Fountain Conversion: A Michalis in the Garden 

We have been fortunate to have Rebecca Sweet write for The Yardstick in the past and knowing that she has a sustained love for Mediterranean gardens and is busy with clients seeking her expertise and experience, we are pleased that she took the time to answer some questions about her garden design featuring Eye of the Day’s Greek pot, the Michalis, as a fountain conversion.  Rebecca is the author of several esteemed books on gardening and her work has been featured in Sunset Magazine, Horticulture and a variety of other national publications.  Her design firm, Harmony in the Garden, is in Los Altos California.

 

Q: Tell us a little about yourself as a designer and Harmony in the Garden.

I’m a California native, and though I’ve lived in both the southern and central parts of the state, I’ve spent most of my life in the Bay Area. Over the years I’ve seen this area’s sleepy suburbs transform into the bustling, densely populated, high-energy area that it is today. The people who call this place home come from all over the country, as well as the world, and have brought with them their unique perspectives on gardening. Having had my landscape design company, Harmony in the Garden, for over 15 years now, it’s been an incredible gift to be a part of these changes and to help so many people from different walks of life create their versions of paradise.

Q: What was your client’s goal for this garden?

As passionate gardeners themselves, the clients wanted to transform this part of their garden from a water-guzzling, and unsightly half-dead lawn into something that would require much less maintenance and water. This area is situated close to their home and can be viewed from several large windows, so it needed to look good year-round.

Q: What was your initial vision for the landscape and did that change over time?

My vision and theirs complemented one another perfectly, as we are all succulent fans. So, to reduce water consumption, as well as indulge in our love of succulents, we removed the lawn, replacing it with a low-water succulent and cactus garden. To help tie this new space in with their existing, and more traditional style of garden, we also incorporated   several flowering shrubs and perennials that were colorful, yet also drought-tolerant and low-maintenance.

Because the area is fairly large, we knew we needed to break up the space into smaller, more manageable planting areas. Wide decomposed granite pathways were the solution, gently meandering through the space, helping to bring down the scale of the oversized garden.

Q: Any unique issues or challenges for this project during the design or installation?

Initially, the homeowner wanted this garden to thrive without supplemental water but quickly realized that just wasn’t going to happen. This area is in full sun so even the cactus were suffering through the blistering summer heat-waves. Luckily, we had a feeling this might happen and had previously installed a framework of irrigation under the ground ‘just in case.’ We ended up irrigating the garden, on a very reduced schedule.

Q: What would you describe as your garden design aesthetic and how do you work with your client’s own vision for the landscape?

My own aesthetic is one that appears full and lush, yet is quite drought-tolerant. My passion for plants has allowed me to create drought tolerant gardens that don’t ‘look’ drought  tolerant, and is what I’m probably best known for creating.

Since so many of my clients come from around the world, their vision for their garden (and the    plants they’re used to seeing) can be challenging to translate with California’s lack of water. Luckily, living in a mild-winter climate such as ours, we have access to an expansive selection of drought-tolerant plants from which to choose.  I love interpreting their vision into a garden overflowing with plants that will thrive here.

Q: For garden décor, why the Michalis Greek pot for the fountain conversion?

When designing this garden, we knew we wanted a focal point to bisect the center of the pathways. To keep in scale with the large garden and home, we needed a large focal point.  The Michalis Greek pot an ideal choice for a fountain conversion and blends beautifully with their historic Mediterranean home. By converting the pot into to a fountain, we added the gentle sound of trickling water, entertainment from the multitude of birds that adore taking baths there, and the illusion of ‘coolness’ from the water itself. We couldn’t have chosen a more perfect focal point for this garden.

 

Q: What was your favorite part of this project?

My favorite part of this project was to see the joy on my clients’ faces as they saw their garden’s breathtaking transformation. I continue to visit them and their garden every few months and seeing the succulents grow and fill in, creating an ever-changing tapestry has given my clients so much happiness through the years – all while significantly reducing their water bill!

 

See Rebecca’s other work on our blog:

Rebecca Sweet On Shades of Gray in the Garden
Stylish and Sustainable Garden Design

One of my favorite gardens that I designed a few years ago is a great example of how you can replace a water-thirsty lawn with lush looking, and less thirsty, plants.  One of the most successful strategies we used was to swap out the turf lawn and install a drought-tolerant Dymondia margaratea ‘lawn’ in its place.  But first, a little background and a few before & afters:

My client’s home is located on a busy corner within a stone’s throw of two nearby schools, has giant picture windows throughout the house and has a 4-foot high wall that surrounds most of the garden (a Lookiloo’s fantasy!)  What this translates into is the homeowners were on constant display to traffic and pedestrians alike and felt like they were living in a fishbowl, for all to see.

