Fire Pits and Fire Bowls

There are so many examples of terrible fire pits out there (if you google the words "fire pit" you will see what I mean. If you want to add to your pain, try googling "modern fire pit" or "pre-cast concrete fire pit"), but in my searches, I have had a hard time finding a collection of good examples. So I set out to collect a gallery of beautiful fire pits, and this is the result. (Obviously, I have a soft spot in my heart for poured-in-place concrete and clean lines.)









































To give credit where credit is due, here are the designers and manufacturers of all of the fire pits shown here, starting from the top left:

1) Custom design by architect Barbara Bastor
2) Poured in place concrete monolith from Sunset Magazine's website (not credited)
3) Precast concrete half sphere by Solus Decor
4) Custom fire pit by Molly Wood of Molly Wood Garden Design
5) Precast concrete fire bowl, also used by Molly Wood
6) Custom fireplace (or perhaps fire wall?) by Joan Grabel of Park Slope Design
7) Custom fire pit faced in Cor-Ten steel by Jay Griffith
8) Precast concrete fire bowl by Charles Swanson
9) Example of Aquatic Glassel fire pit spheres from Moderustic

Dave's Garden: possibly the most useful plant website

If you spend a lot of time Googling plants, you have probably already come across the Dave's Garden website. If you haven't, it is well worth a visit. The website is an incredible resource for information and images about an astounding number of plants. I use it to go one step beyond the Sunset Western Garden Book.

Dave's Garden is built by its users, so the information you'll find there has been entered in by other plant and garden enthusiasts. Because of that, there is a wealth of information on it.

In fact, it is so all encompassing, it can be quite hard to navigate. Instead of trying to find your way around on the site, try doing a Google search for a plant and add the word "daves" after the plant name. The first page to come up will probably be the Daves Garden PlantFiles page for that plant. The image above of one of my favorite grasses, Calamagrostis 'Overdam', is pulled from its PlantFile.

The PlantFile will typically have many images of the plant, a section of basic information such as plant height, and a very useful section called Gardener's Notes. Here, gardeners have entered in their own experience with the plant (and you can see the city they live in to know if their observations might be true for you, too). Read these notes! They tell you wonderful things like whether the plant is invasive, if it is easy to grow, or if it needs to be cut back in the winter. In the Gardener's Notes, one gardener calls Calamogrostis 'Overdam', "a great upright grass that does not fall apart," and another notes, "As with most grasses, looks great with backlighting of a.m. or p.m. sun. Flower heads move in the slightest wind." Now that is good information.

It's all in the details

Just a quick photo for today: a wonderful trellis I came across in my ramblings around South Park. There are so many prefab trellis panels out there, but you don't see custom ones very often. This one works wonderfully with its Craftsman home. It looks like a pattern inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright stained glass.

Another thing I like about it: none of the wood used here is expensive or difficult to assemble so it is a great example of how style can trump expense if style is used thoughtfully.

Rushes and Reeds

Ornamental grasses have seen a real rise in popularity recently as a wonderful way to soften a drought tolerant landscape. Less popular, but equally beautiful, are reeds and rushes. They do like a little more water, but with an efficient irrigation system (like a drip system) they are perfectly suitable in your drought tolerant landscape.

I am especially fond of using them in modern designs. Planted in mass, they are wonderful as a way to soften "edgy" architecture. Some of them have the blue/bluegreen coloration I am so fond of, making them a great pairing for other bluegreen plants like Festuca 'Elijah Blue'. Or try the strong contrast with rusty orange by pairing them with Carex testacea.

The reeds I have here (starting at the top right) are Juncus patens 'Elk Blue', Juncus 'Quartz Creek', Chondropetalum tectorum, and Cyperus isocladus. The orange-colored grass below is Carex testacea.

An interesting espalier

An espalier is a tree or shrub pruned to grow in a flat, two-dimensional plane. Typically they are used against walls or fences. Historically, espaliers were often fruit trees, especially apples, because their shape allows the remaining leaves to photosynthesize efficiently, ripening fruit quickly. They are ideal for small gardens and courtyards.

I think this is a particularly San Diegan espalier: an Opuntia (prickly pear cactus) I spotted in South Park. I'm not sure it would have occurred to me, but I like it! After all, they may be a lot of work but prickly pear is edible, either as the fruits, or as nopales.


Here is a more standard espalier of an apple tree:

Other good options for an espalier: figs, lemons, limes, satsumas, plums, and peaches. If you have seen another interesting espalier, let us know!

Garden spotlight: Carmel Valley

This design in Carmel Valley does such a wonderful job of playing with color and texture that I thought it warranted a Project Spotlight. (Sadly, I can't identify the designer because I don't know who did it, but if anyone does, please let me know! I would love to credit them). A few things I especially like about this landscape:

- The color! Drought tolerant landscaping can't be accused of being too grey when there are landscapes like this around. Reds, greens, blues, and all sorts of variegation- this is full of color!
- I like the course textures of the plant material with the Spanish Colonial architecture. The overall effect is both artistic and rustic.
- I like the match of the yellow and green variegated Aeonium with the yellow and green variegated flax.
- I like the pairing of Agonis flexulosa 'Afterdark' with its weeping burgundy foliage and the bolder red of the flax in front of it. Anyone care to identify the flax? Maybe Phormium 'Amazing Red'?
- This garden makes great use of specimen succulents. These larger succulents can be hard to find. I like to check Rancho Soledad nursery in Rancho Santa Fe- not only do they have wonderful large specimens to chose from, but they also take you around their very large nursery in a golf cart, which I always find fun.

Landscaping goes vertical

Vertical Gardens, Living Walls, or Green Walls are all used to describe a fascinating facade of plants applied in the vertical. Many give credit for inventing the art form to French designer Patrick Blanc, but it has proliferated all over the world, especially in urban areas.

Methods for creating vertical gardens vary quite a bit, from full planter pot wall systems, to a smaller scale technique of miniature bag-like plant pockets.

For a dry climate garden, a living wall can be created out of small scale succulents or grasses. A well designed vertical garden can recirculate the water, making it a water efficient way to have a very lush (and very narrow) space. Here are a few examples of living walls from around the world for inspiration:

(Top three examples) Patrick Blanc www.verticalgardenpatrickblanc.com

Fourth example: Vertical Gardens, Bangkok, Thailand

Fifth example: local designer Amelia Lima http://www.ameliab.com