Happy Client

Sometimes, we start our garden design from a patch of dirt. Sometimes, we just tidy up existing gardens. We update the irrigation, add fresh plants and mulch, and maybe lighting. This garden got a makeover right before the holidays and our happy client sent us the email below. We’ll update with Spring bloom photos soon.

Terraced garden, after cleanup and winter planting

“I’m sitting in my little office which looks out on the garden, and it is just so beautiful I had to write.  The sights and smells out there are divine, and yesterday we were visited by a mob of butterflies that I think are Painted Ladies!
I put in some Mister Lincoln roses, who seem really happy here, and I’ve pruned the guava “tree” down to large-bush size, which will suit the garden better.  The Anna apples look wonderful and both the Redbud and Pomegranate seem to be thriving.
I will send pix around Eastertime when all is in bloom.  Meanwhile, thanks again for a lovely job!
Warmly, Susie

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Rain Gardens, yes

Lots of rain this year in Los Angeles! We’ve been installing rain gardens all over the Eastside for several years now. It’s been fun watching them fill during the storms.  Instead of rushing into the city storm drains, and then straight to the ocean, this nitrogen-rich, chlorine-free storm water is harvested in the gardens. It is quickly absorbed into the garden soil, where it will be available to the surrounding plants and trees as they need it for months to come. Here are photos of some of the rain garden swales we’ve installed…

Downspouts connected to drain line (blue line) and into swales

A perfect pair, designed to match the home’s foundation, planted with Australian Willows.

A larger rain garden, full here. Water was absorbed by the next morning.

All three gardens, above, harvest water from the roof gutters. We connected downspouts to the swales via underground drainpipes. Now the water is dispersed and absorbed. Extra water will filter through the soil into aquifers.

DIY? Here’s a link to the City of LA LID codes and instructions: http://sustain.scag.ca.gov/Documents/2%20City%20of%20LA%20Bureau%20of%20Sanitation.pdf

Garden Bats

We found this little Mouse-Eared bat sleeping outside a garage in Seattle, a few summers ago.

Recently, a client requested a bat-friendly garden. We’ve designed kid-friendly, dog-friendly, bee-friendly (and un-friendly for bee-allergic), and certainly bird & butterfly-friendly. Bat-friendly was a new one!

Bats are helpful predators, eating insects we don’t want in our gardens. They eat mosquitos and other pests, including scorpions and roaches. They are also effective pollinators.

Adding bat boxes, a water source, keeping big healthy trees and shrubs for perching all encourage bat visitors. Plants that bloom and/or release fragrance at night are enticing, as are plants with pale blooms and broad open flowers. Brugmansia (Angel Trumpet) is topping my plant list, followed by California Evening Primrose. I’ve seen one in my garden, visiting my large Solandra maxima (Cup of Gold Vine) flower

Also avoid pesticides and herbicides, of course.

Sources/Resources:

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/mar/08/gardening-save-bats

https://www.kcet.org/redefine/heres-to-the-bats-of-california

https://www.scpr.org/news/2014/07/21/45467/getting-to-know-the-secret-world-of-la-s-bats/

https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/home/gardening/a20706363/how-to-attract-bats/

Best of Houzz, again.

Thanks, Houzz readers, for voting us one of the Best Of Houzz 2017!

Sustainable San Diego Landscapes, the handbook

We helped G3 (Green Gardens Group) write this handbook for the San Diego SLP. Click on the link below for the full PDF.

The Sustainable Landscapes Program partners have produced a comprehensive, 71-page color guide entitled San Diego Sustainable Landscape Guidelines which details best practices and recommendations for a watershed approach to landscaping.

 

Dog-Friendly Garden Tidy-up

Starting with: bare dirt, wild vines, and existing decks.

What did we design? First, we worked out the grade change by adding a short garden wall and steps and cleaned up the vines. Next, drip irrigation, concrete pavers and a fossil-fuel-free EcoSmart firepit created outdoor living spaces, which needed some new outdoor furniture (we love Pot-Ted!).

Plants make the garden, so we started a soil party (by planting Myco-Packs with each plant), planted climate appropriate, low-water, dog-proof plants, and topped it all with a thick, healthy layer of mulch to feed the soil, limit evaporation, and keep everyone clean.

Ending: No! Now the fun starts for our clients, their dog, and their healthy new garden.

Here’s what the garden does:

+ Captures and infiltrates stormwater, eliminating site run-off and the need for imported water.

+ Produces lemons, apples, shade, habitat, flowers, and year-round color.

+ Requires limited maintenance: Paths, decks and stairs should be swept weekly, with all leaf debris spread around on existing mulch. Minor weeding will be required as everything settles in, and after seasonal rains. Trees and vines will need yearly pruning.

+ Requires limited inputs: Efficient drip irrigation is required to establish new plants, and then provide supplemental water in drought years, just twice a month. Light fixtures are LED and both super efficient and dimmable (with an app!).

+ Dog playground! Mulch keeps paws clean, limits flees, and provides a safe landing for rolling and frolicking. Plants are all sturdy and can stand an enthusiastic pit bull running into and through them.

Thank you “Houzzers”!

We are so honored to have been given the “Best Of Houzz 2015” Award in Design. Design award winners’ work was the most popular among the more than 25 million monthly users on Houzz, know as “Houzzers.”