confusing. They grow in some of California’s harshest habitats, ranging from wind-buffeted coastal headlands to dry, exposed slopes at the edge of the Mojave Desert.  They come in various forms, from creeping to large shrubs and small trees, and their colors range from bluish whites and pale purples to deep Gentian blue and purple.  Most grow in areas that experience an extended summer drought; they tolerate a range of soil types but often are located on steep slopes in well-drained soils of low or marginal fertility.  Most then require excellent drainage, but some can also tolerate heavy soil and summer water.

Ceanothus have become popular shrubs in Europe, where cultivation of ceanothus species for horticultural purposes began as early as 1713!  Check with one of the growers mentioned below for the species that will perform best in your garden so that its growing conditions match or approach those found in its provenance.

Not far from my backdoor (and closer to the kitchen) I found Rosemary, a true Mediterranean whose name means “dew of the sea”, reminding us of the plant’s native habitat on seaside cliffs in the Mediterranean region.  This winter bloomer is not quite as fragrant as my sages but also definitely desirable.  The evergreen shrub is covered with narrow, resinous dark green leaves, and through winter and spring its fragrant pale blue to deep violet flowers are a magnet for bees and small birds looking for tiny spiders and insects in the tightly packed flowers (and perhaps also eat the petals).

fragrant winter bloomer Mediterranean shrub Rosemary Rosmarinus officinalisI love the ‘official’ Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) with its upright habit and somewhat twisted branches reaching for the sky (height typically 4-6 ft and more, especially ‘Blue Spires’).  I use its stems for bouquets and the leaves for cooking; even the fragrant flowers are edible.  

As with many popular plants, there are too many cultivars and hybrids available to mention here.  Of great importance are the prostrate ground-hugging kinds whose heights range from 1 ft to 6 ft or more that are often used in erosion control or as groundcovers.      drought tolerant groundcover and slope stabilizer Prostrate Rosemary Rosmarinus prostratus

The toughness of Rosemary is admirable: It’s tolerant of moderate watering, sea-side conditions and blistering sun; I think it’s a must-have in the Mediterranean garden.  Although it can take alkaline soil if given a moderate feeding from time to time, good drainage is essential; you can lighten heavy soil with plenty of organic matter.  Their cold-hardiness varies depending on selection.

All of these specimens are excellent examples of low water-use, low maintenance, beneficial plants that I love to use in water-wise landscape designs; I think they belong to the category of plants that are indispensible when the design wants to be ‘sustainable’, and with these attributes and their famous fragrance who could resist?

For California natives plants in San Diego County, check out these growers:

Las Pilitas Nursery, in Escondido, at http://www.laspilitas.com/

Moosa Creek Nursery, in Valley Center,  at http://www.moosacreeknursery.com/

Recon Environmental Inc., in San Diego, at http://www.recon-us.com/

Yay! The fountain is in!

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(Cont’d from http://www.cholmquistgardens.com/2010/12/not-your-everyday-fountain/  )

 cor-ten steel fountain What excitement when the fountain was delivered, after a few weeks of anticipation and faith that the fabricator would “get it” this time.  It’s all we had imagined:  Gracefully curving, it echoes the lines of the house and is of a material that complements its modern character: Cor-ten steel that is formulated to rust naturally and to provide a garden sculpture that works well in this landscape.  Water gently flows over all sides and disappears in the gravel bed underneath (that hides a sub-terranean reservoir from where it is pumped up again). 

This low-volume, water-conserving feature provides constant entertainment as the homeowner sees it from her kitchen window, and will be even more attractive to the grandchildren that can step up closely and play with the water (anticipating this we placed a sitting area next to it.)cor-ten steel water feature in modernistic landscape design

Nothing of these few words reveal of course some “hick-ups” that the landscape contractor had to overcome first (and that are not un-usual in the landscape field):  Tweak the water flow so it sheets evenly over the edges; wait a few days until the water started to clear up after the first rapid rusting which left the water murky.  Now the water is almost clear, and in a month or so it should have completely cleared up.

It’s almost perfect:  Just wait and see it when all the plants are “in” and also the (low voltage) landscape lights that will illuminate it at night; I think it will be beautiful.

cor-ten steel fountain left to rust naturally

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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