9. WE HAD 64% SAND USING THE SOIL TRIANGLE WE CAN DETERMINE
27% SILT WHAT OUR SOIL TEXTURE IS.
9% CLAY
10. WE HAD 64% SAND USING THE SOIL TRIANGLE, WHEN WE DRAW 3
27% SILT INTERSECTING LINES BASED ON THESE
9% CLAY PERCENTAGES, WE CAN DETERMINE THAT OUR
SOIL TEXTURE IS
SANDY LOAM
11.
12. REGARDLESS OF WHERE YOU
LIVE AND GARDEN
THIS PRINCIPLE HOLDS
TRUE...
ORGANIZE YOUR SPACE AND
MAKE THE GARDEN
FUNCTIONAL
(so that it works for YOU)
14. JUST AS IF YOU WERE
LAYING OUT THE ROOMS IN
A HOUSE AND HOW THEY
WOULD RELATE TO EACH
OTHER
USE THESE SAME
PRINCIPLES TO ORGANIZE
YOUR GARDEN “ROOMS”
18. BE AWARE OF HOW YOU
WANT TO USE YOUR
GARDEN…
MAKE A LIST OF WHAT YOU
WANT AND DON’T WANT
19. DESIGN BRIEF
A DESIGN BRIEF HELPS YOU TO ANSWER
THESE QUESTIONS
AND
IT HELPS ORGANIZE YOUR THOUGHTS.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25. MAPPING YOUR
PROPERTY
1.Map the House
2.Map the fence line or boundaries
3.Map the interior contents
26. DRAW YOUR YARD TO
SCALE
USE A SHEET OF GRID PAPER – 11”X 17” WORKS BEST
GET SHEETS WITH EITHER 4 OR 8 SQUARES TO THE INCH
EACH INCH WILL EQUAL EITHER 4 FEET OR 8 FEET
MAKE NOTE OF WIND DIRECTIONS; SUN AND SHADE PATTERNS;
BE SURE TO LOCATE WHERE YOUR WINDOWS AND DOORS ARE!
TAKE YOUR TIME AND BE ACCURATE.
27.
28.
29.
30. ONCE YOU’VE MAPPED THE
AREA YOU WANT TO WORK
WITH THEN DEVELOP YOUR
IDEAS ON PAPER BEFORE
YOU START BUYING PLANTS
51. USING LOCAL STONE
BLENDS WITH THE
NATIVE SOILS AND ADDS A QUALITY YOU
CAN’T GET WITH ARTIFICIAL STONE OR BLOCK.
52.
53.
54.
55. IN CONCLUSION –
KNOW YOUR SITE – ANALYZE AND TAKE ADVANTAGE OF
THE STRENGTHS
EXPLORE ALTERNATIVES AND FIND SOLUTIONS
TO “PROBLEM” AREAS
56. GOOD DESIGN IS LESS MAINTENANCE –
BY ORGANIZING YOUR GARDEN
BEFORE BUYING PLANTS
OR BUILDING YOU’LL SAVE TIME,
MONEY AND WORK
57. THINK LOCAL – USE LOCALLY SOURCED MATERIALS TO CONNECT YOUR
GARDEN TO THE SITE.
USE PLANTS NATIVE TO THE AREA AND CLIMATE AND
YOU’LL PROBABLY WORK LESS, HAVE MORE SUCCESS
AND HAVE DESIGNED AND BUILT A BEAUTIFUL GARDEN
THAT FITS YOUR NEEDS AND DESIRES
Editor's Notes
Where we live in the interior west is unique – in its climate, habitats and its history
From high alpine ridges to…
And masses of wildflowers that grow with no involvement by us
…and of course DEER…
So why all the photos of the West but not of gardens?.....Because this presentation is more about understanding your site than it is about horticulture. What I want to cover is how to find potentials and possibilities for your garden. How to go beyond the obvious. The other presenters in this series will be covering plantsto a much greater depth.
Let’s start with soils….If you don’t know what your soil texture is then this is a simple way to figure it out. Dig some soil from your property and put it into a jar with water and give it a good shake. Be sure to keep as much organic material out of the mix as you can. In a short amount of time the sand will settle out first followed by the silt and finally the clay. This jar has been sitting for almost a week and some of the clay is still in suspension. Measure the total soil depth and then divide the separate layer depth by the total depth to get a % of each texture class – Sand, Silt, Clay. In this example I had 64% sand, 27% silt and 9% clay.
You can Google Soil Triangle and download your own graphic to print. Sand is listed across the bottom, Clay on the left and Silt on the right side.
You can Google Soil Triangle and download your own graphic to print.
Why is this important? It’s all part of understanding your site. Knowing your soil texture will help you to decide what type of irrigation you want to use, how long to run it each time and also what you may need to do as far as adding compost to lighten the soil. It will even affect the plants you may choose – some prefer certain soil types and textures over others.
When starting a landscape project it is important to first really get to know your site. Analyze what you have to work with and what the possibilities are.In this example the home has been built on top of the hill and is not connectedto the hill.In analyzing this site the first thing I saw was that we had to anchor the house into the landscape. Think about this with your own home – is it rooted to the site? The current view is no way to appreciate the architecture.From where I am taking this photo, there is an 8 foot elevation difference at about 50’ out from the house to the threshold of the front door.
