Re: Going dryer, or Garden is a verb


Thanks Laura, Diane, and Nick,
Good advice all around .

Thanks Nick for the compliment!

Diane, I know what you mean about Japanese gardens being a distillation of the surrounding nature, but as you point out Japan is kind of a garden already.  
It seems the harsher the climate, the more pronounced the difference between the garden and untrammeled nature.  Maybe my little island of France in the dry hills of southern California reflects the garden tradition of dry areas like the Middle East, and these traditions developed for good reason.

And yes, Laura, I agree with you, the lawn should be the first thing to go, both for water conservation, utility, and because lawns are, well, boring.

We have two young children and a baby, so the lawn is used.  The two older kids are both partly paralyzed and use wheelchairs some of the time, so the lawn is used less than it might be.  Replacing the lawn with an herb garden, however, becomes a much more laborious (and expensive) undertaking if it needs to include smooth, hard, wheelchair-accessible paths to get around.  Decomposed granite paths are adequate for a wheelchair, but I've found interlocking concrete pavers are much preferred by the kids.
That's the main reason I haven't replaced the lawn.

This summer, however, I've decided to replace the rear of the lawn with an herb garden (without additional paths for the time being) and some small trees (Acca or Punica or Fig, or maybe California natives like Toyon or Chilopsis).  I can add paths later as time and money become more available, and in the meantime at least I'm making progress toward a more interesting and waterwise garden.

Thanks again!
-Ben A-W
Simi Valley, CA
From: Laura Cooper Nick Taggart <coopertaggart@earthlink.net>
To: voltaire@islandnet.com
Cc: medit plants forum <medit-plants@ucdavis.edu>
Sent: Sun, May 16, 2010 9:21:21 AM
Subject: Re: Going dryer, or Garden is a verb

The lawn, to my  eye. seems like the main issue from both a water perspective and a design one. If it was my garden, I'd replace it with decomposed granite and either a formal edible garden with raised beds or borders with mediterranean plants or a combination  (maybe including some fruit trees.)  Rather than being refreshed by a lawn I'd choose a fountain to refresh. Do you use the lawn?

Laura
Los Angeles


On May 16, 2010, at 8:52 AM, Diane Whitehead wrote:

> So - parched or lush?
>
> I visited many famous Japanese gardens, and noticed they were not noticeable on the approach.  No purple-leaved trees were visible from the road. The plants were the same as the wild ones of the area.  The difference was in the care - the placement, the pruning.  Japanese gardens were a refinement of the natural.  However, Japan has lots of summer rain, and the gardens were green.
>
> I haven't visited gardens in desert areas, but from reading garden history books, it seems that gardens in the Middle East were designed to be a cool, refreshing, moist refuge.
>
> I'd stay with what you've got.  If you want parched, you can always walk up that hill behind your lovely garden.
>
> Diane Whitehead
> Victoria B.C. Canada
>
>
>
>
> On 16-May-10, at 7:07 AM, Ben Wiswall wrote:
>> But now, I wonder if I should lose the roses, and go for a drier, more sage look, something in keeping with the now already beige surrounding hills.  After all, I'm not in France, and the garden looks like an island in the countryside around it.
>

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