Photo courtesy of Jude Parkinson Morgan.
TOOLS AND TIPS:
WHY NATIVEs: part one
by Katherine Novick
Native Valley Landscape Design, Napa, CA
When I first started working with plants professionally I was mostly interested in vegetables, that soon gave way to medicinal herbs and then finally to natives. My passion for natives is now eight years strong. I’ve built a business around working with them and spend a lot of my spare time learning about them.
Somehow the allure of natives hasn’t quite hit the mainstream, while it feels like it's growing, it’s often something I have to explain and even defend at times. So understanding its root in my personal story and identifying how its lasting importance to me has expanded with a sense of urgency at times feels necessary.
My method for spreading the good gospel of native plants, while evolving, is to design landscapes with a high percentage if not complete of natives and do so in an alluring way that feels like something we are familiar with, both in the historical sense of garden design and in a deep unconscious connection we have as humans to the beauty and wonder of our surrounding environments.
I think one road block for people when it comes to appreciating the value of a native garden can be found in the deepening distance we have created between us and the natural world. That feeling of other, out there, the divide between our man made manicured safety net (lawn) and the expansive and literal forest of unknown has only increased with time.
With the divide growing, and habitat loss increasing due to a number of factors (development, waste, invasive species, climate change, and more) one option that feels realistic is to bring the natural, habitat supporting environment to us.
As a landscape designer I am not here to condemn our continued push of development into the “wild” (I’ll save that for another space), and I’m not here to suggest that we give up our modern lives and “go back to the land”, I simply want to recommend an alternative to our current predicament* that feels like something we can all accomplish. I call it Residential Restoration, and it is simple. Instead of planting gardens full of exotics, plant them with what has evolved to thrive and support habitat in your local environment. Use your garden, your backyard, your front lawn, as an opportunity to bring some restored balance to the earth. Take advantage of the context, a small scrap of earth where you get to decide what lives and dies and make the choice to invite back in what came before you.
Photos courtesy of Katherine Novick.
With native plants at your doorstep there is an immediate point of connection to the greater ecology of the place you call home. Beyond your small plot of land that connect extends to the watershed you rely on for so many human needs. Planting natives makes a small impact that expands infinitely as neighbor’s are inspired and take your lead and birds, insects, mammals and reptiles rejoice. When you become familiar with native plants that you chose and care for and see throughout the seasons and their individual life cycles, you have the added bonus of being able to identify more vegetation on your next hike and this gets exciting because you may now want to go on those hikes more often to see what is in bloom, how landscape is regenerating after fire, or even to monitor what is changing.
I describe these potential acts because they are exactly what has happened to me. Getting to know native plants by planting them wherever I call home (even if that home is only temporary) has increased my desire to want to know them more, enjoy them, protect them and most certainly celebrate them. It’s deepened my connection to a world that is free and ours to enjoy as long as we continue to protect it. And it’s helped alleviate the stress I experience in our fast paced world by slowing things down, as I take the time to explore and seek out a new species, so I can actually enjoy all the diverse beauty on this planet. For that I am forever grateful to native plants and the journey they have taken me on.
The Mesocosm of Community
by Shawn Maestretti and Leigh Adams
Studio Petrichor (Leigh Adams, Gisela Garay and Shawn Maestretti) with Pasadena Water and Power and the community of Pasadena and beyond. Photo courtesy of Studio Petrichor.
Community….what a powerful word. It’s a feeling, an interaction, a reciprocal relationship, an exchange, protection, survival and most importantly, it’s regenerative. It is regenerative because community nourishes and enriches relationships and living systems. At Studio Petrichor we like to think about how can we take our regenerative practices, designs, and discoveries and allow them to migrate, ripple and connect like mycorrhizal relationships with the intent of benefitting others. How can we do that? Through the platform of our communities.
Transmitting our meaningful work directly to governments, agencies, educational institutions and active organizations is one way to start. But we have also experienced multiple successes by starting in our communities with education, design courses and hands-on workshops.
It is important to us to acknowledge the teachings and leadership of the Green Gardens Group (G3) that have inspired us to take action, not only in our private and commercial projects, but in every action we take. We have also been greatly influenced by the work at the Crescent Farm in the Los Angeles County Arboretum.
Recently, Pasadena Water and Power asked us to share climate awareness, regenerative landscape practices, and the work of the Crescent Farm in their community. The response has been resoundingly positive and we have an upcoming series of programs with the City of Pasadena that we hope to carry into other local cities.
