GARDENWRIGHT

Welcome to Gardenwright!

GARDENWRIGHT offers both on-site and "virtual" garden design services.  

With my "Before and After Photographic Mockup" program, I can design your garden wherever you are! Drop me a note at ocbird@cox.net to inquire about fees and details.

 

No garden is too large or small to be a beautiful part of your life.

No garden has problems that can't be fixed to make your life easy.

Every garden can be a source of pleasure, pride, and happiness.

   

DESIGN RECIPE: RAISED BEDS, GARDEN PATHS, DROUGHT TOLERANT PLANTS

INGREDIENTS:   One large blank slate of a yard.

 

 

8 x 10 foot raised beds of keystone, pavers, or wood.

Sandy loam planting mix, three feet deep in the beds.

Decomposed granite for paths between the raised beds.

To fill the beds:

Full sun plants: 

Citrus or other fruit trees suited for your zone

Lavender

Roses ( (floribundas for abundance; hybrid teas for cutting bouquets)

Salvia

Upright Rosemary

Daylilies

Yarrow

Stachys (Lambs Ears) for edging

If you want some grass, use either artificial turf (it looks like the real thing!) or a native grass, such as Buffalo grass or Sedge.

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DIRECTIONS:  Outline the raised beds and build the borders with the chosen material.

Dig up the existing soil to a depth of one foot.  Add sandy loam and mix with native soil.

Add irrigation:  Either drip lines or overhead sprinklers, controlled with "smart timers."

Plant a fruit tree in the corner of each bed. 

Plant the beds with any mix of drought tolerant plants you prefer; either mixed, or 1-2 types of plant per bed. (Keep the roses planted together, however.)

Between the beds, lay a weed cloth barrier and 3-4 inches of decomposed granite, compacted to make a solid path.

Once the plants are established, you will only need to water them a few times a week during summer, and less often in winter if you get winter rain.

 

Concept mockup by Gardenwright 

 

Concept mockup by Gardenwright

DREAM GARDEN: STEP ONE

We're thinking of moving to a place where we can have a bit of land.  Of course, this means my brain is starting to work overtime, daydreaming about the huge new garden I'll create...

I've never tackled a large piece of raw land before, so I figured I'd better start researching the proper way to begin.  And, why not share what I learn with you?

So, here is step one:  Preparing the land.  First thing to do is determine what type of soil you have.  Here's a website I found with valuable information about how to do that:

Four Easy Do It Yourself Soil Tests

CAVEAT:  The soil preparation will depend on the types of plants you are going to install.  Many types of plants, most notably "native" plants, prefer a lean, unamended soil.  In the long run, these plants will do better if established in the natural soil found on site.  Garden designer and fellow blogger Susan Morrison has an excellent article about this in her terrific new website,Blue Planet Gardening

This information applies to any size garden, of course, so I hope that you'll both enjoy and learn from my ongoing garden dreaming!

HELPING YOUR GARDEN SURVIVE WATER CUTBACKS

Its finally happened:  here in Orange County, we're on mandatory water reduction.  In my little town, we are required to reduce our water use by 20%!  That's a fairly significant percentage, especially when you are being water frugal to start with.

But its okay!  Your garden will do just fine, with a few adjustments.  Here are some quick tips that should help:

• MULCH.

  A few inches of mulch, whether its bark, compost, gravel, or stone, will keep moisture in the soil and cool the roots.  This alone can help many of your plants survive having less water.

 REMOVE UNNECESSARY PLANTS. For example, you really don't need plants on the side of your house where you store the garbage cans.  If there is a window with a view on that area, plant a dramatic Euphorbia like "Blackbird" in a pot and hand water it once a week.  Then, cap off the sprinkler heads where you've removed the plants. 

RESET THE SPRINKLERS FOR LESS OFTEN AND LONGER.  If you're watering every day, or every other day, for three to five minutes at a time, switch to every third or fourth day for 10 minutes.  This is how you should be watering, anyway.  You want the water to penetrate deeply so that the plants send their roots deeper, which helps them cope with dry conditions.

REPLACE 'THIRSTY' PLANTS. Here's a list of common 'thirsty' plants and suggested replacements:

Impatiens:  Substitute ivy geranium, thyme, gazanias.

Ferns/coleus:   Substitute coral bells, kalanchoe, tansy.

