Garden Design with Native Plants Why Design with Garden Design Basics a Practical Guide Natives? by Ann Elliott Mount Lassen Chapter - California Native Plant Society

6/21/2017

Garden Design with Native Plants Why Design with Garden Design Basics A Practical Guide Natives? by Ann Elliott Mount Lassen Chapter - California Native Plant Society

Example Native Plant Planting Your Design Garden Designs

Native Plants California are Adapted to Our Climate Floristic They need less: Province • water • pesticides • fertilizer • maintenance Mediterranean Climate • soil amendments Zone

• Cool, wet winters So: • Long, hot, dry summers

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Native plants provide natural food and as development habitat for more: Our yards with natural habitats pollinators native plants other insects can provide a birds “bridge” wildlife

to nearby remaining wildlands.

Considerations Document Your Conditions in Designing Any Garden • existing features Goals for Your Space – buildings – – style hardscape – vegetation – flow • soil – loam, clay, – maintenance level granitic, volcanic – permeability – nutrients • exposure – sun – shade – wind – view

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Group Plant by Needs: Pick Plants to Suit Your Space

• sun • Use local plants if possible: • soil – adapted to climate • water – most useful for wildlife

Keep Lakes, Creeks, and Rivers Clean Design Aesthetics

• color (flowers and leaves) • texture (vary and mimic) • rhythm (swathes and repetition of plants)

• symmetry • plant lightly (Be patient while they grow.)

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Example Native Plant Garden Designs Plant Naming Don’t reinvent the wheel! scientific name: Genus species ‘Cultivar’ • CNPS.org common name – Yerba Buena Nursery – Santa Clara Valley Chapter – CNPS Eriogonum fasciculatum - California buckwheat – Acterra Stewardship Native Plant Nursery • native-again-landscape.com Arctostaphylos bakeri ‘Louis Edmunds’

Simple Sunny Front Yard Ground Covers and Grasses Ceanothus species (California wild lilac) • Dazzling floral displays CA – Ceanothus (any low cultivar) in spring MR – Muhlenbergia rigens (deer grass) • No/little water • full sun (mostly) • many species and cultivars • sizes: groundcovers to small trees Ceanothus maritimus ‘Valley Violet’ (3 ft.)

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Grasses

• Add textural interest to garden • Provide habitat for birds • Generally pest-free • Little water

Muhlenbergia rigens- deer grass (3-5 ft.)

Very Drought Tolerant Sunny Location, Clay Soil

Am: Achillea millefolium AmAG: Arctostaphylos (manzanita) larger CTB: Ceanothus (choose larger) Eff: Eriogonum fasciculatum California buckwheat Mv: Monardella villosa coyote mint Np: Nassella pulchra purple needlegrass

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Arctostaphylos species - manzanita Arctostaphylos bakeri ‘Louis Edmunds’ • urn-shaped flowers • attractive bark • no/little irrigation • evergreen; woody • many types • groundcovers to small trees

Arctostaphylos manzanita ‘Dr. Hurd’

Arctostaphylos densiflora ‘Howard McMinn’ Vine Hill manzanita

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Ceanothus ‘Concha’

Ceanothus ‘Ray Hartman’

Very Drought Tolerant Sunny Location, Clay Soil

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Eriogonum giganteum – Eriogonum species - buckwheat Saint Catherine’s lace • Small flowers in clusters, fading to rust in late summer • Evergreen • Full sun • Little/no water • Food for pollinators and benefical insects; habitat for birds Eriogonum fasciculatum - California buckwheat

Eriogonum umbellatum – Very Drought Tolerant sulfur-flowered buckwheat Sunny Location, Clay Soil

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Monardella villosa - coyote mint Achillea millefolium - yarrow

Stipa pulchra (Nasella pulchra ) – purple needle grass

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Bouteloua gracilis - blue grama grass (eyebrow grass) Perennial Meadow

A: Achillea millefolium E: Epilobium canum (California fuschia) (grass): ie. Festuca 'Siskiyou Blue' Like 914

I: Iris douglasiana P: Penstemon heterophyllus 'Margarita BOP' SC: Solidago sp. (golden rod)

Epilobium canum (Zauschneria sp.) - California fuchsia

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Festuca idahoensis ‘Siskiyou Blue’ Iris douglasiana (purple and yellow varieties)

Penstemon heterophyllus Solidago velutina – golden rod foothill penstemon ‘Margarita BOP’

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Habitat Meadow Garden Cercis occidentalis - western redbud AH: Arctostaphylos densiflora 'Howard McMinn' CA: Ceanothus (low growing) CD: Ceanothus 'Dark Star‘ or ‘Ray Hartman’(bush) CO: Cercis occidentalis (Western Rebud) FK: Fremontodendron 'Ken Taylor‘ MA: Mimulus aurantiacus

MR: Muhlenbergia rigens (grass): Festuca 'Siskiyou Blue' SA: Salvia apiana SB: Salvia Sonomensis 'Bee's Bliss' SC: Salvia clevelandii

Fremontodendron californicum - flannel bush Habitat Meadow Garden • 6-15 feet AH: Arctostaphylos densiflora • Requires 'Howard McMinn' CA: Ceanothus (low growing) excellent CD: Ceanothus 'Dark Star‘ or ‘Ray Hartman’(bush) drainage CO: Cercis occidentalis (Western Rebud) • No summer FK: Fremontodendron 'Ken Taylor‘ MA: Mimulus aurantiacus water once established

