Climate Appropriate Gardening and Design

Instead of "drought tolerant" I've adopted "climate appropriate" into my gardening vocabulary. Designing gardens that meet our needs in urban California involves a lot more than just saving on water use. When I'm designing a garden I always aim to create a visually richer, as well as more earth-friendly environment than what I started with. 

The word appropriate aligns especially well to our changing climate and growing conditions: this is the challenge we all face today and for the foreseeable future. And to me it implies that my climate appropriate approach to designing a garden, will adapt to meet the current needs. It's a good reminder to be flexible in my thinking, and to keep informed.

Replacing a lawn is an opportunity to add beauty and diversity

Among many inspirations, landscape architect Thomas Rainer stands out. He champions the cause for bringing more "wildness" into our urban spaces, urgently needed due to the rapid loss of wild spaces. See Rainer in this short video interview here (courtesy of the Pacific Horticulture Society).  

We have the perfect opportunity to add ecological value whenever we are replacing lawns or simply replacing and/or adding plants to our gardens. For example, plant flowering shrubs for your eyes and to feed pollinators- the gorgeous sage (salvia) below is 'Friendship Sage', also known by its original name 'Saliva Amistad'.

Sages (salvias) have lovely flowers in many colors

Hummingbirds love sages, as do bumblebees. This group of plants are generally happy with low to moderate water, even in warm climate zones such as our San Francisco Bay Area. 

In the photo below we designed a long berm with a mix of sages and other flowering plants to create a pollinator garden that would be pleasant to look at from the outdoor patio and from inside the house.  We included an herb garden for fragrance and its value in providing herbs for cooking year-round. 

This low-water garden replaced an unused pool

When replacing pools, lawns, or areas that were previously paved over, I love creating a space that enhances quality of life by being a place to relax and connect with nature. And it's a welcome bonus that adding more plants around homes results in not only beautiful, calming, environments but they mitigate the amount of heat produced by our over-paved urban spaces. Plants transpire water vapor into the local environment, especially trees. So not only do trees provide shade, they actively contribute to cooling. 

In California where the loss of trees due to drought and fires is staggering, we can do our part by planting trees with low and moderate water needs around our homes, as many as possible. 

A quiet seating area with flowering sages replaced bare soil

Below, wildflowers in a front yard meadow garden provide a spectacular seasonal display.

I'm also a big fan of growing seasonal edibles at home, and when we save water by replacing lawns or pools with a low water garden, we can feel good about using some water on our special heirloom vegetables. Growing our own food not only connects us to the seasons but can also remind us of our heritage and culture. Heirloom vegetable seeds are readily available from many sources. It's meaningful and satisfying to learn their stories and enjoy them with our families and friends by growing them.

Many fruit trees are perfect for low to moderate water gardens: avocado, plum, pluot, apple, persimmon, pomegranate and pineapple guava. Check my gardening index for more on edible landscaping.

'Four Corners Gold' bean in my front yard last summer

For more information and resources about climate appropriate landscaping go here.

Photo credit: Patricia Larenas

Assess Your Garden and Save Water

My sketchnote for planning a water-wise garden 

Preparing Your Garden for Spring and Summer in California
The rains will not last much longer in California, and we are already breaking records (again) in 2016 for the hottest December through February (yikes). This simple four point assessment will help you understand the steps to take in order to save water, as we head into spring and summer. By taking stock of the microclimates in your garden (front and backyards) and making appropriate changes, you can make a huge difference in water savings by making sure you aren't wasting it. Huge amounts of water are wasted by irrigating plants that are either not suited to our summer dry climate (especially traditional lawns), or have been planted in the wrong exposure (sun-wise).  

First, an explanation: I recently explored "sketchnoting" as a way to organize my thoughts for writing about planning a water-wise garden. When I finished the piece above, I realized that it's way too busy as is! So I've derived a four-point written version for this blog post: see the assessment points below, then read how to apply the information you've collected in the following section. 
Someday I hope to condense this information into a readable sketchnote...

Four Point Garden Assessment  

1. Notice the patterns of sun and shade in your yards (think back to summer when the sun is higher in the sky) and estimate the daily hours of each (example: 4 hours morning sun on east side of house). 
2. Make note of planted areas with reflected heat: near or next to a sunny wall, or next to hardscape (concrete, flagstone, tile, sidewalks, the street, etc.).
3. Are your current plants doing well with minimal irrigation? Look for scorched leaf tips, wilting, failure to grow and thrive.
4. If you have areas with bare soil, is it mulched? If yes, does it need to be replenished?

Applying the Information You've Gathered

1. Sun and shade patterns
Many plants do best with morning sun only, and struggle with afternoon sun, especially when the other factors in the assessment above aren't optimal either. A plant that is getting lots of sun and heat may do okay if it gets extra water to help it cope. Save water by moving such plants where they'll be protected from the harshest sun so that they can thrive on minimal water. Plants that are rated for "full sun" do best with all day sun exposure, or more afternoon sun than the gentler morning sun. Plant them accordingly.