The lack of privacy would tempt many to build a fortress-like wall to surround the garden, but staying true to their welcoming personalities, they decided to create a garden that others might equally enjoy (after all, if they’re going to peek over the wall they might as well have something nice to look at, right?)

Tired of their threadbare, un-used, water-thirsty lawn and random mishmash of plantings, they wished for a more responsible, fun, and ‘livable’ garden that used less water and incorporated plenty of native plants to encourage wildlife to visit.  Our first step was to rip out the lawn and reinterpret a newer, smaller version using Dymondia.  I chose Dymondia because it’s extremely tough, drought-tolerant, evergreen and can withstand a fair amount of foot traffic. Plus, it’s just so darnned pretty.

Their concern, however, was that using such an expansive amount of the color gray in the garden would have a blinding, bright and parched effect.  This is a perfectly valid concern, and one that I’ve often heard from other clients who have experienced the unintended ‘glare’ in their gardens as a result of an overuse of gray plants.   To help avoid this common pitfall of using gray in the garden, here are a few tricks I’ve used to help tone down the brightness while still enjoying this beautiful color.

Shades of Gray

First, it’s important to realize that there are different shades of gray ranging from light & bright, to mid-level gray all the way to dark, charcoal-like foliage. And because of this range, it’s important to understand that not all grays are alike.  It’s perfectly okay to use plenty of gray plants in the garden, as long as you vary the shading.  No one wants to look at one bright gray plant after another without a place for the eye to rest, so remember to use plenty of mid-level and dark gray plants sprinkled throughout.

Keeping it Lush

In order to prevent gray colors from creating a ‘pass the sunglasses’ effect in your garden, it’s also important to include plenty of nearby plants that have deep, rich colors, such as burgundy, green and purple. In this garden, the plants chosen included the brilliant blue flowers of our native ‘Blue Springs’ Penstemon, vibrant purple Lavender and the deep burgundy Stonecrop that creeps throughout the edges of the Dymondia lawn.

Lambs Ear is used sparingly throughout the garden, as it’s a really bright shade of gray, almost bordering on white, and could easily cause the Dymondia to appear brighter than it actually is.

In fact, each Dymondia leaf consists of two colors – green on the bottom and silvery gray on top.  And once the Dymondia begins to grow and fill out (forming a soft and inviting 3-inch spongy mat), its slender leaves will begin to twist gently, revealing its different colors.

To further emphasize the green in the bi-colored foliage, I’ve included plenty of other surrounding plants with green colors to help strengthen the color echo.

For example, I’ve interspersed our native Carex divulsa (Berkeley Sedge) and Calamagrostis foliosa (Feather Reed Grass) throughout the lawn, as well as lots of perennials with green foliage.

It’s not just Dymondia that has hefty amounts of green in its coloring – take a look at a lot of other gray plants and you’ll notice green beneath the gray ‘fuzz’ (ie: many lavenders, senecios and hostas).  To emphasize the blue tones of the gray Dymondia colors, I also included plenty of blue plants in the garden, as well – like this ‘Beyond Blue’ fescue, various succulents, and many blue-flowered perennials.

My goal was to emphasize the tones and colors that I want while minimizing the tones that I don’t want.  Can you imagine how bright the garden would be if I had used an overabundance of white flowers and foliage?

Hardscaping

Hardscaping (such as nearby flagstones, patios and sidewalks) plays an important role when placed near gray plants as it, too, can serve to either tone down the brightness or amp it up to blinding proportions.

For this garden, we chose flagstones with slightly creamy-pink tones to them.  Again, the reason was to de-emphasize the bright gray colors by introducing softer muted shades to tone things down.

I’ve seen plenty of instances where a drift of bright gray plants, such as Lamb’s Ear or Artemesia, have been placed directly adjacent to a bright white cement walkway. And 9 times out of 10, that’s the area the homeowner is referring to when they say they don’t like the color gray.

To eliminate this blinding effect, just remember to use hardscaping ( as well as plants) with softer tones and/or darker colors.

A year after this garden was installed, we compared water bills – the result was amazing!   Compared to the wall-to-wall ‘carpeting’ of lawn from before, the new garden uses 40% less water, even though there is a ton of plants in this garden!  This shows that with creative and careful plant selection, and water-efficient drip irrigation, the result can be breathtaking while using much less water.