MR: Muhlenbergia rigens (grass): Festuca 'Siskiyou Blue' SA: Salvia apiana SB: Salvia Sonomensis 'Bee's Bliss' SC: Salvia clevelandii

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Mimulus aurantiacus – Salvia species – sages bush monkey flower

Salvia apiana - white sage

Salvia clevelandii - Cleveland sage

Salvia mellifera - black sage

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Salvia sonomensis - ‘Dara’s Choice’ Salvia leucophylla ‘Bee’s Bliss’ creeping sage

Sidewalk Mow Strip Designs Low Water & Low Maintenance by Santa Clara Valley Chapter - CNPS

• Low Water & Low Maintenance • Hummingbird and Butterfly Magnet • Shade Garden Under Street Trees

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Baccharis pilularis ‘Twin Peaks II' – Hummingbird and Butterfly Magnet Dwarf Coyote Brush

Eriogonum grande var. rubescens – Penstemon eatonii – firecracker penstemon red (rosy)-flowered buckwheat

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Shade Garden Parking Strip Salvia spathacea - hummingbird sage

Flat Garden – Hillside Garden Acterra Stewardship Acterra Stewardship Native Plant Nursery Native Plant Nursery (now Grassroots (now Grassroots Ecology) Ecology)

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Lawn Conversion to Natives Irrigation • rebates? Conversion • kill lawn – Bermuda grass? – solarize one • sprinkler removal summer • pressure regulator – sheet mulch • drip line • decide on basic design • emitters (allow • convert irrigation to drip for later removal) • plant

Irrigation tips Reading by Design • Plant in hydrozones. specialized • Irrigate for about 2 years after planting gardening books • Some plants thrive with supplemental irrigation. • Irrigate during dry winters. • Irrigate long and slowly.

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Websites to Explore

• California Native Plant Society CNPS.org Calscape • Arboretum All-Stars arboretum.ucdavis.edu • Butte County Master Gardeners http://ucanr.edu/sites/bcmg/ Real Dirt Blog • Water Use Classification of Landscape Species http://ucanr.edu/sites/WUCOLS/ • Las Pilitas Nursery laspilitas.com • Yerba Buena Nursery www.yerbabuenanursery.com

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Native Plant Gardens to Visit Native Plant Gardens to Visit Local: Regional: • Butte County Master Gardener demonstration • Sacramento River Discovery Center, Red Bluff gardens at Patrick Ranch (on the Midway) • Turtle Bay McConnell Arboretum & Botanical • Gateway Science Museum Garden, Redding • Floral Native Nursery • UC Davis Arboretum • Chico Creek Nature Center • Lake Oroville Visitor Center

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Where to Buy Native Plants Where to Buy Native Plants Local: Regional: • Floral Native Nursery, Chico • Sacramento River Discovery Center, Red Bluff • Native Springs Nursery, Durham • Turtle Bay McConnell Arboretum nursery, • Nurseries with some Natives Redding – Little Red Hen • UC Davis Arboretum plant sales (spring & fall) – Magnolia Gift & Garden, – The Plant Barn • Peaceful Valley Nursery, Grass Valley – Prestige Nursery • Annie’s Annuals, Richmond, retail & mail order • Mt. Lassen Chapter CNPS chapter plant sales, Chico • CNPS Shasta chapter plant sales, Redding (spring)

Planting Tips Match the plant to the site. • plant in fall • good drainage • few soil amendments • don’t disturb roots • crown slightly above ground level • mulch 2-4 inches

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Aristolochia californica – California More recommended plants Pipevine Host to Pipevine Swallowtail Butterfly larvae

Photo by Eve Werner

Arctostaphylos uva-ursi – Bearberry (kinnikinnick), low-growing manzanita

Firecracker flower • Low spreading Dichelostemma ida-maia • Many cultivars • spring flowers • Needs afternoon shade inland • Needs supplemental irrigation Blue Dicks Dichelostemma capitatum Photo by Telos Rare Bulbs

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Blue eyed grass Sisyrinchium bellum Asclepias speciosa - Showy milkweed • 2-4 ft. stems • Very sweet • 4-12 inches fragrance • Sun to partial • Large, soft gray- shade green leaves • • Tolerates heavy Blooms in spring soil • Reseeds readily • Full sun • Tolerates some • No-occasional clay water • Occasional- moderate water

Asclepias fascicularis - Narrow-leaved milkweed Narrow-leaved soap-plant Chlorogalum pomeridianum var. pomeridianum

• Flowers smaller than showy milkweed • Full sun • No-occasional water • Can spread aggressively

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Oregon grape Carpenteria californica - California bush anemone Berberis aquifolium • spring blossoms • 3-6 feet & Low • large, evergreen growing • afternoon shade varieties • • Sun to shade Little to regular water

Aesculus californica - California buckeye Cercocarpus betuloides - Mountain mahogany • 15-40 ft. • attractive fruit • 5-20 ft, evergreen • little-moderate water • mid-late summer leaf drop • spring blossoms; feathery • full sun summer fruit • no/little water

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Umbellaria californica - California bay Garden Design with Native Plants • 25-50 ft. Sun or shade A Practical Guide • evergreen, aromatic by Ann Elliott leaves Mount Lassen Chapter - California Native Plant Society • good hedge

Pick a design, and make it your own.