Before and After

Wanted to share the before and after of a Sheet Mulching project I helped with in Oakland last Fall! In just 6 short months, this garden has really taken off. Up front is Thrift (Armeria maritima). Behind that is Cistus, and the shrub blooming in back of that is Lavatera. The homeowners kept the birds-of-paradise in the upper left corner, and the blank spaces are waiting for the Manzanita to fill in (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi).

May 2013, After

September 2012, Before

Potted Plants

Purple and Yellow themed perennials for your spring potted plants. Here's Five.

Yarrow	Achillea	2' X 1'	little	Tall yellow flowered scrubby plant.
Bell Flower	Campanula cochlearifolia or punctata	3”-6” or 1-1.5'	Moderate - regular	Bell shaped flowers mostly purple, punctata varying colors.
Aster	Aster, pick species by size and color	1-3' X 1-2'	Regular	Come in many shades, get a smaller purple flower. Also serendipitously come with yellow centers.
Evening Primrose	Oenothera elata hookeri	3' X 3'	Little	Tall and wide flowers bloom all summer.
Beard Tongue	Penstemon spectabilis or other	3-4' X 3-4'	Little	Flower stems on dark green foliage.

Devil Mountain Nursery

Step One:
Locate you nearest Landscape Designer or Landscape Architect.

Step Two:
Order a lot of plants from your designer or architect and ask them to get them from Devil Mountain Wholesale Nursery. (This wholesale nursery works with designers and architects only)

I had the pleasure today of visiting this excellent Nursery. All the plants are orphans and need a new home. Not to mention already happily espalier'd fruit trees, pomegranates ready to eat, and adorable topiary if that is the stuff you like. You cannot lose.

Pictures of plants at Devil Mountain:

Rockrose

Low lying rockrose at Moraga Ave.

The Rock rose a.k.a. Cistus is amazing. From the Western Garden Book 2001 it says they "Accept poor soil, cold ocean winds, salt spray, desert heat". These plants are a dream come true to gardens on the west coast. They have blooms that last through late spring and well into summer and they don't need much water. They are being used in public spaces near the bay and ocean and in the valley beyond the coastal hills. They can really color up a non-formal part of a garden. They come in a many variations of red, purple, pink and white.

Along the Iron Horse Trail in Pleasanton, California there are overgrown Cistus plants on either side of the trail. What I noticed about these that I had never noticed before was the smell of the plants. Where they are so prolific, the smell is overpowering which made me temporarily dislike the plant. Western Garden Book 2001 says "In some rockroses, leaves are coated with a perfumed resin;" which is good news. You can get Cistus without the smell. Looking further, I found that this resin is actually useful in perfumes. But either way, you can only win.

Planning Needed!

Ugh, overgrown no-name plants and ivy

Planning needed by me! My garden has been forever unplanned. I throw my arm out and tell myself I will have a sage hillside planting bed, I didn't even write it down, let alone do a drawing such as the one I recommend to home gardeners. Somehow because I'm the designer, I think I am immune to all these trials and tribulations, and I convince myself that the picture in my head is enough to make it happen. Well, it's not happening. That sage planting bed, is still gnarled with ivy, and an acacia tree that sprouted a couple of years ago, lots of blackberry vines, poison oak, and other no-name plants that sprouted up. Sound familiar?

Starting today! Before I even take one step toward the nursery, I'm counting the pots I already have, measuring the planting bed and deciding what sized plants will fit, calling up my local garden designer (that would be me) and begin planning. No, that doesn't say planting! Planning.

I empathize with the resistance to planning. There are so many of us with our gardens and so little time for them. Some of us really love to spend time working in the garden and make the time, but with everybody having that third thing in their lives (the first two things being family/friends and home, which is time consuming in itself, and the third thing is either work or career or job -- you pick), for most people there is little time for that outdoor place, and a lot of people, no time at all. Some people who don't care, I understand too, "whatever, let's put in a patio and call it a day" - if you would rather be out hiking the trails or sipping iced tea than working in the garden, who is anybody to judge. You guys probably didn't stumble upon this blog post, though, unless you need someone to design the patio (that would be me).

Well, here's my advice, and I'm going to take my advice this time too. Do-it-Yourself people, start using that drawing software package. Make a good rendition of your backyard and plan on how it will finally look. Everyone else, call me up and have me over and let's make a drawing! You can put the drawing on the wall, on a clipboard, make dozens of copies for the contractors and get the garden to a place where it can be enjoyable, like your own personal park. You need to be able to use that extra space.

Let me know how the planning is going! Ask questions!

Good luck!

Oakland Spot Adopted

Oakland has an Adopt-A-Spot program which has been taken seriously on a street corner of Moraga Avenue. The "Moraga Ave. Garden Belles" have outdone themselves with the plantings on this random corner close to a very busy intersection. It was planted possibly as long as 10 years ago. There are mature Pittosporum, Pine, and Japanese Maple in addition to the many perennials, a few succulents and some big shrubs such as Grevillea, a Wisteria standard, and Loropetalum. There is a path through the garden that you wish you had at home. Thank you "Garden Belles", this corner could have been left to the weeds, but this is much better.

Vertical Gardens

A lot of people are posting about Vertical Gardens in general, and it is an interesting topic. Because I am a junkie for the latest big thing, I will have to say something too.

I have a very narrow strip of land on my property that is south facing that gets enough sun during the day to grow such things as squash and melons, if we get enough sun (not fog) during the summer to get these things to grow at all, I thought a vertical garden might be the best solution to the problem. The small strip could be turned into a larger strip if you allow the garden to run up the side of the house.

I have not seen many vertical gardens in person, and I did not remember to take pictures when I was nearby, but there is a picture framed vertical garden at the newly established restaurant in Oakland, California called homeroom. They have a vertical garden on the wall as a decorative element. Click the link, and you can see the vertical garden at the back left corner of the image in the main dining area of the restaurant. I love it!

There is an interesting article about showy vertical gardens around the world mostly by Patrick Blanc on PingMag. He builds them using a sturdy metal frame, some PVC plastic to stabilize and special felt cloth to moisten for the roots of the plants to establish themselves in. Someone quickly pointed out the harsh chemical effects of PVC, which I am interested to hear about since it might negatively effect growing edibles. For your backyard, or apartment I think this is a little overkill though. Here is something more on the home gardeners scale:

Instructables, Succulent Quilt

Instructables, Vegetables

Is a vine covering a wall or fence a vertical garden?