Introduction:
The ‘New California Garden’ As the climate changes, so must our gardens.
Of necessity, gardens must now become sustainable; they must be tailored to local
conditions - and that’s exciting! We literally
have the opportunity to create a whole new
type of California garden right in our own yards. That’s a fun challenge, and we’re going to
help you with our new series ‘Designing Your New California Garden’.
Californians
have a long history of ‘borrowing’ plants from other parts of the world. In the past, we chose plants we liked, then modified
soils and irrigation practices to accommodate their needs. While this strategy
worked for a while, many of the ‘borrowed’ plants required more water and
nutrients than we actually had. As the
climate changes – and materials become more limited - this strategy is becoming
obsolete. That’s why we call it the ‘Old California Garden’ paradigm.
What
we need now is a whole new paradigm - one that is sustainable. We call this the ‘New California Garden’. New California Gardens are appropriate
for our mediterranean climate. They are
water-wise and life-friendly, providing habitat for people, plants and
creatures. They reflect the history and natural history
of our area. They are beautiful and comfortable,
suiting our tastes, values, lifestyle and even cultural heritage. That’s what the New California Garden is all about.
The
New California Garden is not about
giving things up; rather it’s about making conscious
choices. You’ll need to think
carefully about how you want your New
California Garden to look. What
activities will you want to do in the garden?
Do you need a place to cook and eat?
A small meditation area? A
vegetable garden? Where’s the best place
to store trash cans or locate a compost barrel or dog run? What colors and shapes do you like? Will you use only drought tolerant plants, or
will some parts of the garden require regular water? All of these choices and more should
influence your garden design.
The
New California Garden involves choosing plants that will thrive under
existing conditions, rather than modifying the site to fit the plants. So you’ll need to conduct a site inventory
and analysis to determine your site’s physical ‘assets’. Next you’ll map these assets: the soil type,
light & shade patterns, topography & drainage, pre-existing plants and
other physical characteristics. You’ll
also need to inventory the views: the good, the bad and the ugly. Your plant choices will be based on both the
site characteristics and your personal needs and desires. That’s what makes designing a New California Garden so personal,
creative and satisfying.
Some
gardeners will want to hire a landscape architect or other landscape
professional to help design their New
California Garden. Qualified garden
designers have years of training/experience in laying out attractive,
functional gardens. They can help arrange
a garden that has good traffic flow and maximizes views. But you’ll need to be an active partner with your designer to ensure that the final design reflects
your priorities, values and tastes.
If
you work with a designer, you’ll want to do some background work ahead of
time. This will make the designer’s job
easier; but it will also allow you to think about your priorities and choices
ahead of time. With this knowledge you’ll
be able to articulate your desires – and stand up for your choices if
necessary. In this series we’ll
provide some interesting exercises and questionnaires to help you do your
background work.
Most
designers don’t have time to conduct a thorough site analysis. They don’t live
at the site as your family does. And
they don’t know your family’s tastes, desires and other personal factors
important for a well-designed home landscape.
Whether you hire a landscape
professional or design the landscape yourself, the background work must be done
for your landscape to be successful.
Like
the climate, the landscape design industry is changing to meet the future. Unfortunately, some landscape designers are
still stuck in ‘Old California Garden’ mode.
You’ll likely have to search for a designer who understands the New California Garden way of
thinking. A qualified designer understands that your
landscape should be water-wise and life-friendly. They will ask questions about soil, drainage,
temperature and shade patterns in addition to assessing your family’s design preferences. They will want
to work with you to design an appropriate landscape. And they will have knowledge of native plants and their use in local gardens.
The
best way to find a New California Garden
designer is to choose a garden you like and find out who designed it. Don’t be afraid to ask a local homeowner; they
will usually be happy to recommend their designer – or give you tips if they
designed the garden themselves. Local nature centers, arboretums, colleges and
botanic gardens may have lists of recommended garden designers. Your local chapter of the California Native
Plant Society (or other native plant society) or Audubon Society may also have suggestions.
Why Plan? A well designed landscape begins with a
plan. That sounds a little scary, but
the planning process actually proceeds through a series of well-defined steps. We’re going to help you through the steps in
this series. We think you’ll find the
process fun, interesting and informative.
You’ll be learning about your garden’s physical characteristics, history
and potential. At the end, you’ll have
a garden plan that you – or a landscape professional – can install. That’s pretty neat; and trust us, the
alternative to planning is not pretty!
