Saturday, July 25, 2009

Get rid of your lawn! Part two.



Back by popular demand! I have been flooded with requests lately to either entirely get rid of, or partially remove, people's lawns. Everyone gets that lawn is very water greedy, but after that there seems to be a lot of confusion. If you take out the lawn, what goes in its place? How can you possibly occupy so much space without a lawn? And how do you actually take it out?

At my own home we removed all lawn from our yard and replaced it with two small terraced patios. We added a new low decorative fence to add a perception of privacy from the street without cutting ourselves off from our neighbors. The larger of the two patios is for a table and chairs, and we use it multiple times a week for an alfresco dinner or just to have a drink and enjoy the cool evening air. Many of my favorite plants are very florific drought tolerant species, so while most of the leaves have a grey cast to them, you'll always find something blooming in our garden. Right now it is Penstemons, flower carpet roses, sages, and lantana.

A few things to pay special attention to if you decide to remove your lawn:

1) Unless you want to be fighting grass that springs up everywhere you add water, you will need to properly kill your grass, not just physically dig it out. Roots left in the soil can and will germinate if you try to do it the easy way. Instead, get your lawn as healthy as possible by turning the water back on a spending about two weeks getting it as healthy as possible. Then spray it with roundup once a week for three weeks. Roundup is drawn into the plant as it photosynthesizes, so spraying a dead lawn won't work.

Many people do not like the idea of spraying a chemical on their yard, which I can understand. I am okay with Roundup because it does biodegrade and therefore does not harm the water table. However, if you don't want to use roundup, you will need to cover your lawn with opaque black plastic for 3-4 months. Hold the edges down with heavy stones or bricks. It takes this long to ensure that you kill all of the underground roots. I still do not find this way to be as effective, but many people swear by it.

2) Try to avoid the temptation of artificial turf. Really, even the best artificial turf is still a carpet of plastic in your yard. It uses fossil fuel based resources, often isn't recyclable, and can become quite hot in the sun (adding to the urban heat island effect). Instead, consider other lawn alternatives such as yarrow, dymondia, or thyme. All of them are drought tolerant, quick growing, and attractive, but none can take as much foot traffic as lawn, so think about adding a walkway through a high traffic area.

3) Consider switching the focus to outdoor living. Instead of a lawn, focus your garden around a patio with a table and chairs, a bench, a birdbath/feeder, or a small fountain. Think about being in the space, not just looking at it, even in your front yard! Use it as an excuse to enjoy our beautiful San Diego weather and maybe even meet a few of your neighbors. Our short fence gives us just enough of a feeling of privacy while still allowing people to chit chat as they walk past.

4) Think about edibles. Plenty of edible plants and herbs are drought tolerant. A great low water use herb garden could have rosemary, thyme, oregano, sage, bay, yarrow, and savory.

Sage Outdoor Designs is a San Diego landscape design firm. Our Principal, Kate Wiseman, has been a San Diego landscape designer for the past ten years- ask how she can help transform your garden into the one you always wanted.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Yellow variegation adds a summer glow to your garden

During May Grey we talked about grey foliage, and I posted my favorite blue foliage plants during June Gloom, so sunny July calls for something brighter. Adding cream and yellow variegated plants to your garden brings the look of a sunny summer day to your garden year round. They mix beautifully with the blue foliage plants. Variegation can add brightness to a dark, shady spot in your garden, or act as an eye-catching focal point.

Remember that there is too much of a good thing. A garden dominated by these plants can seem desert-like or dried out, like an overexposed photo.




The plants shown here are: Phormium 'Cream Delight', Westringia 'Morning Light', Coprosma kirkii variegata, Calamagrostis 'Overdam', and Agave angustifolia marginata.

Intersted in a colorful garden of your own? We'd love to help! Please go to www.sageoutdoordesigns.com and fill in the contact us form. Sage Outdoor Designs is a San Diego landscape design firm. Our Principal, Kate Wiseman, has been a San Diego landscape designer for the past ten years- ask how she can help transform your garden into the one you always wanted.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

New ResMed campus combines modern art and modern landscape



I don't typically list commercial buildings as wonderful examples of creative landscape design, but the new landscaping at the ResMed campus is artful, drought-tolerant, and very eye-catching and certainly bucks the mold for a commercial campus. It incorporates large scale public modern art installations so seamlessly that they integrate into the landscape, something I don't believe many site specific art installations manage to achieve.

