Is Your Gardener for Hire?

A blog reader asked if my gardener was for hire. I thought the rest of you might like to know what I told her....

Design is an ongoing process. Tomaz and I reworked this shared bed a little last weekend.
Instead of one lonely Deer Grass, now there are three (and a little less lawn.)
When they get over their haircuts, I hope symmetry will appear.

I am the gardener, from start to finish. I was working very part time when I installed the garden. I had a landscape architect friend (great knowledge of design, less of natives) to help me with design. I willfully ignored some of her advice, to my detriment.  Key to my success with natives is a knowledgable next-door neighbor Tomaz Mastnak (and lots of websites, and Colin at Tree of Life) to help me with plant selection and care. I hired a couple half-days from a kind gardener and his teenage son with a strong back to do turf removal, soil shifting, and some planting.

Some of the 50 pots with a plan, January 2012.  I was somewhat terrified.

For care, it is very hard to find someone who will not overwater natives and knows that they are supposed to go dormant in summer. In fact any low-water garden is a challenge for commercial gardeners. You will have to coach most of them. Fortunately for we who do it ourselves, natives need less care than, for instance, roses— though more mindfulness, shall we say, than a lawn.

The same bed two years later.  Hummingbird Central. Yes, I squeezed in a few more.

Are you sure you want native and not just low water? The former is wonderful, but a lot harder to do than the latter (not intrinsically, just given the present state of gardening knowledge and plant availability.)

I am still learning the local landscapers and gardeners who do natives well; until I see their established work I won't post specific referrals.  Tree of Life Nursery offers referrals for landscape designers and architects who work with natives.

Annuals like Tidy Tips are hard to "design"
and you better not "weed" the wildflower before you identify it!
These guys greet me from Tomaz's yard.
 I'm hoping they'll join their friends next year on my side..

For an authentic restoration with local plants, Back To Natives has a design service. I might do that if I had acreage.

That ferny thing in the center is supposed to be a tree.
I'm giving it another year to show some verticality.
(Fernleaf Ironwood,  Lyonothamnus floribundus ssp. asplenifolius)
Plans only take a gardener so far.

My friend could give you a nice low-ish water design (with a few natives in it) for a modest consideration. Cheryl Fields, (949) 290-6406.  If you’re on the cheap, draw up a scale drawing and let’s talk about it.

I would love to know gardeners who don't kill natives.  Most of our hardworking low-cost neighborhood gardeners are aghast at the idea of setting your irrigation for less than three times a week! If you know of such people who are taking on new clients, let me know.  Please!!

Blue Eyed Grass (Sysirinchium bellum).   So cute. Easy to propagate.
 Summer-dormant perennial.  Popping up all over my yard!
These are From Crystal Cove SP, where they definitely don't get supplemental water.

If you plant this year, do it before April or in late Fall. It might be great to get some background plants in soon while figuring out the rest. Let me know how it goes! 

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