Having a sister with a long, successful career as a landscape architect has made it easy to have an ongoing conversation with Sally Farnum about design, client concerns and current issues. We are all especially interested in California’s water problem and wanted to find out how Sally is helping her clients address the issue.

Suzi: What have your clients have been asking about when it comes to water and their gardens?
Sally: Most of my clients are trying to be responsible when it comes to water usage in their landscape. They want to know if they need to take out their lawns, replace their flowering plants with desert plants and if it will still look pretty.

Suzi: How do you approach designing a plan that reflects water-consciousness but is still pretty?
Sally: I really work to combine good elements of design in all my plans: scale, balance, variety, form, line, texture and color. I like to use California natives, salvias, lavenders along with containers, sculpture and fountains.  I suggest using decomposed granite and gravel and, really important, an extra-efficient irrigation system.

Suzi: How do you convince them that a huge, green lawn isn’t the best plan anymore
Sally: Most people are visually oriented, so to describe an idea in words alone doesn’t always convince them. I show them photos or have them visit other projects I have completed.  But I don’t feel that it’s necessary to remove ALL lawn. Only 5% of residential water is used to keep lawns green and it contributes to cooling an area, cleaning the air and reduces noise. Grass in a front yard, used to fill space, should be eliminated.

Suzi: Do you have a favorite or most challenging project which incorporated water-wise elements?

Sally: One of my favorite and most challenging designs is right across the street from my own home.  Challenging because the home belongs to a friend and because I look at it most every day. My favorite because of the transformation from a front yard with a large asphalt driveway and lawn, to a garden with a walled-in gravel courtyard with a fountain and pots planted with flowering plants on the street side of the wall.

Suzi: How have you managed to change the way you designed in the past to meet the new challenges presented by the drought?
Sally:  The challenges are mainly in working with my clients and helping them accept new plants and watering habits.  Most plants will adapt to using less water, but people tend to water more than necessary.  I haven’t changed the way I design, but I have changed the materials and plants I use.

Suzi: Thanks, Sal.  You’re always such a wealth of information, and a fine sister, too.
Sally: You’re not so bad yourself.

FRIENDS OF ROBINSON GARDENS

Cordially invite you to our twenty-seventh annual

“…into the garden Benefit Tour”

Saturday, May 16, 2015, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Grand Marshal
Victoria Tennant

New this year – Valet Parking
Valet parking must be purchased prior to the day of Garden Tour.

Virginia Robinson Estate and Tours of Four Exquisite Beverly Hills Gardens

The Garden Tour is a multi-faceted day, considered “…. the most glamorous (event) of its kind in Southern California.”   For the only time during the year, the entire Robinson residence is open for the day, decorated by the finest florists and designers.

The Beverly House:  William Randolph Hearst’s mini-castle, where he lived with Marion Davies, is an architectural masterpiece with its famous gardens laid out by Paul Thiene in the 1920s.  The property includes lavish reflecting pools, old-growth trees and expansive grounds.

Hernando’s Hideaway:  Originally built by the owner of the Beverly Hills Hotel and occupied by hotelier Hernando Courtwright, a frequent guest of Virginia Robinson, this Gable and Wyant treasure has charm to spare:  hanging gardens, passion fruit vines lining the tennis court fence, a playhouse courtyard and a secret garden lined with bottle art.

A Hilltop With A View:  an Italianate villa with recirculating water that feeds three waterfalls into a placid lake, a grand lawn with colorful flowers and citrus borders, manicured hedges that include a maze and a glorious pool with a view of the canyon.

 The Best Exotic Bel Air Estate:  Climb deep into this 8-acre canyon that boasts a series of garden rooms, from koi ponds to Balinese sundecks to terraced vegetable gardens.  There is even an art studio and a hillside amphitheater.

PLEASE NOTE:  Due to parking limitations, this house is a BONUS for all Concierge and VIP Van ticket holders only.

To purchase by mail please CLICK HERE to print response card and mail to:

Robinson Gardens, 1008 Elden Way, Beverly Hills, CA  90210

Friends of Robinson Gardens
1008 Elden Way
Beverly Hills, California 90210
(310) 550-2068

Planting in the Edges and Cracks of a Garden

For several years I tried to get a lovely, drought tolerant plant established in my garden. Lychnis coronaria is a perennial that forms low-growing rosettes of gray-green leaves that in late spring and summer sends up glorious stalks of dark magenta flowers. It just refused to grow in my nice fertile beds, but it is now flourishing, all on its own, between the cracks of my brick path. Like many plants, it apparently doesn’t want coddling and can find the moisture and nurture it needs at the edges of the more cultivated part of the garden. Even the Gaillardia seems to do just as well in the gravel terrace outside of the confines of the bed I originally planted it in.

There are plenty of other species that also seem to thrive on the margins. Many succulents, for example, will multiply in the cracks of a wall or at the edge of the walkway. The stones provide a heat sink as well as a barrier to evaporation so that the root zone of these castaways is protected. Succulents such as sedums, sempervivums, and portulacas are particularly suited for this lifestyle. But other, tough plants like the herbs rosemary, oregano, creeping thyme, and even sage can fend for themselves in these microzones.

You may already have a dry-laid stone wall, or a flagstone or brick path that can accommodate a few plants tucked in the crevices. But, if you are planning such a feature, imagine leaving a wider gap in a few places. Some landscape material suppliers even have broken concrete or tile that has been salvaged from former gardens that make ideal patterns to include a few hardy plants to complete the patio, path or wall with the re-used paving.

And if some plant escapes the confines of your established garden bed, give it a chance and see if it is one of the hardy survivors that can lend softness and charm to the margin.

