Tom Hessel

Just a thought from Soil Science perspective on reducing the water requirements for any plant. Use lots of organic material and or peat moss around the plant,(not too much) and surround other areas with sand. Make sure the drip is going on the water holding material. Sand has the lowest affinity for water while clay has the highest and organic…[Read more]

Two years after clearing the invasives in my part of the creekbed in my backyard – you know, plants like Arundo and Tamarisk (how did that get there?) and Washingtonia palms (we all know how that got there) – the birds were kind enough to plant 3 Quercus agrifolia and a Toyon that is now about 12′ high. None of these are requiring additional water…[Read more]

Christmas berry!? They can make a landscape designer a hero!

Hello, Hope to exchange knowledge and experience. Regards to All. ümit harite from turkey

I’m a residential Landscape Designer in San Diego’s East County. Has anyone mentioned Tree of Life Nursery in San Juan Capistrano? They have a nice newsletter as well you can subscribe to.
I like to incorporate garden-friendly california natives in my designs.

Charles, This is probably easier to deal with in Phoenix as most people don’t really expect anything to live here without water. Even natives. I don’t know how you can expect a plant that is used to regular and frequent irrigation at the grower, to suddenly become a plant that thrives with irregular and infrequent feeding.

Ya Bill, all I know is when a local suburban city requires the planting of natives in parking lot islands that get hammered by not only the heated asphalt but also the vehicle exhaust, I tend to shake my head. With pedestrians tromping through and no irrigation, it is just tough sledding. What we need is to educate the planners who write the…[Read more]

I Navid, the pine like plant looks like a grevilia flower. I’m not sure but it’s similar.

Ya Charles, all the natives around here grow in balls and cubes. You never have to water them and they never grow past the 3′ dia. ball or cube. They even flower in colors that contrast well with the building they are planted next to. I love natives. They’re truely the answer to all your sustainable dreams. You just need more experience, buddy.

We are being asked more and more to do less and less irrigation on our projects here in and around Seattle. One might think, “so what, it is always raining in Seattle.” This is not quite true. We have had a very dry summer here but we are only about an inch below average for the year. Many native and non native plants are suffering, and will not…[Read more]

Hi folks, it’s me on my lounge in Cairo, but active now in Abu Dhabi.
This is the place to try all this xerophytic plants and other material.
Whenever I come into a new arid area I try to studdy the the vegetation off the beaten tracks. Potential natural vegetation is the best indicator to meet climat and geology. We only (I guess that is the…[Read more]

Hello- I’m new to the group! Currently our LA firm has been dealing with the recent water restrictions- How do we (as Landscape Architects) get the word out that turf is no longer the San Diego landscape? We are in our 3rd consecutive year of drought and something has to change.

Here are some other resources. las pilitas nursery. 2 locations. North San Diego county (Escondido) & San Luis Obispo. http://www.laspilitas.com. website is deep with info. Another is “California Native Plants for the Garden” by Carol Bornstein, Bart O’brien & David Fross. Cachuma Press. David Fross was my Cal Natives Professor at Cal Poly, SLO. Lots of…[Read more]

Agree with Ken and Blake. There’s also some nurseries that specialize in natives. Yerba Buena Nursery south of SF has a demonstration garden with labeled plants and the owners are VERY knowledgeable. Also, North Coast Nursery and Cal Flora in Sonoma County. Also, it’s good to be mindful of the fact that California has many totaly different native…[Read more]

Katrina, to clarify, UCBG and Tilden are in Berkeley and Merritt College is in Oakland.

The South Lake Tahoe and North Lake Tahoe Demonstration Gardens show a plethora of California Native plants used in the high Sierra. These gardens give great examples of California Native plants at diffrent stages of development.

Agree with Blake — the Merritt program is great. I also volunteered at Tilden’s native nursery on Thursday mornings — propagating, etc. It was a great way to learn about natives. U.C. Botanical Garden and the Tilden Park (native) Botanical Garden are both stunning places to check out CA natives in a park setting.

you may also want to check out the horticulture program at Merritt College for i.d. classes. http://www.merrritt.edu

Hello all SloTown alum and current residents/students..Class of ’78. I love this site. See ya ’round.
Chad
Dowell doing good.

Has anyone seen a CA native develop over time? I’m interested in how native gardens survive in the real world of residencia. I’m using my own yard as a test, having just planted about 50 various species. They’re all infants right now, but I’m very excited to see how they grow,