Blue Planet Garden Blog

Garden Designers Roundtable: Turning a lawn into a native garden (on a budget)

 

 Here in the East Bay of California, the Bringing Back the Natives tour held each May is one of the most popular garden tours around. Not only is it free, but unlike the expensive, professionally designed and installed gardens that are the hallmark of other fund-raising tours, most of the gardens were designed and installed at least in part by the homeowners themselves. Tour-goers are as interested in asking “how to” questions as they are in admiring the beauty of a California native garden in spring.

 This year, I was particularly impressed by a homeowner who turned her water-guzzling front yard into a mostly native, wild life habitat garden—and all in the space of only three years and on a budget of a few thousand dollars. So what exactly were the secrets to her success?

Before - the epitome of blah

 

Three years later

 

Study up, but remember that a little professional help goes a long way

Diane took classes from the Bay Friendly Coalition, and as a Bay Friendly Qualified Landscape Professional, I can vouch for the caliber of instruction offered. In addition to learning some of the skills she would need to create a habitat garden, she met designer Terrel Brand, who was willing to visit her site and advise her on a plant palette appropriate for her cultural conditions and lifestyle goals. Diane believes the modest design fee she paid not only saved her money in the long run, but also the frustration and lost time that can come from poor plant choices.

 

Linanthus grandiflorus, a stunning, long-blooming annual that self-sows readily, is an example of a less common California native an experienced designer can introduce a new gardener to.

 

Justly popular Penstemon heterophyllus 'Margarita Bop' should not be planted too close to walkways where its delicate stems can be broken.

 

Be patient – think small when it comes to plants

For most of the plants in her garden, Diane opted to purchase the smallest-sized containers available. She also relied heavily on seed. Not only is this an economical strategy, but smaller plants are quicker to establish, more likely to thrive and usually catch up to their beefier cousins in the span of a few years.

 

 Lasthenia glabrata grown from seed

 

Native Sisyrinchium establishes easily from one gallon containers

 

Look for opportunities to save

Sheet mulching was the primary method used to get the garden ready for planting, and Diane relied on cardboard scavenged from dumpsters to keep material costs down. (Hats off to Diane on that one – I know from experienced how hard mismatched sheets of cardboard can be to deal with. My contractors and I go the less fuss but more expensive route and purchase cardboard in rolls.) She chose to remove the sod rather than sheet mulch on top of it, and instead of having the excess sod hauled away, it was used to create the berms. No hauling fee plus less soil to purchase means a double savings. Finally, Diane took advantage of the rebates being offered by her utility company, and received a check for almost $400 to help defray costs. I’ve benefited from similar rebate programs when making my own small garden more water efficient, and always encourage clients to find out what is available before removing any of the old landscape.

 

A mature buckeye creates a shady spot for viewing the new garden

 

The bottom line? If you’re willing to put in some elbow grease and ask for a little help, turning an under-used lawn into a wild life haven doesn’t have to break the bank.

To read what other Garden Designers Roundtable members have to say on the topic of designing with natives, check out these posts:

Thomas Rainer : Grounded Design : Washington, D.C.

David Cristiani : The Desert Edge : Albuquerque, NM

Rebecca Sweet : Gossip In The Garden : Los Altos, CA

Pam Penick : Digging : Austin, TX

Mary Gallagher Gray : Black Walnut Dispatch : Washington, D.C.

Lesley Hegarty & Robert Webber : Hegarty Webber Partnership : Bristol, UK

Genevieve Schmidt : North Coast Gardening : Arcata, CA

Douglas Owens-Pike : Energyscapes : Minneapolis, MN

Debbie Roberts : A Garden of Possibilities : Stamford, CT

Scott Hokunson : Blue Heron Landscapes : Granby, CT

Wordless Wednesday: UC Davis Arboretum

Nick and I took advantage of a sunny Saturday last April to spend a day in Davis, California. The highlight was biking around the spectacular arboretum located on the University of California campus.

 

We started with the Australian plant collection:

 

Grevillea

 

Anigozanthos

 

Callestemon 'Little John', one of my favorite small space shrubs

 

Then we moved onto California natives:

A path through the redwoods

 

Ceanothus sets off bright yellow Fremontodendron

 

Douglas Iris

 

Not sure what this is, but it's certainly lovely. A native form of Cape Mallow?

 

 

And finally, the East Asian Collection

 

Toona sinensis 'Flamigo'

 

Chinese Fringe Tree

 

Rosa x odorata 'Mutabilis'  - Butterfly Rose is a UC Davis All-Star selection

 

Chinese ground orchard (letilla striata) is also an All-Star selection

 

Thanks for joining me on my tour!

