Garden
introduction
The garden and home are located in the Silver Lake district
of Los Angeles on a rectangular lot that traverses a rather
steep slope. The single story modern house takes up most of
the available flat ground with steep slopes making up most of
the garden area. A very large Chinese Elm tree creates a beautiful
shaded patio and garden over the entire rear yard. Originally,
all of garden slopes were covered in thick overgrown Algerian
Ivy which I was allergic to and had the entire mass ripped out.
New irrigation was added and the garden was divided into zones.
The front and side gardens are mostly steep sloped areas and
because of the difficulty of access, I planted it with a combination
of many drought tolerant California, Mediterranean, and Australian
natives that tolerate natural rainfall and maybe only one watering
cycle per month. The rear yard being very shady and much more
usable was done with a combination of tropicals and woodland
plants that convey lush, green textures and variegated foliage
to create drama. A small portion of the yard near the front
door allows me to experiment with perennials and annuals. The
garden has been my experimental laboratory for about 10 years
and plantings change constantly as I find new plants to try
out, see how the grow and bloom and see how to use them in my
garden design.
Goings
on in my own garden
Fall has arrived and I’m just beginning to reclaim the
garden from the overgrowth of the summer months. Last month,
we began clearing large sections of the garden with the intention
of pulling out the old and putting in the new. Over the last
few years, I’ve accumulated quite a few new plants that
have suffered by remaining in their containers as there hasn’t
been time or space to add them in. The most important aspect
of a garden designer, such as myself, is to stay abreast of
the new and wonderful varieties that are being introduced onto
the market. Why use the same 10 plants over and over again?
Check out below for the new plants introductions that I’m
crazy about.
The summer was relatively mild without any real scorching days
and the garden chugged along with just once a week watering
(my hillside got no summer water) and the pots received weekly
or twice weekly waterings. I even got my Bearss Lime to produce
4 limes in a container. Next year, I’ve got to be more
regular about fertilizing the potted plants as the frequency
of watering will leach out most of the nutrients in the soil.
Garden
activities by season
As Fall has arrived, its time to do the majority of the cleanup
in preparation for the explosion of growth that occurs starting
in the spring. All the summer annuals should be removed (unless
they still look too good) and perennials should be cut back
according to the plant’s needs to refresh the old spent
flowers and overgrowth and just a general tidying up. Fall/Winter/Spring
annuals such as; Pansies, Snapdragons, Iceland Poppies, Stock,
and Calendulas, can be purchased starting in September to fill
in where garden cleanup has left holes and the earlier you get
them in the more they benefit from the last of the summer warmth
and sunshine. I’m also beginning to think about trimming
back my fruit trees and roses all of which should start at the
end of the year.
Plant
focus on new plants and the tried and true
Sweet Peas can be started from seed starting in September and
the sooner you get them in the more likely you’ll have
blooms all winter otherwise the vine will languish until spring
before it gives you a show. Nasturtiums are another seed that’s
fun to play with as you can get good coverage and flowers during
the winter months and well into summer and if you’re lucky,
they’ll reseed and come back next year. Alstroemerias
are coming back in my garden now, they seem to tolerate quite
a bit of shade from a Chinese Elm tree (although they get floppy
waiting for the sun to come out), they continue to get stronger
over the years. Another new favorite of mine are the perennial
Nemesias which seem to come in a plethora of colors and look
great either in the garden or in a pot with other plants. They
seem to bloom almost all the time. The ongoing sages are a great
genus that you can spend a lifetime growing and learning about
all the varieties. One called Salvia ‘Van Houtii’
blooms with rich deep red flowers (almost burgundy) even in
the shade of the infamous Chinese Elm in my backyard. It has
a tropical nature to it and looks great next to spikey Crinum
lilies and other large foliage plants. Salvia cacaliafolia is
another tropical sage that blooms with the most intense blue
flowers and tends to flop over as it creeps and spreads over
the ground rooting as it grows like a groundcover although if
given some support will grow up to 6ft. tall.
Design
ideas
Where do the design ideas come from? Sometimes it is shear inspiration
and sometimes it is nothing more than practical considerations.
The most important results usually include a little of both.
Every garden is different as every house is different. They
all have their quirky characteristics and it’s important
that you get to know all the advantages and disadvantages of
each. This process is called a ‘site analysis’ and
as a Landscape Architect it is critical that I spend some time
in every space to get a feel for it. The most difficult design
process involves designing before a building or house is built
as you need to rely on your best guess as to how all the elements
“speak” to each other.
Where does the sun rise and set? Where are the sunny and shady
areas? From where do the prevailing winds blow? Where does water
travel when it rains? Does the ground slope away from the house
or toward it? What is the style of the house? What views are
presented from the property or what views are presented from
inside the house? Are the neighboring properties close and what
views do they have into the property? What existing vegetation
exists? What is its condition? Should it be saved or removed?
These are just a few of the questions that need to be addressed
for every property and all of them come into play during the
design process.
Plant
Combinations
I recently created a series of gardens at a house that incorporated
color combination flower borders in the style of the great English
garden designer Gertrude Jekyll. She lived around the turn of
the 20th century and was breathtakingly brilliant at selecting
color themes for her gardens.
In this garden, there was a yellow border, a pink border, and
a color wheel garden that started at red and went through the
color spectrum along its entire length ending up at blue/violet.
In the yellow border, Euphorbia chariacas ‘Wulfenii’
with its metallic blue/green foliage and topped with chartreuse
yellow flowers sits next to grey lavender cotton (Santolina
chamaecyparissus) with little yellow button flowers as well
as spiky Yellow-flowering Hot Poker (Kniphofia ‘Malibu
Yellow’) and Yellow-flowering Jerusalem Sage (Phlomis
lanata). Coreopsis ‘Sunray’ gives almost year round
color and yellow daylilies provide the continuous year round
interest that serves as the anchor to this garden. Next time,
I’ll talk about the other color combinations.
Other
garden treats
I’m sad to admit this, but I have never gone to Roger’s
Gardens in Costa Mesa and I’m determined to change that
in the next few months. I do go visit retail nurseries with
some regularity. In the past, my favorite was Hortus in Pasadena,
(how sad that should have closed). Other retail nurseries that
I frequent include; good old Sunset Nursery in the Silverlake
area (it’s a small nursery, but the plant purchaser is
excellent at finding interesting new plants), Burkhard’s
in Pasadena (much improved in the last ten years), Marina Del
Rey Garden Center (I can always find something new and never
before seen), Plant Systems in Silverlake (they have a contracting
business on the side and one of the owners is a plant nut like
me, you’ll never find 2 of anything there), and Sperling
Nursery in Calabasas, and Desert to Jungle Nursery in Montebello
(grower Gary Hammer has introduced innumerable plants to Southern
California in the last 15 years). Of course, I also frequent
wholesale nurseries as well, but I can do that.
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