Stylish and Sustainable Garden Design

Living and designing in California, the ongoing and severe drought we’re experiencing is on everyone’s minds. And as such, drought-tolerant gardens are rapidly replacing outdated water-thirsty landscapes. While everyone is on board with the concept of a drought-tolerant garden I inevitably hear the same hesitation from clients – they don’t want their low-water garden to look like their neighbor’s new garden down the street. They want to make sure their new garden still reflects their personality and individual style.

This is a valid concern as it seems many drought-tolerant gardens seem to focus on the same twenty plants over and over again, with the end result being one of uninspired predictability. Luckily, there are a few simple ways to avoid this common trap.

For my clients who want a more traditional East Coast feeling in their garden, color is key. It’s important that I include low-water plants that contain a higher proportion of greens, maroons, blues and purples to mix along with the more common gray tones. The effect will be the same – a reduction in water use – but the garden will appear cool and lush.

For my clients who prefer a Mediterranean feel in their gardens, I tend to use a larger amount of warm colors, such as oranges, golds and reds mixed in with the greens and grays. The result is a garden that appears to glow in our perpetually sunny days.

But just because I’m reducing the use of water in these gardens doesn’t mean I’m eliminating it all together. On the contrary, it’s important to include a source of water in the garden as the sight and sound of it not only reinforces that we’re not living in the Sahara Desert but it also provides a much-needed source of water for wildlife during these thirsty times.

And depending on the style chosen, the fountain is one more way to help further define the character of the garden. For my East Coast inspired gardens, a traditional, stately three-tiered fountain is right at home, nestled among the Corsican hellebore, lavender and native penstemon.

And for my Mediterranean-inspired gardens, a simple antique olive jar blends seamlessly into the surrounding garden filled with succulents, salvias and grasses.

My client was happy; she’d just completed installation of major landscape improvements designed by an award-winning designer. I was not so happy. Some of the plants the designer had chosen were simply not suited for the area where they’d been planted and it was my job to make them look good.

Landscape architects, designers, and maintenance crews are largely trained in the nuts and bolts of building landscape: walls, paths, site lines, and the mechanics of irrigation systems, but may not be as versed in the fine art of plant selection. The lusty plants at the nursery look fantastic in their pots, but growing information is scanty.

The tag says full sun to partial shade. Were the conditions it was tested in similar to your site? The tag says drought tolerant. What kind of soil would provide the support the plant needs to actually survive a drought? And for how long?

Especially in water-challenged Southern California, consider the following as essential to a successful landscape:

Soil

Test the soil. Is it heavy clay, loamy or sandy? Each different type requires specific treatments or careful plant selection. Match plant requirements to what is available (or achievable).

Plant Grouping

Group plants by water and exposure requirements. Even the Cadillac of irrigation systems will support plants only if all of them in the area being watered require the same amount at the same application rate. In our climate it should always be the primary principle to reduce the amount of water required for any given garden zone.

Environment

We shouldn’t have to relinquish every lush-looking palm, fern or ginger, just make sure they are placed where their water requirements don’t conflict with those of the more drought-tolerant ones.

Professional botanists and horticulturists have taken these questions to heart and provide more complete information in books, magazines and websites. Call on their expertise and experience to create a successful, beautiful garden.

See more of my writing on sustainable landscaping here.

Brent and I have become friends with Jonathan Reichlan and Natalie van Zelm over the last few years, not just because they use our products in their projects, but also their work is beautiful, conscientious and imaginative and Natalie and Jonathan are completely interesting, engaging people. A great way to get to know them and their style is to take a look at the website for their company Urban Eco Design (). It is evident that together they draw inspiration from native planting and xeriscape design, both so necessary with current climate change issues.

Natalie recently brought us up to date on a current Urban Eco Design project in which they have been collaborating with the owner of a local property. They agreed that they needed to update the gardens to be congruent with the future of landscaping while respecting the local environment. They installed a lemon orchard, a simple drought tolerant knot garden, and gorgeous antique pottery from Eye of the Day, concentrating much of the design design on an inviting, soft hued hardscape. The best part? There’s not a lawn in sight.

“Urban Eco Design’s primary focus is to create a relationship between the property owner and the garden, developing a personalized ‘Eden’”, says Natalie. “We consider the relationship to be a long lasting one that will fulfill all the senses, enjoying the tastes of edible plantings, the scents, colors and the feeling of being in a nurturing garden. Our intention is to incorporate low maintenance, drought tolerant and edible plantings, several usable and inviting spaces and plenty of enticements to spend time outside enjoying the majority of the square footage of one’s property.”

Jonathan and Natalie’s inventiveness and awareness are present in each of their designs, fully taking into consideration their clients’ taste, budget and the ecology of each property to bring fulfillment to their interpretation of ‘Eden’, free of lawns.