Colorful California-Native Perennials

Because many California natives go summer-dormant without supplemental water, there's a little joke that still makes the rounds in California horticultural circles: if you want to plant natives, you better learn to like the color brown. But anyone who enjoyed this year's Bringing Back the Natives Tour in Contra Costa and Alameda counties was treated to a bevy of blooms in colors ranging from richly-hued blues to brilliant oranges and baby-soft pinks. Here are a few of the perennials and annuals that really caught my eye. And for those not ready to take the plunge into an all-native garden, many of these blend beautifully with a traditional garden, as long as they have some drainage and aren't overwatered in the summer.

Foothills Penstemon - Penstemon heterophyllus 'Margarita BOP'

 

Apricot Mallow - Sphaeralcea ambigua

 

Yellowray Goldfields - Lasthenia glabrata 

 

California Poppy - Escholzia californica 'Apricot Chiffon'

 

Baby Blue Eyes - Nemophila menziesii

 

Sticky Monkey Flower - Mimulus

 

Pink Califonia Poppies, Blue Penstemon and Yellow Monkey Flower

 

Wind Poppy - Stylomecon heterophylla

 

Linanthus grandiflorus

 

Interested in learning more? The next tour is a year away, but California Native Plants for the Garden and Designing California Native Gardens: The Plant Community Approach to Artful, Ecological Gardens are still the gold standards for beginners and experienced native gardeners alike.

Book Review: Reimagining the California Lawn

For those considering getting rid of their lawn, two things often stand in the way: imagination and horticultural know-how.  Reimagining the California Lawn:Water-conserving Plants, Practices, and Designs by Carol Bornstein, David Fross and Bart O'Brien from Cachuma Press addresses both.

Plant This, Not That

Good to know handsome celebs like Baywatch alum David Charvet agonize over plant picks just like the rest of us garden geeks.

Now that the Holiday Season is underway, I’m already thinking about its equally well known, but much less popular follow-up – that’s right, the Diet Season.  One of the most successful diet books to hit the market recently is Eat This, Not That, which takes the approach that by regularly swapping out poor food choices for healthier ones, we can easily drop extra pounds.

This is good advice for gardeners as well. I confess I’m often just as tempted to choose plants that I know don’t really belong in my Mediterranean garden as I am to reach for a second slice of chocolate cake.  Both bad decisions are easy to rationalize – the gratification is instant while the price I’ll pay for an inappropriate plant choice or an expanding waistline is somewhere off in the hazy future.

But just like I’m working hard to make it through the holidays with no extra pounds, I’m also trying to choose plants for myself and my clients that will thrive with a minimum of water, pruning and amendments.  Many of my clients are transplants from high water, high humidity parts of the country, so I’m particularly interested in plants that belong here in California, but share similar characteristics to the classics they grew up with. To make my list, a plant has to tolerate harsh sun, clay soil and need minimal water.  Oh yeah, and look good, too.  Here are four favorites – as a bonus, the last three are California natives and deer resistant.

Instead of a Japanese Maple, try Prunus ‘Purple Pony’

It’s hard to beat the beauty of a red-leafed Japanese maple, but in our hot, dry climate, even with extra irrigation, burnt foliage is usually a summer reality.  Fast growing ‘Purple Pony’ ornamental plum (Prunus cerasifera) has the same red-purple foliage and compact size of many Japanese Maples, but thrives in the sun with minimum supplemental water.  And while you’re still waiting around for your Japanese Maple to sport its first leaf of the season, this small scale ornamental plum will be brightening your early spring garden with branches laden with soft pink blooms.

Instead of ‘Elijah Blue’ fescue, try Calamagrostis foliosa

Let me say it here first:  I am SO over Elijah Blue fescue – or any blue fescue for that matter.  Beautiful when newly planted, Festuca glauca quickly turns into a dense, half dead mess, and must be replaced regularly if you want to keep it looking its best.  I first saw sweetly petite Calamagrostis foliosa in a garden designed by native garden specialist  Kelly Marshall and fell hard for its compact form, fine foliage and mop-head appearance when in bloom.  It’s green-with-a-hint-of-blue rather than blue, but keeps its good looks indefinitely and unlike its popular cousin ‘Karl Foerster’ is a California native.

Instead of Delphiniums, try Penstemon heterophyllus ‘Margarita Bop’

Brilliant blue flowers with a deep pink tinge, ‘Margarita Bop’ is perfect if you want to recreate the look of a classic cottage garden in a dry climate – or if you just want a long blooming perennial that can stand up to heat and clay soil. 

Instead of Lilacs, try Verbena lilacina ‘De La Mina’

Yes, that IS Calamagrostis foliosa making a second appearance in front of Verbena lilacena 'De La Mina'

I've been told the secret to successfully growing lilacs in warm weather climates is to put ice cubes around their roots in the winter, but for those of us who take a more relaxed approach to gardening, Verbena 'De La Mina' makes a delightful alternative. With a delicate, open habit, this fast growing charmer blooms practically year round.  An outstanding pollinator plant, a simple shearing to maintain its shape mid-winter is all that’s required to keep it looking lovely. 

That's a list of my favorites high-powered subs - what are yours?