RE: Need ideas for sun-blasted parking strip et al.
- To: j*@shastalink.k12.ca.us, m*@ucdavis.edu
- Subject: RE: Need ideas for sun-blasted parking strip et al.
- From: r* c*
- Date: Thu, 12 Apr 2001 00:20:55
What about irises?
R. Corwin
Studio City, Ca (L.A. area)
>From: Julie Nelson <jaknelson@shastalink.k12.ca.us>
>Reply-To: jaknelson@shastalink.k12.ca.us
>To: "'medit-plants@ucdavis.edu '" <medit-plants@ucdavis.edu>
>Subject: RE: Need ideas for sun-blasted parking strip et al.
>Date: Wed, 11 Apr 2001 11:42:44 -0700
>
> My son's school has moved to a new location, which needs some immediate
>landscaping (shade trees and foot traffic barriers). The school is in
>Redding, Sunset zone 9; summers are long, very hot (90-110 degrees F)
>affairs, winters are relatively wet (45 inches of rain) with regular but
>rarely severe freezing.
>I need something (or more than one thing) to populate a narrow (2 feet
>wide,
>80 feet long) parking strip between the paved parking area and a low,
>south-facing concrete wall that forms the drop-off for the sidewalk in
>front
>of the school. The idea is to keep the children from jumping directly off
>the sidewalk into the parking lot, and also soften and improve the
>appearance of the new blocky building. I'd prefer something evergreen.
>There will also be several vertical trellises for vines to break up the
>linear expanse along the front of the building.
>So far I have thought of:
>1) rosemary (but I'm reluctant to plant such a bee magnet where there will
>be children in and out, no doubt some of whom will be allergic to bee
>stings).
>2) Raphiolepis (does it pull in bees too?)
>3) Grevillea (are there any small enough to fit the space without
>butchering
>them at pruning time?)
>4) Juniper (boring)
>5) Xylosma (boring)
>6) Cistus (this is my current front-runner, but it would have to be a
>relatively small or non-spreading type)
>7) Pyracantha (but draws bees, and has thorns that may actually injure
>someone, including me while pruning)
>8) Berberis
>9) Ceanothus--my experience with these is not encouraging as far as using
>them in this tough a planting situation
>10) Arctostaphlos--ditto the ceanothus
>
>There must be something wonderful that I've missed. If you think of what
>it
>is, please let me know!
>
>Julie Nelson
>
>
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