There are a few things about this design that especially caught me. The first is the daringly large field of Mexican Feather Grass in the rear courtyard of the building. Hundreds, if not thousands, of grasses wave gently in the breeze. The effect is peaceful but kinetic and seems like a perfect distraction for a restful lunch area.

The next thing is how brazen the planting layout is. Plants are laid out in large rows, each row made up of a single species, usually about 4 plants wide. From a distance it reads as block of color (or will, once the plants grow up a bit more). The effect is modern but not stark.

The thing that is impossible to ignore is the gorgeous stainless steel sculptural element that begins outside the front entry to the building and flows inside into the lobby, tying the outdoors to the indoors. The art piece is made up of hundreds of small patches of chain mail, each patch about 8"x 8". They are each anchored to the wall only at the top, and each patch is so light that they move and flutter with the slightest breeze. The whole wall ripples, moves, and shimmers! It is absolutely simple in its conception and absolutely gorgeous in its execution. It is currently the most beautiful outdoor art installation I know of in the city and can be seen from the street, so drive by! The address is 9001 Spectrum Center Blvd.



Interested in an artful garden of your own? We'd love to help! Please go to www.sageoutdoordesigns.com and fill in the contact us form. Sage Outdoor Designs is a San Diego landscape design firm. Our Principal, Kate Wiseman, has been a San Diego landscape designer for the past ten years- ask how she can help transform your garden into the one you always wanted.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Water Authority uses headquarters as an example garden



We have all heard of the Sunroad building- it lives in infamy in San Diego as the building that had four stories lopped off of the top of it. Hidden in a commercial/industrial area behind Sunroad on Tech Way is the San Diego County Water Authority Building. They have used their street frontage to set a stunning example of how drought tolerant landscaping can be appropraitely adapted for a large civic campus.

The landscaping combines succulents and cacti with unique planting choices like Junipers, Westringia, and Blue Palms. The effect is a wonderful display of color all year. These plants are low maintenance, easy care plants that would work just as well is a residential garden.


Here are a few of the varieties they used: Scenecio mandralascae (Blue Chalksticks), Agaves including Agave americana and Agave attenuata, Euphorbia 'Sticks on Fire', Westringia 'Morning Light', Callistemon 'Little John', and Brahea armata.






Interested in a waterwise garden of your own? We'd love to help! Please go to www.sageoutdoordesigns.com and fill in the contact us form.

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Home highlight: blending perennials with succulents












Succulents and perennials mix beautifully in this front garden in San Diego, Ca. By calling attention to the plants with blue foliage, the garden comes together as a clean composition with a few specimen plants, such as the central Agave. The garden integrates Blue Fescue grass, Callandrina (the succulent with the hot pink flowers), weeping Rosemary, dymondia (one of my favorite groundcovers).

Selecting one common characteristic allows you to successfully integrate different types of plants while still maintaining a very designed look. Of course you still need to think about the needs of the individual species. All of the species in the photos are drought tolerant and can stand heat and direct sun.

As a quick side note: remember when using Agaves to keep in mind their mature size. Their spines are strong and very sharp, so consider whether the adult spines will stick out into a sidewalk or walkway. Once an Agave has been cut to get it out of the way, it does not ever recover it's beautiful form because dammaged stalks do not grow back. This is also true of palms and cycads.



Interested in a waterwise garden of your own? We'd love to help! Please go to www.sageoutdoordesigns.com and fill in the contact us form.

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Getting the planting "blues"
















Blue or blue-green foliage is incredibly soothing to the eye. Adding even a hint of it to a garden can create a zen-like, peaceful, or meditative quality. It is especially beautiful in modern designs, near the ocean, or in designs focused on creating a calming effect. Try pairing it with orange or terra-cotta colored outdoor cushions for a nice contrast, or sea-green colors to point out the similarity. Adding a few green-green foliage shrubs will also make the distinction more noticeable.

Above are a few of our favorite blues: Echevaria elegans (Hen and Chicks), Helichotrichon sempervirens (Blue Oat Grass), Festuca ovina glauca (Blue Fescue), Dianella 'Baby Bliss', and Callistemon 'Little John (Dwarf Bottlebrush).

Interested in a waterwise garden of your own? We'd love to help! Please go to www.sageoutdoordesigns.com and fill in the contact us form.