Image Credits:
Rose Campion – Creative Commons, Rose campion by Ruth Hartnup is licensed under CC by 2.0
Herb Garden- Creative Commons, Herb Garden1 by theoldpanther is licensed under CC by 2.0
Rock Wall Garden – Creative Commons, Rock Wall Garden by Patrick Standish is licensed under CC by 2.0

Sun Drenched Gardens: The Mediterranean Style by Jan Smithen 

 Author Jan Smithen and photographer Lucinda Lewis have put together a beautiful and pertinent book that is even more noteworthy today than it was when it was published in 2002. Mediterranean-style gardens offer easy maintenance as well as water-saving planting that is environmentally sound and enormously appealing.

Sun-Drenched Gardens; the Mediterranean Style features gardens from France, Italy, Spain and California that employ drought-tolerant plants such as agaves and other succulents, wisteria, lavenders, geraniums and even some roses. Design features such as terraces, arbors, hedges, pergolas, topiary, statuary, decorative tile, and terracotta containers are used in the gardens.

While paging through the book, Californians and especially those familiar with Santa Barbara will recognize landscape designs and terracotta containers so familiar that it seems the photos were taken in our backyards, or even at Eye of the Day. The eight chapters include one entitled “Endless Sunshine – Precious Water” which has great information and design ideas.  Another entitled “Living Outdoors” highlights our need to be in the open air and how to plan and enjoy our gardens even during a drought.

If you have difficulty finding this amazing book, the next time you visit Eye of the Day, ask to see our house copy, it’s truly worth seeing.

The Landscape Professional and Client Relationship, Part II

Principal at Arcadia Studio in Santa Barbara and a resident of Los Olivos, Carol Puck Erickson, ASLA,  has an extensive portfolio of residences and arid gardens in Arizona and beautiful installations throughout California, Puck was initially educated in the visual arts, which still informs her work. She is an avid bi-coastal hiker and amateur botanist who is intrigued by the relationships between the cultural and agrarian landscapes and the native environment.

Puck is also committed to the therapeutic value of gardens, as a founding member of the Santa Ynez Valley Botanic Garden and pro bono consultant for many school and community gardens.  She has worked with Eye of the Day on a large variety of projects over the last two decades and is one of our favorite landscape professionals.

EOD: How has your design relationship evolved over time with any particular client?

I have enjoyed working with clients on multiple projects, sometimes over decades as the gardens reflect an evolution in their owners’ perspectives on the twists and turns of their own lives. Working together, we gain an understanding of the role time plays in a garden and in our own lives.  Often, with their second or third gardens, people are willing to plant a bit smaller and also to simplify their approach to garden designs.  While others, coaxed into the out-of-doors by their first garden, become avid collectors and gardening enthusiasts.

EOD: How do you accommodate the client’s changing tastes over a span of time and still allow your own accumulated professional experience to show through?

I listen closely, very closely!! As the years have flown by, I find that often I am simply a translator and steward as my client churns out ideas with unbridled enthusiasm, often without recognizing their own insight into a space, or an observation gleaned from their travels. It is through my experience and design discipline that we can take these wonderful ideas and marry them to the environment of the new garden.

I am often surprised at how easily some designers seem to let go of their gardens and the evolution of those spaces, from both a horticultural and aesthetic perspective. When we work with clients we are not creating a garden image, frozen in time. Once the garden is completed, the real fun begins. The garden begins to build its own rhythm and dynamic as it flows from season to season and we are committed to continue that dialogue with our clients and their gardens over years, if not decades!  I think responding to the drought is a perfect example of how an on-going relationship with the client and their garden can make a real difference.

To view more of Puck’s work, visit Arcadia Studio.

Morocco in Your Own Garden

California gardens, especially those in Southern California have long utilized the concept of outdoor rooms. Countries with warm, dry climates around the Mediterranean basin have been creating miniature oases outdoors for centuries. Taking a cue from them is one way to replicate both the feel and appropriateness of this style.

Moroccan gardens provide great examples of the restrained use of water to create a lush setting in outdoor courtyards and passageways. Even while reducing your water use in the landscape, you can create an intimate, yet luxuriant garden space by taking inspiration from arid North Africa. Gardens there are generally central to the dwelling, both to provide privacy and protection from the heat and winds.

One of the key elements of these enclosed spaces is limiting water use. The Arabic word for a garden of this type is riad and usually refers to the central fountain or ornamental pool. The fountain need not be large to provide a bit of cooling to the air as well as a sense of peace and luxury in a climate where water is scarce.  It is possible to recreate that feeling with a simple water feature created from a glazed pot and a small, efficient pump instead of building a large fountain.

Another feature is the exuberant use of color. Colorful pots, a painted wall or gate as well as bright flowers make for a vibrant and even joyful setting. Vivid glazed tiles, whether on the patio floor or the surface of a fountain, also contribute to creating an exotic paradise.

Plants can be used as well and they do not have to be those that require a lot of water. There are many that are drought tolerant, yet lush-looking. Large leaves give a more topical feel and species such as bird of paradise, aspidistra and pygmy date palm do well in containers. Succulents are a great choice; from cacti to agaves and aloes, they thrive on little water and their foliage provides drama and color. The Canary Islands is home to a wonderful group of succulents, the aeoniums, whose fleshy leaves grow in large, showy rosettes and would be perfect choices. Even the humble geranium (Pelargonium) is sturdy and produces flowers nearly year round. Assemble several plants in one container to provide a miniature landscape or group individual pots together, mixing and matching your color palette.

Look at Planted Wells blog for more Moroccan garden design inspiration.

Image Credits:
Moroccan Garden – Creative Commons, Chelsesa Flower Show Gardens by Rictor Norton and David Allen is licensed under CC by 2.0
Plant Image – Creative Commons, BCSS gloucester branch auction – The national agave collection by stephen boisvert is licensed under CC by 2.0