Roses:  Substitute salvia, tagetes, waxflower, pentas, mallow

Camellia/azalea:  Substitute dwarf bottlebrush, viburnum

Willow:  Substitute agonis, leptospermum 'Dark Shadows"

• CREATE SHADE:  Be creative and decorative!  Use pretty umbrellas, arbors, or potted trees to add instant shade pockets in the garden.  Don't eliminate sunlight, but arrange it so that the plants get shade in mid-day.

• REMOVE LAWN:  Lawns are water hogs!  So unless you really use the lawn for recreation, you can at least reduce its size. You can substitute artificial grass (it looks great!), or drought tolerant ground cover like gazanias, myoporum, or sedum.  You can also create a "stroll garden" of gravel or shredded bark winding through drought tolerant shrubs and flowers like rosemary, salvia, manzanita, ceanothus, and hawthorne.  (See my previous post, 'Drought Tolerant Coastal Garden.")

GOOD INFORMATION SOURCES:  Your local nursery and water company are a great source of advice and suggestions.  Some counties even give homeowners free drought tolerant trees! 

Hope this helps out.  And pray for June Gloom!

    

PATIO TREES

Patio trees, also commonly called "standards," are a wonderful garden design element.  They are especially useful to add height or a vertical element to a small garden space. 

Another use they serve is to provide a visual screen while still leaving space below to plant other shrubs or flowers.

There is a wonderful selection of plants available in standard form these days.  Here are some suggestions for their use:

FORMAL GARDENS 

Privet, Eugenia, or Hawthorne    

 

COTTAGE GARDENS

Roses

    

Duranta  

  

 Mallow (Lavatera) 

  

Buddleia

 

ASIAN GARDENS

Chinese Fringe Flower (Loropetalum)

 

Dwarf Willow

 

CONTEMPORARY GARDENS

Olive (Olea europaea)

 

Cordyline

 

Along with standards, there are also many types of dwarf trees that serve the same purpose.

One of my very favorites is the Young's Weeping Birch, especially the fascinating serpentine style.  I think its the perfect accent for an Asian garden.

 

Or, the weeping Blue Atlas Cedar

So, the next time you are looking for a unique plant to fill a narrow space, consider a standard.  Even if your garden center doesn't have one on the grounds, you can make a special request for whichever type of standard you are seeking. 

UPDATE ON 'DITCHING THE LAWN'

Remember that post about removing the front lawn and planting drought tolerant flowers and shrubs instead?  Here's how it looked earlier this year, and how it looks now.  The coreopsis have re-emerged, the mallow and iceberg roses are blooming, and the jasmine is in full force:

ORIGINAL GARDEN

 

HOW IT LOOKS IN JUNE

WHY IS MY CAMELLIA DROPPING ITS FLOWERS?

Camellia Flower Blight.  Oh so sad, oh so common.  But fear not, help is available!

Camellia flower blight is what happens when your lovely blossoms turn brown and drop off prematurely. 

The condition is caused by a fungus, Ciborinia camelliae.  Rainy, humid weather is the culprit, and since camellias usually flower at this time of year, well, there lies the rub.

You can both prevent and manage the problem. 

Prevent the blight by removing the infected flowers from the plant and the ground (but don't add them to the compost pile!)   The fungus spores on the buds will go into the ground and can stay dormant for years, recurring each spring. 

Manage the problem in a number of ways:

Avoid overhead watering. Cover the soil under the bushes with a few inches of organic mulch to help kill off spores.  Prune out thin, old, or low hanging branches to promote air circulation.

If you want to spray a fungicide, I recommend using a product with neem oil, which is organic.  Spray the plant and the soil around it.

DESIGN RECIPE OF THE WEEK: A COASTAL DROUGHT TOLERANT GARDEN

BEFORE:  1600 square feet of dead lawn.

 

Photo of job site in Carmel, California

AFTER:    A DELIGHTFUL, LOW MAINTENANCE AND DROUGHT TOLERANT STROLL GARDEN

 

Photo mockup by Gardenwright.

INGREDIENTS:  (per 200 square feet)

1 cubic yard of decomposed granite

1 Ceanothus 'Concha' or 'Carmel Creeper'

1 Westringia 'Wynnabie Gem'

1 Golden Euonymus

1 Grevillea (either 'Coastal Gem' or 'Magic Lantern')

 

1 Salvia 'Waverly'

  

1 Arctostaphylos (Manzanita) 'Baby Bear'

 

1 'Tuscan Blue' Rosemary

3 Erigeron (Santa Barbara Daisy)

 

3 Ivy Geranium (any bright color)

 

1 comfy weatherproof bench

 

DIRECTIONS:]

Remove lawn. 