Most agaves thrive in full sun

2. Reflected heat from hardscape
Reflected heat puts extra stress on plants, especially during a drought when they're getting limited water. Often, they are also in direct sun. Plants that are supposed to do well in "full sun" may not tolerate reflected heat. If you are putting in new plants make sure to check that they are tough enough for those conditions . Move plants that are struggling in those extra hot spots. Native plants adapted to hot dry areas would be a good choice, or agaves and cacti for the hottest, driest areas.

3. Struggling Plants 
If you've noticed any plants that appear to be struggling due to minimal water, move them if they are getting too much sun, and reassess your irrigation practices. Watering the root zone deeply and less often is better than giving small amounts of water more often. Get help from professionals if you suspect your irrigation schedule needs optimizing, and see below:

4. Protecting bare soil
Mulch is one of our key tools for saving water and for maintaining healthy soil, which results in healthy plants. If you don't mulch around your plants and leave the soil bare and exposed to the elements, you are definitely wasting water- lots of it. Moisture evaporates very quickly from soil in hot weather. Keeping a protective layer of mulch on top of your soil holds in moisture so that roots have a chance to absorb it, and importantly, it enables soil organisms to thrive. Soils are living ecosystems; plant roots are a part of that system and derive numerous benefits from healthy soils. Mulch that breaks down (decomposes) is made from organic matter, such as wood chips or bark, straw, leaves, etc. and as it decomposes it adds nutrients and organic matter to the soil, which gives soil more capacity to hold water, much like a sponge. Gravel, pebbles, and rocks are also considered mulch, as they prevent moisture from evaporating, but they don't have the extra benefit of building soil health by adding organic matter. In addition, be aware that rock material heats up with exposure to sun, especially dark colored rock material.  

California native Ceanothus, aka California Lilac, doesn't tolerate summer watering

Climate Appropriate Gardening
Making do with less water for our gardens in California is a reality we must embrace- I don't welcome it, but I have to accept the geographic truth of where I live- it's always been a "summer dry" climate, with periodic droughts. This has been driven home by our record breaking drought of the past four years, bringing our reserves of water to record lows, even with a boost from El Niño-driven rains, depletion of ground water is a huge concern.

It's hard to summon the discipline needed to resist planting anything that needs more water than we should be using in our gardens. But with the smart selection and placement of plants you can have a beautiful and enjoyable garden- I reject the slogan "brown is the new green"!

Photos: Patricia Larenas, Urban Artichoke

Life After Conventional Gardens: a Liberating Experience

A climate appropriate garden is a beautiful garden!

Now that 2015 is waning and lawn replacements rebates are uncertain (in Santa Clara County, as of this writing) there are plenty of reasons to go ahead with your lawn replacement projects. I hope to continue to see more people taking action to replace high water-use gardens with climate appropriate ones. The current severe drought has forced us to rethink our gardens, and it's been a liberating experience for many.

Several of my garden design clients have been very pleased and excited by their new water-saving gardens that offer flowers and seasonal beauty to enjoy, as well as fresh herbs for the kitchen. I have the impression that many homeowners (especially non-gardeners) have traditional lawns as default landscaping, since it's difficult to figure out what to do otherwise. 

Besides the water savings, a huge bonus is not having to mow and fertilize a high maintenance lawn. A careful selection of appropriate plants leads to a low maintenance garden- that's also liberating!

But even if a patch of lawn is desired (for example, in a kids play area), there are several alternatives to conventional high water-use turf. See the Delta Bluegrass website to learn more. Native grasses offer seasonal beauty and elegance, but are not yet as tough as varieties that have been bred to withstand lots of foot traffic. 

An urn as a recirculating fountain attracts birds to this new garden (former lawn)

In the photos above, a garden we installed last May has grown to be a lush pollinator garden with native and ornamental sages, plus prolific culinary herbs for the kitchen (near the recirculating fountain, above). 
The photo below shows the garden after the lawn died and before the garden re-design:

Former conventional lawn before garden make-over 

A discarded but very nice pedestal fountain in the photo above was repurposed into a charming succulent planter by drilling holes into it so that irrigation tubing could be put in place (top photo). Succulents (as a group) are a great choices for low-water gardens. This group includes sedums, agaves, echeverias, sempervivums, aloes, as well as cacti. Nurseries have greatly expanded their offerings of succulents to meet the current demand.

The image below demonstrates the drama and color that succulents bring to the garden. 

Echeverias are paired with a large sculptural agave for an attractive color scheme
Photo taken at Succulent Gardens, Castroville, CA

The good news is that if you are ready to rethink your conventional landscape and make a liberating shift to a more climate appropriate one, there are more resources than ever to help you make the transition.

Here are some inspirational links to get you started:

Inspiring images of low-water gardens, Sunset Magazine

Santa Clara Valley Master Gardeners Drought Information page- chock full of resources

Xerces Society information page for creating pollinator gardens in California


Garden designed by Patricia Larenas, Urban Artichoke, Mountain View, CA
Garden installed by Jackie Marsey, Paradise Landscape and Garden, San Jose, CA

 Photos by: Patricia Larenas, Urban Artichoke