Residential | Mothership

Residential Work

Residential - here an aging deck and pointless, resource-sucking lawn were removed and a courtyard was created around a new tree. Amphitheater-like concrete risers were built and topped with matching cushions for lounging when the stairs are warmed by the sun or cool and shady. A pocket native garden, with seasonal interest year round, is created in front of the AC unit which was already covered partly by an existing Westringia shrub, which is retained.

Because the deciduous tree will shade this group in summer but not in winter, natives that can handle a range of sun exposure and drying wind from the AC unit, are chosen: Toyon, Ribes, Salvia, Yarrow, Yerba Buena, Mountain Mahogany. Each has a role to play - the Mahogany to feed Nitrogen to the group, the Toyon to shade the unit and provide flowers in summer for the bees and cheerful yellow berries in the winter for the birds. The yarrow, salvia and Yerba Buena to act as ground cover to help maintain moisture. The Hummingbird Sage provides pink flowers on lime spikes (which is gorgeous against the gray Westringia) for the hummingbirds and delicious tea for people! The Ribes provide winter blooms of pink for wildlife before much else is blooming, and summer and fall berries for birds (and humans). The Yerba Buena provides blooms for nectar April through September and smells minty green when you step on it (and also makes a nice tea). Something is always blooming, fruiting, going dormant and sprouting, even in this tiny pocket garden. Seasonality - change - is critical for a garden to convey time and life cycles and to hold our attention. California does have its own seasons. Let's celebrate them!

One length of the courtyard's concrete risers is a custom daybed with custom outdoor cushions that seamlessly match the concrete so the plants can have all the attention.

Here, six months later, the space is beginning to look finished as the tree and plants fill in.

Pink yarrow brings butterflies and the hoverflies who eat up the aphids. And the Heuchera Wendy's tall pink spikes are cheerful candy to bees and hummingbirds. Both bloom from February until fall.

Many natives can be grown in containers so you can support local insects and birds with minimal effort and investment.

Heuchera Santa Anna Cardinal flowers in dramatic bright rosy pink spikes from winter through fall even in the shade in a pot! It drives the hummingbirds wild.

Diplacus (Monkeyflower) looks great in mostly shade and draws bees and hummingbirds.

Yarrow in a pot. Cheerful, long-lasting blooms host butterflies and hoverflies.

A north-facing narrow side yard between houses can offer challenging site conditions - blazing sun in the summer and total shade in the winter. Wind. No irrigation but gushing downspouts in rain. Still, there are natives that can handle this! Ribes, Heuchera and Yerba Buena turn this boring fence line into a beautiful espaliered courtyard-like pocket garden that is still walkable (to get to the trash bins!).

Front grass lawn removed and natives added. In this area, existing fruit trees dictated the hydro zone and therefore, what natives could work there. Here, where citrus and fig trees are still getting established and need occasional water, Monkeyflower, Yarrow and Seaside Daisy can these handle garden conditions.

Here an existing, established Privet hedge is retained as a privacy fence and native plants are planted inside it. Cleveland Sage (Winnifred Gilman) contrasts nicely with the dark green and keeps the butterflies coming.

Elegant Clarkia lights up a shady corner effortlessly and keeps the bees fed.

Farewell-to-Spring joins the Clarkia for a burst of spring color that lasts until summer and reseeds itself.

Farewell-to-Spring grow effortlessly from seed under a Coast Live Oak where sterile grass used to be.

The Parkway also gets an upgrade from sterile, water-sucking grass to Verbena De La Mina, which smells amazing as you walk past and blooms most of the year, (to the delight of butterflies), and Ceanothus (California Lilac) which restores Nitrogen to the soil, feeding everything that's planted nearby through Mychorrizal root networks. This allows the plants to thrive on the narrow, hardscape-surrounded, summer sun-blasted parkway with no irrigation. California plants have evolved particular survival strategies for California's harsh conditions. One of them is plant communities. Certain native plants have evolved to grow best together. Some can sequester and share nitrogen, making their neighboring plants more resilient to poor soil and arid conditions. Even to pests! For this reason, (and for blue blooms in winter!) we love Ceanothus. It doesn't like summer water, so people think it's tricky, but it can be a garden hero.

Parkway - Ceanothus, Rosemary and Artemisia California Canyon Grey (Canyon Grey Sagebrush). Existing Rosemary was rooted so deeply it was allowed to remain. The trio looks lovely together, each taking a different form, vertical level and shade of green. Together, they feed bees and butterflies year-round and smells like California (Cowboy Cologne) when you step on it or brush past.

Five spot and Baby Blue Eyes joins Chinese Houses all springing from seed and bringing early spring cheer and lots of habitat to shady corners.

Gilia Tricolor drives the Bees wild with its iridescent white blooms with purple centers which appear quickly after a winter rain.