Generously apply pre-emergent herbicide such as Amaze to prevent the grass from resprouting.

For clay soil, add planting compost (but don't overamend; native plants prefer lean soil.)

Lay the decomposed granite over the entire area.

Plant in a meandering, curved pattern, leaving space in the center for a winding path.

Grab a mystery novel, a tall iced tea, and your sun hat and stroll to the bench to watch the hummingbirds and butterflies enjoy the garden with you!

 

PLANT OF THE WEEK: STIPA TENUISSIMA (Mexican Feather Grass)

    

Floating in the slightest breeze, Stipa adds beautiful movement to the garden.

It literally glows golden in the light, and when it gets wet, the beads of water sparkle in its fine texture.

Easy to maintain, Stipa does not require a full cut back like other grasses.  Simply grab the clump like a big ponytail, give it a twist, and cut the top back a few inches.  It will return to a lovely arching shape.  Or, you can let it grow to full size for a 3 foot tall drift of pale wine colored "flower" heads.

It is a delightful contrast to dense shrubs, or can be used alone to give a grassland look to a drier landscape.

Its drought tolerant and will grow in both full sun and part sun.  It does self seed, but not excessively.

YET ANOTHER REMINDER WHY NOT TO SPRAY POISONS

The bush tits in my lime tree reminded me why I don't spray poison in my garden.

I've been battling scale on my baby citrus trees.  However, I like to garden "bare", meaning that I don't use many products in my garden other than GroPower fertilizer (which contains humus, love the stuff!) and mulch.  I especially resist using any pesticides, even if they are "organic."  They still kill things.

So,instead of spraying with Spinosad (organic but lethal) I got out a rag and some ammonia based window cleaner, and simply wiped the scale off the branches.  Then I gave the plant a good rinse of water (which also knocked off the ants that were tending the scale.)  It took a few minutes, but it was relaxing, and the plant was immediately free of the pests.

Later in the afternoon, my husband pointed out that there were birds in the lime tree.  Sure enough, several little bush tits were perusing the branches, looking for any remaining insects which they promptly ate. If I'd sprayed with the Spinosad, it would have sickened the birds.

 There are many ways to deal with unwanted bugs on your plants. 

1.  Keep the garden healthy.  Give it healthy living soil, good air circulation, and proper watering.  Healthy plants resist pests on their own.

2.  Keep the plants clean.  Pick up dropped fungusy leaves under the roses, remove brown soggy blossoms from the azaleas and camellias, prune off dead or infested branches and stems.

3.  Use your hands.  I was taught that the gardener's best tool is her fingertips. You can scrape off aphids and scale by hand (use latex gloves if you're squeamish) or move those unwanted tomato horn worms to a "sacrifice" plant.

4.  Use non-toxic solutions.  A bit of dish soap in water will get rid of aphids, or an alcohol/water solution is good to clean off spider mites and scale.  Worm castings, applied regularly, will systemically repel whitefly.

5.  Replace soil in containers.  Certain pests and fungus will go dormant in the soil under an infested plant.  If the problem keeps returning despite your best efforts, think about replacing the soil.

NOW, THE MOST IMPORTANT TIP OF ALL:  

Invite and welcome birds, lizards, and "beneficial" insects into your garden!  They are Nature's best pest controllers.  If you spray a plant with pesticide or BT (which kills ALL caterpillars, including butterfly cats) you will injure and discourage those helpers.

Oh, and remember that hummingbird bathing on the rose leaves that I told you about in my rose post?  A bath laced with fungicide and pesticide wouldn't be much of a treat.

Susan, aka "Gardenchick"garden chick's design tips makes an excellent point, which is that we can also learn to live with imperfection.  There's a reward for being tolerant of some chewed leaves -- butterflies and a healthy ecosystem!  Adorable bunnies playing in the yard.... it brings a garden to life.  There's room enough and greenery enough to share!

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ROSES

The roses in my garden are thriving in this cooler sunny weather (the dose of GroPower I gave them before the rains came didn't hurt either...)

Here's Baron Edmond de Rothschild (intensely fragrant)

 

And my favorite, the David Austen rose Golden Celebration just budding out (smells like honey) with a full blown Easter Egg rose in the background.