Re: garden planning

My own garden has some challenges of its own. Our soil is really
almost entirely pure sand. Little organic matter, but it does seem to
have plenty of minerals. The town in which I live sits on an old dune
fiels that back from the coast was coastal sage scrub ("soft"
chaparral). When I first started out, I had tried to push the
envelope. Japanese maples would wind burn, lilyturf would end up going
patchy and declining, so I realized I had to work with nature rather
than against it. Considering that your climate is not Mediterranean
(at least from what I've read in this thread), it doesn't surprise me
that you're having problems with plants like Ceanothus and wormwood
(classic Mediterranean type plants). I also have issues with frost and
cold in winter. I'm only two miles from the sea, but my house sits in
sort of a bowl, which means cold air funnels down to where I live and
sits there. I've had plants like Metrosideros die through cold where
they seem to thrive less than a mile away. Over the years, my garden
has evolved to include exotics, but exotics that can endure some frost
in winter, dry, sandy soil, cold winds, and at times neglect.

So, I think one of the keys to your problems really is right plant for
the right place. When you work with nature you'll find that you have
less problems. That doesn't mean you won't get a bad year (I had a
tree that is hardy when mature get killed during a cold snap a few
years ago), but plants suited to your specific climate will do better
than those that aren't suited but you like and try to "force" into
accepting their new home.

Las Pilitas nursery talks (and raves) about this sort of thing.
Something they discuss is the microbial and fungal network that plants
suited to a climate can "plug into". This page talks a lot about it
http://www.laspilitas.com/advanced/advcommunities.htm. While its focus
is on California, I think it may give you some good ideas on how to go
about working with your local plant community. A lot of it makes
sense, plant things suited to your community, even if exotic and
you'll have an easier time than trying to force a square peg into a
round hole.
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