If you’ve been with us from the beginning, you’re
probably tired of background work – and ready to start planning your
garden. If so, you’re going to like this
month’s activities. If you are just joining
the ‘Designing
Your New California Garden’ series, we suggest you start at the
beginning (July 2013 - http://mother-natures-backyard.blogspot.com/2013/07/designing-your-new-california-garden-1.html)
and work forward. The monthly activities
will help you design an attractive, functional, sustainable garden you’ll enjoy
for years to come.
You’ve probably been collecting pictures of inspirational
gardens as you’ve worked through the exercises.
If not, now is a good time to explore the garden design books in your
local library or bookstore (or download same).
Get out in the community to explore local gardens. Walk around your neighborhood; visit a local
botanic garden or native plant garden.
Be sure to take your camera and notepad.
You’ll be surprised at the
number of good ideas all around you.
One of the first things we notice about a garden is
its overall appearance or ‘feel’. Some
gardens appear tidy and formal while others are more relaxed. Some may feel
‘right’ to you, while others don’t. Take
a minute to consider the overall ‘feel’
you want for your New California Garden - assisted
by a short questionnaire. Access the Overall
Look of Your ‘New California Garden’
questionnaire at: http://www.slideshare.net/cvadheim/the-overall-look-of-your-garden-worksheet
Come back when you’re done to find out
what your answers reveal about your style preferences.
Many newcomers believe that native plant gardens must look like they were planted by
Mother Nature herself. While ‘natural style’ gardens appeal to some,
this is not the only look that can be achieved using native plants. In fact,
native plants have been used successfully in even very formal gardens. There is
no right or wrong way to use native plants; but you need to determine your style preferences first. Then you can choose plants that are suitable to your style.
The ‘Overall
Look’ questionnaire determines whether you prefer a more formal or more informal
garden style or ‘look’. We’ve found that some gardeners are most comfortable if
their garden has a formal appearance. They
feel downright uncomfortable with the ‘messy’ or ‘uncontrolled’ look of more
informal gardens. Other gardeners have
no patience with the ‘cold perfection’ and ‘persnickety details’ of very formal
gardens; they prefer a garden with a slightly wilder look.
There is no right or wrong choice; your own preference
may be very formal, very informal or something in between. But
understanding what makes you feel
comfortable about a garden will go a long way in helping you design a New
California Garden that suits you.
What was your total score on the Overall Look questionnaire? If your
score was between 25 and 35 you favor a formal-looking garden
design. If your score was less than 15
you favor an informal look. If your
score was between 16 and 24 you could go either way. The table below outlines some basic
elements of formal and informal garden designs. See how well your score corresponds to the
type of garden you prefer.
Formal landscapes
| ||
General
|
Hardscape
|
Plants/Planting
|
·
Appropriate with ‘formal’
house designs (including modern)
·
Straight lines
·
Simple, geometric shapes
·
Neat, tidy appearance
·
Restrained
·
Calm, static appearance
|
·
Brick, gravel and stone
paths/patios (regularly shaped/cut stone), concrete
·
Gravel or fine grade
mulches
·
Classical fountains, pots,
sundials, sculpture as accents
·
Classical/simple garden
furniture
·
Enclosures: hedges, formal
fences around garden
|
·
Lawns
·
Plants with ‘old
fashioned’ appearance
·
Clipped/pruned hedges
·
Shrubs in large pots
·
‘tidy’ appearance
·
Evergreen shrubs
·
Limited plant palette
(species and/or color)
·
Massed plantings
·
Plants planted in regular/
geometric patterns
·
Repetition/symmetry in
plantings
|
Informal landscapes
| ||
General
|
Hardscape
|
Plants/Planting
|
·
Appropriate with cottage,
bungalow, ‘ranch’ or modern homes
·
Curved lines
·
Complex, irregular shapes
·
Relaxed, informal feel
·
Lively, changing
appearance
·
Organic; natural
|
·
Decomposed granite,
‘urbanite’, irregularly shaped stone, cinder block, concrete
·
Most types of mulch
·
Informal fountains (made
from stone, pots, etc.)
·
Hardscape materials appropriate
for local landscape
·
Plain, rustic or eclectic
garden furniture
·
Rustic fences if any
|
·
‘natural’ lawn, prairie or
meadow if any
·
Informally pruned hedges
(less regular)
·
Leaf mulch; leaf litter may
be allowed to remain
·
May include summer/fall
dormant plants
·
May be more varied plant
palette (more species/colors)
·
Plants planted in
irregular patterns (more like in nature)
·
Plants appropriate for
local landscape (incl. CA natives)
|
If you prefer a more formal look, you may want to
look at pictures of classic formal gardens for ideas. The internet is a good place to begin. Some keywords you might want to use are:
‘formal garden’, ‘parterre garden’, ‘renaissance garden’ and ‘classic
garden’. Many of the pictures feature
large, very formal gardens; but the ideas can be applied to even the smallest
S. California garden. Look for the
features of formal gardens (above table) in the pictures. How might you apply these design
characteristics on a smaller scale? How
do your pictures of inspirational gardens use the characteristics of formal
gardens? Be sure to write down ideas – they may be
helpful when you begin to plan your garden next month.
If you prefer a more informal look, consider how
you scored the last two questions. If you
assigned a high score (4 or 5) to the ‘natural look’ question, then search the
internet for pictures of ‘natural gardens’ and ‘California native plant
gardens’. The pictures will inspire you
with good ideas about plantings and hardscape.
If you scored the ‘lots of species and types of plants’ question highly,
you might want to look at pictures of ‘cottage gardens’ and ‘rustic gardens’
for inspiration. Think about how you
might apply the features of these gardens to a design that includes California
native plants. Jot down or sketch out
your ideas as they come to you. Keep
your notes and sketches in your Garden Notebook.
At this point you know quite a bit about the basic type
of garden that makes you comfortable and happy.
But a good garden designer – one who is willing to work with you to design a garden that truly suits your family –
will also ask you specific questions about garden features, colors and other
characteristics. S/he does this to be sure they understand what
is important to you - the people who will live and work in the garden.
You may or may not decide to work with a garden
designer. Either way, it’s a good idea to think ahead about how your new
garden might look. You’ll likely find that giving yourself time – even months –
to envision your future garden pays off in the long run. Over many years of teaching California native
gardening we’ve developed a set of questions that are useful for discovering
and prioritizing garden features. We’ve
combined them into a questionnaire that’s both fun to take and useful to
whoever designs your garden.
Since gardens are a personal thing, we suggest that
each member of the household (except the very young) completes a copy of the
questionnaire. Have fun; and be sure to add your personal desires if they aren’t
included in the questionnaire. Compare
your answers and decide on a final list of priorities for the garden after you
discuss them as a group. Access the Garden Style Questionnaire at: http://www.slideshare.net/cvadheim/what-is-your-gardens-style-worksheet-30049848
Next month (Feb. 2014) we’ll take all the
background information you’ve collected and begin to design a garden. Be sure you’ve completed all the prior exercises
and filed your answers in your Garden Notebook. Trust us – you’ll be needing them! We’ll begin next month by designing the irrigation
system and laying out the garden pathways, seating areas and other hardscape
features.
We
value your comments (below). You can
also contact us directly at mothernaturesbackyard10@gmail.com.
I appreciate your positing. It is brilliant and I enjoyed it a lot.
ReplyDelete