RE: Low maintenance gardens for the serious gardener

I’ve been following this discussion and considered jumping in, but haven’t had time until now to compose a response.

 

I garden up in Silicon Valley in a small (6000 sf) suburban lot. I am a certified plant nut and have a very different plant palette in my yard than any of my neighbors (with the possible exception of the neighbors who were also design clients a few years ago). I maintain my own yard with the exception of the lawns—my husband takes care of them. I would say I do maybe an hour a week of maintenance (usually in a 2-3 hour sweep of the yard when I get sick of looking at things).

 

One of the most important concepts I learned in landscape design school was the concept of “level of maintenance”, as in learning what a client’s tolerance level was for weeds/unpruned shrubs/imperfect lawns/etc. I have a high tolerance for visual disarray—you should see my desk right now! It doesn’t bother me in the slightest if there are dead leaves mulching in the beds, or a plant hasn’t been deadheaded yet, or there’s a patch of dirt in the lawn. A lot of plants get tough love—if they don’t make it without a lot of coddling, they weren’t right for the site (much as Joe says). My client neighbors across the street are the same way—they hired the landscape contractor to maintain their yard on a quarterly basis (four visits a year), and that’s enough for them. (Which is not to say that the place looks like a junkyard most of the year, either! It’s a successful garden.)

 

So I think the answer to whether a low maintenance garden full of unusual plants is possible is...it depends on how much grooming you need in a garden. For me, well, I actually have a hard time finding stuff I need to do in it a lot of the time, which just leaves more time to wander through The Queendom (my husband’s term) and pet the flowers.

 

Cheryl

Santa Clara, CA

Where the tomatoes are finally just starting to turn red! Geranium ‘Ann Folkard’ is twining through the Chilean guava bushes, the giant valley carpenter bees are visiting the Vitex agnus-castus daily, and Squeaky the Hummingbird warns us off the salvias any time we venture out the door.

 

--------------

Cheryl Renshaw

Landscape Designer

cheryl@wr-architect.com

http://www.wr-architect.com/land/

 

From: medit-plants-request@ucdavis.edu [mailto:medit-plants-request@ucdavis.edu] On Behalf Of Ben Armentrout-Wiswall
Sent: Monday, August 01, 2011 10:24 PM
To: medit plants forum
Subject: Re: Low maintenance gardens for the serious gardener

 

Thanks everyone for the feedback.

With varying degrees of subtlety or frankness, everyone seems to agree that 

No, you can't have a low maintenance garden that really is a garden.

 

I could see planting a very low maintenance landscape that wouldn't offend my sensibilities.  

In southern California, that might be a grove of Peruvian Peppers or Live Oaks in a groundcover of their own fallen leaves, with maybe an occasional Agave for accent.  Such a landscape would require no irrigation, almost no weeding, and very little pruning. 

And I could live with it; but I just don't think I could call it a garden.

 

So I concur with everyone else, a low maintenance garden is really not much of a garden.

Best, Ben Armentrout-Wiswall

Simi Valley, CA

 

 

On Sun, Jul 31, 2011 at 8:13 PM, david feix <d*@yahoo.com> wrote:

The idea of a garden needing no maintenance and still reflecting variety and plant collector tendencies is incompatible in my view.  I do find myself designing these days around using slower growing trees and plants that can be groomed twice a year rather than monthly.  I find fast growing acacias and brugmansias to be some of the most time consuming plants, and appreciate things like bulbs, cycads, palms, succulents and bromeliads more and more over the years, and sometimes regret having my design clients thoroughly trained to prefer their trees "laced" on a regular basis.


On Sun Jul 31st, 2011 6:11 PM PDT Paul Reid wrote:

>Short answer: NO.
>
>And, as Joe has said, what's the fun in that?
>
>Karrie Reid
>
>
>
>From: m*@ucdavis.edu
>[mailto:m*@ucdavis.edu] On Behalf Of Ben
>Armentrout-Wiswall
>Sent: Thursday, July 28, 2011 10:58 PM
>To: medit plants forum
>Subject: Low maintenance gardens for the serious gardener
>
>
>
>Hi All,
>
>I spent most of today catching up on some garden maintenance at our home in
>Simi Valley, California.  Our garden is large for a California suburb, about
>15000 square feet (one-third of an acre, or 1400 square meters).  It was a
>pleasant day, though I moved quickly, as for me free time is scarce.  The
>scents of rosemary and sage, roses and mints are refreshing to work in, and
>I had a good day of it.
>
>
>
>But I found myself asking as I deadheaded a long border of Iceberg Roses,
>Sea Statice, and Euphorbia wulfenii, maybe I'd prefer plants that didn't
>need to be deadheaded, that didn't languish if a sprinkler nozzle got
>clogged, that didn't really need much done to them.
>
>
>
>I enjoy gardening, but as a Mr. Mom to three small children, I have little
>time to garden, especially a garden patterned on the work I'd formerly done
>as a landscape designer and contractor.
>
>
>
>The trouble is, my niche as a landscaper was working for rich (by my lights,
>very, very rich) clients.  Like most garden professionals, I had a landscape
>crew working for me, or my clients would have their own gardeners to
>maintain whatever horticultural creation was envisioned.  In these
>circumstances no-one cares about reducing garden maintenance.
>
>
>
>As a homeowner and stay-at-home parent who no longer had a crew of laborers,
>I quickly realized how much work it was to maintain a property.
>
>I figured out that if I were to maintain my property in the same style as my
>former clients (on a per area basis), I would need to spend an entire day
>per week, with a laborer, to fuss over the garden.  I'd also need a few
>hundred dollars a month not for projects, but just to freshen the perennial
>borders or to try a new waterlily in the pond.
>
>
>Given that I don't have that much time, let alone a laborer or a few hundred
>a month to spend on sundries, the garden really looks quite nice.
>
>
>
>But it is work.
>
>My question is, are there any serious garden professionals who have
>considered low maintenance gardens?  When I think of low maintenance
>gardens, I think of homeowners who really are not interested in plants or
>gardens, and only want their property to look presentable, and not have to
>spend time or money achieving that goal.
>
>
>
>The result is usually boring, and no serious gardener would give such a
>garden more than a passing glance (and probably a sneer).
>
>
>
>Is it possible to have a plantsman's garden, or an artist's garden, that
>doesn't need much more than a weekly sweeping and the occasional removal of
>a crossing limb?  Is it possible to have a low maintenance garden that still
>looks like a garden?
>
>
>
>Just wondering,
>
>-Ben Armentrout-Wiswall
>
>Simi Valley, inland southern California
>
>--
>
>
>
>I have a new email address, please update your records:
>
>
>
>benjamin.r.aw@gmail.com
>
>
>




--

 

I have a new email address, please update your records:

 

 

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