GARDEN DESIGN RECIPE OF THE WEEK: ALL SEASON COLOR BORDER

Shrubs, to me, are like See's candy boxes to a chocaholic.

The reason, in three words:  Lushness, variation, dependability.

Using shrubs with varied colors and shapes of foliage, and with different flowering seasons, gives a mature, full garden border all year long.  Leaving one foot gaps between the shrubs lets you add seasonal annuals, garden ornaments, or even decorative stones or gourds, to change the look around without a lot of cost or work.

     

INGREDIENTS (per 25 feet x 5 feet bed)

3  Pittosporum tenufolium 'Marjorie Channon' or 'Oliver Twist'

 

3  Rhaphiolepis indica 'Clara'

   

2 Phormium 'Bronze Baby' or 'Sundowner'

3  Coleonema pulchellum 'Sunset Gold' 

2  Salvia leucantha 'Santa Barbara'

5 quarts of Lemon Thyme or Sedum confusum

9 Allium 'Globemaster' bulbs (or other large variety of Allium)

 

6 cubic feet of planting compost (four 1.5 cf bags)

7.5 cubic feet of shredded or micro bark (five 1.5 cf bags)

1   eight pound bag of GroPower Plus

DIRECTIONS

Add planting compost and Grow Power to existing soil.

Dig, stir, dig, stir, dig, stir, dig stir.

Dig planting holes the same depth as the plant pot and three times as wide. 

Gently loosen root ball of plants and set in hole as per diagram below.  Back fill and tamp down gently.

Create slight watering dam around plants.  Water in well. For extra fluffy plants, add some Plant Starter (humic acid) to water.

Add layer of bark mulch around plants, avoiding direct contact with plant stems.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

GARDEN DESIGN RECIPE OF THE WEEK: STONED, SUCCULENT, AND SPIKEY

TALE OF A TRANSFORMATION....
What's a black thumb to do? 



My new clients pointed to the double level planter outside their front door and informed me that they had never, ever, grown anything there that survived.

Ha!  I love challenges.  Not only will I make it grow, I told them, but I will also make it verrrrrry unique... (which in a neighborhood full of all-green yards and pygmy date palms, wasn't that hard to achieve...)

Well, it worked out so well that I thought it would be worth sharing the recipe.

INGREDIENTS

2  Variegated pink/red Phormium (Evening Glow, Lancer Terracotta)

 

1 Burgundy medium height Phormium (Bronze Baby or Platt's Black)



20 Coleonema 'Sunset Gold' (dwarf gold Breath of Heaven)



3 flats of Gazania 'Pinata' hybrid mix

 

3  Salvia greggii 'Furman's Red'

   

3 flats Sedum 'Confusum'










6 to 8 assorted succulents (Aeonium, Echeveria, and Kalanchoe)

    

2 small to medium Three River stone boulders



1 decorative pot   


DIRECTIONS

Pick a sunny spot (at least four hours a day of sun)

Amend well with a mixture of Cactus Mix and Planting Compost

Plant Salvia greggii in curved row at back of planting bed.

Plant Phormium in triangular pattern in center area, four feet apart.

Place boulders and pot in triangular pattern near boulders and pot.

Plant Coleonema in row around edge of planting bed, three feet in.

Plant gazania in row on outside of Coleonema

Plant succulents around boulders and in pot.

Plant Sedum throughout planting bed to cover any bare soil.

Water well daily for first week, then reduce water to give a good deep water twice a week (more or less, depending on rain/temperature.

WATCH IT THRIVE!