In our home community of Altadena, the engagement and enthusiasm in our hands-on hugelkultur workshops has been most gratifying. Besides seeing our participants go home and begin their own hugels and/or lasagna mulching, we are delighted to have them return to our classes time and time again, accompanied by friends and family, to share in the joy of learning regenerative practices.
We like to think that the Studio Petrichor mascot is Mycorrhizal Fungi. We wish to support, exchange and nourish our communities as we grow and learn together.
Thank you to Pamela Berstler and the Green Gardens Group for inspiring action and the Crescent Farm for encouraging experimentation and new growth.
PLANT SPOTLIGHT:
designer plant picks: our favorite natives
Photo by Soleil Tranquilli.
Frangula (Rhamnus) californica, COFFEEBERRY
I sing praise for the lowly Frangula californica. Never a star, always a wallflower, nevertheless she persists. Coffeeberry is my number one evergreen go-to for foundations, dividers, shade gardens, and (cringe) even hedges. She handles the most inept pruning with grace. She is that perfect 'hidey' shrub that birds seek out 'twixt tree and sky. In Spring at the natives nursery, where is all the buzz? It's Miss Frangula hosting the wild pollination party with her tiny blooms. She's my green girlfriend, and her cousins Mound San Bruno and Eve Case are always welcome in my gardens.
Photo by John Black, APLD.
Epilobium septentrionale ‘Wayne’s Silver’
SILVER CALIFORNIA FUCHSIA
Because California gardens comprise such a range of conditions, my favorite native is a versatile groundcover that can take lawn overspray or drought… oak shade or blazing sun… clay soil or garden loam. It’s also fire-resistant, a hummingbird magnet, and needs no more maintenance than an annual hacking. Plus, it blooms its socks off in autumn while so many of its native neighbors are going dormant! I can only be describing Epilobium, or California Fuchsia. I’m partial to E. septentrionale, especially ‘Wayne’s Silver’, but it’s indistinguishable from E. canum so either will do. I love its cool foliage and hot flowers at the base of a rainbow hued Phormium, or paired with Salvia clevelandii and blue Festuca, or under old oaks with naturalized Narcissus to provide color when the Epilobium finally goes dormant.
Photo by Laurie Schofield.
Salvia clevelandii ‘Winnifred Gilman’, CLEVELAND SAGE
This Salvia is short-lived (5 years more or less) but while it is in its prime it is lovely. Deep blue flowers on wine-red stems set her apart from other cultivars of Salvia clevelandii and last quite a while from late spring well into summer. An on warm summer evenings you will get a whiff of the most delicious wild scent from the fragrant foliage. We use it in full sun combined with other natives or grasses that set off the grey-green leaves. Mature size is about 3’ x 3’. Very low water.
Photo by Laurie Schofield.
Eriogonum arborescens, SANTA CRUZ ISLAND BUCKWHEAT
This Eriogonum will become a large shrub over time. Sporting grey-green leaves and peeling reddish bark, Eriogonum arborescens grows slowly into quite a showstopper. The umbels of flowers start out pinkish and mature to a reddish brown that persist for months. We use it in full sun with Arctostaphylos species and grasses. Mature size can range from 3’-4’ x 4’-6’ in our experience. Very low water. This is such a wonderful plant. We would put one in almost every project if they were more available. Shown here with Leymus ‘Canyon Prince’ and Arctostaphylos ‘Dr. Hurd’.
Photos by Anna Wendorf.
Arctostaphylos manzanita ‘Dr. Hurd’, DR. HURD MAZNANITA
I can't get enough of this beautiful manzanita. It looks great in most settings from contemporary to wild native gardens. Its crisp neat appearance and muted gray green look great in most settings- from contemporary to wild gardens. I love the contrast when set against a dark green Emerald Carpet Manzanita or Coffeeberry, especially when the sun lights it up in the afternoon. An added bonus is the smooth dark red bark which can look sculptural or subdued. I have found Dr. Hurds to be fussy for the first year, but very easy after established.
Photo by Mary Fisher.
Asarum caudatum, WILD GINGER
This is my all-time favorite groundcover for shady spots. The bold texture is often just what is needed in native palettes. You have to look closely, but the maroon flowers in the summer are truly bizarre and wonderful. In this photo I have it tucked under a coast live oak with Adiantum pedatum, Satureja douglasii and Mahonia ‘Soft Caress’.