A New California Garden is both functional and aesthetically
pleasing. It’s actually a small functioning ecosystem that includes your
family. Many gardeners understand the
aesthetic part. But thinking about how you want your garden to
function is an equally important. Selecting
plants is actually the last step of
the design process. Fully understanding the property's drainage, soils and
ecology; locating existing site elements; developing a 'wish list' of use areas
and locating them properly; and resolving all these elements into a successful design
should be accomplished first.
If designing your own
garden, you’ll need to learn some design tricks used by the professionals. There are a few basic principles that can
help give your garden a pleasing appearance. They will help you create a garden that is
interesting, balanced and ‘tied together’ into a pleasing whole. We’ll
talk a little about garden design later in this series.
The
eight steps of developing a landscape plan are summarized as follows:
- Develop a base map (base plan). (July 2013)
2. Conduct a site inventory and analysis. (August
2013)
- Assess your family's needs (functional analysis). (September 2013)
- Locate the use areas. (October 2013)
- Determine your likes, dislikes, etc. (November 2014 – January 2014)
Discovering your garden’s history -
http://mother-natures-backyard.blogspot.com/2013_11_01_archive.html
http://mother-natures-backyard.blogspot.com/2013_11_01_archive.html
Your gardening likes & dislikes - http://mother-natures-backyard.blogspot.com/2013/12/designing-your-new-california-garden-7.html
How you’d like your garden to look - http://mother-natures-backyard.blogspot.com/2014/01/designing-your-new-california-garden-8.html
- Develop the hardscape plan (February – May 2014)
Managing water (2)
Other Hardscape
- Develop the design plan (June - August 2014)
Introduction and hardscape design - http://mother-natures-backyard.blogspot.com/2014/06/designing-your-new-california-garden-11.html
Designing with plants
http://mother-natures-backyard.blogspot.com/2014/07/designing-your-new-california-garden-11.html
http://mother-natures-backyard.blogspot.com/2014/08/designing-your-new-california-garden-11.html
Choosing the plants (September 2014)
http://mother-natures-backyard.blogspot.com/2014/09/designing-your-new-california-garden-12.html
- Install the garden (October 2014)
The
first step is to draw an accurate base
map. We’ll be helping you do this
later this month. You will actually
develop two base maps: one with only your home and other structures and a
second that includes pre-existing plants you plan to retain. Your site
inventory (August) will cover current physical features of your garden
site, but also an exploration of its history.
These activities will help you determine your site’s assets - the base
on which your landscape plan will grow.
Your
functional analysis will include an
assessment of your needs, values and aspirations as they relate to the
landscape. You will prioritize your
needs, then locate the desired features
in the most appropriate landscape areas.
You will develop the use areas
by choosing hardscape features (walks; walls; irrigation system) and plants
appropriate to your plan and site.
Finally, you will develop a planting plan which includes a plant list,
landscape map and installation schedule.
Designing
a New California Garden is an
exciting process. You’ll learn a lot
about your garden, your local area and yourself. So follow along as we guide you through the
process over the next eight months.
__________________________________________________
We
value your comments (below). You can
also contact us directly at mothernaturesbackyard10@gmail.com.
I'm just starting to re-read this series from the beginning, having re-discovered it with the posting of number 11 in the design series. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteFor those of us working forward from this point, a table of contents to the design series would be useful.
ReplyDeletehttp://mother-natures-backyard.blogspot.com/2013/07/designing-your-new-california-garden-1.html
http://mother-natures-backyard.blogspot.com/2013/07/designing-your-new-california-garden-2.html
http://mother-natures-backyard.blogspot.com/2013/08/designing-your-new-california-garden-3.html
http://mother-natures-backyard.blogspot.com/2013/09/designing-your-new-california-garden-4.html
http://mother-natures-backyard.blogspot.com/2013/11/designing-your-new-california-garden-5.html
http://mother-natures-backyard.blogspot.com/2013/11/designing-your-new-california-garden-6.html
http://mother-natures-backyard.blogspot.com/2013/12/designing-your-new-california-garden-7.html
http://mother-natures-backyard.blogspot.com/2014/01/designing-your-new-california-garden-8.html
http://mother-natures-backyard.blogspot.com/2014/02/designing-your-new-california-garden-9.html (Part 1)
http://mother-natures-backyard.blogspot.com/2014/03/designing-your-new-california-garden-9.html (Part 2)
http://mother-natures-backyard.blogspot.com/2014/05/designing-your-new-california-garden-10.html
http://mother-natures-backyard.blogspot.com/2014/06/designing-your-new-california-garden-11.html