The front door is now hidden from view and an 8 foot tall, poured concrete wall creates a terrace for the house to rest on. Natural stone was used on the path to connect with the natural stone used on the house itself. Cypress punctuate the entry and containers (with the bottoms removed) planted with citrus line the entry walk. The walkway is 7 feet wide to match the scale of the home and be comfortable for two people walking in. Although the wall is 8 feet tall, the parking area has raised the elevation up about 3 feet – the portion of the wall that is visible is only 5 feet above grade. Still, we needed the wall to be that tall structurally. The stone, the plantings, the colors all work together to make this garden work as a whole. Nothing really dominates – they complement.
Walk your property - do you have views beyond your property that would enhance your own garden? If you do then keep that in mind and look for a way to take advantage of them.These are called Borrowed Views.
Simple questions like – do we want a water feature in the garden, how much maintenance are we willing to do, what style of garden appeals to us? – cottage? Mediterranean? Modern/contemporary?Gardening in the conditions of the interior West will help direct your style, plant selections and materials you’ll use.Please pay attention to the architecture of your home! Some styles of landscapes look better with certain types of architecture.Still, all these questions are clues that will help you design your garden your way.
In this example the homeowners wanted a courtyard garden with casual plantings that deer would (hopefully!) not eat.By thinking about what a “courtyard” implies we re-designed the entry and removed the asphalt driveway.Take a moment and think about what a “courtyard” means to you….
By stepping down we made a strong separation between the driveway and the “courtyard” This is what I mean about looking at the potential of your site and what you want to achieve.Plants alone would not create the “courtyard” feel. We had to re-organize the space.
A view looking towards the house from the driveway before we created the courtyard…
And after the new layout was built. This has NOTHING to do with plants! It’s all about how to use your property. Plants should reinforce the design and complement the location and architecture of the home!!
This birdbath was the catalyst for the design. We placed this first (on paper of course) and then built the design around it.Because of the lay of the land we had to have the drainage from the brick walkway go into this trough and then drain on out through drain pipe into the landscape. Design is as much about solving problems (challenges) as it is about aesthetics.
These may all well be on separate sheets of paper. The idea is to draw cleanly and write clearly so that you understand the information you’re recording.
Here’s a simple way of recording your measurements. Notice that they are cumulative along the house wall rather than being 5 separate measurements. This makes it easy as you only have to hook your tape measure at one corner and walk along the house wall, recording where the different elements are.I always measure to the window OPENING – not the trim. It’s the opening that matters to your view!
Mapping
The owners used this side – the East – to relax and entertain as it avoided the exposure and heat of the Western afternoon sun.You can see there are 4 steps at the entry (including the deck). By thinking about how the garden could be used most enjoyably I worked with the homeowners and we came up with ideas on how to organize the space and create a garden they would find more pleasurable.
We worked up a layout that created both a walkway to the front door and a sitting area with water feature and a BBQ area.Because they had to climb steps to enter the home, we started the steps right at the driveway with another one about ½ way along the walk. In this way we were able to gain the elevation gradually rather than all at once.
Looking from where the deck was, back towards the driveway, we removed the Bermuda grass lawn and built a 5 foot wide stone walkway towards the front door. Because you had to walk up a series of steps at the front door we designed the walkways to gain elevation right away and make climb to the entry more gradual. By having two steps up early on, we were able to then step the owners back down into a “sunken” living room/entertainment area. Organize the space, add water to create interest, separate entertainment areas from pathways and use plants to complement the setting rather than selecting plants and trying to find a way to fit them before knowing how you want to use the space. Even though this entire garden is straight lines the irregular paving and elevation changes give it a casual and natural feeling.DON’T FALL INTO THE TRAP THAT STRAIGHT LINES ARE BORING – THEY’RE NOT!
Ok, I had to get a picture of my dog in hereFor perspective!
The entry should be welcoming and provide a sense of separation from “public” space to “private” space
A steep slope with poor access and yet spectacular views of the canyon and American River (inset). How best to create a space for relaxation and entertainment?
Using software you can “build” your garden on screen before the expense of actually doing construction.There are many programs easy for homeowners to work with – this was done in Google SketchUp and shows how the space can be made much more usable.
Another view showing what the garden currently looks like and what the homeowners can expect it to be.Much less maintenance and much more interesting. This garden is still to be constructed.
This backyard was on a slope, covered in ivy and provided no pleasant view from the living room (windows on the right). The homeowners wanted a sitting area they could enjoy and a place where their grandchildren could walk and play.
After grading and new plantings the garden takes on a whole different feel. Decomposed granite pathways add a casual feel to the garden while more native stone creates a low seating wall and defines an area for relaxing and entertaining. Virginia Creeper (Parthenocissus) vines its way onto the arbor.
This is what they had to start with – not very enjoyable.
And the built garden…Also, think about how to keep storm water on-site rather than going into the storm drains or creeks.This sunken seating area doubles as a cistern where the rain and storm water falling in the backyard ispiped to. The water infiltrates back into the groundwater table. Artificial turf acts as the base for the chairs and fire pit. The moon gate has a large mirror that reflects the garden back on itself giving the illusion of depth.
Why is this important? Drip irrigation is up to 90% efficient in applying water where spray, even the rotors pictured are only 50% - 70% efficient. I just did an audit on a landscape and the lawn irrigation was only 38% efficient in applying the water. This means that sections of the lawn were overwatered to compensate for the areas that didn’t receive enough water.
This shows the soaking pattern from an in-line dripline. The more clay, the more the moisture will travel horizontally rather than vertically – as with sand.
In California we have access to CIMIS Stations – California Irrigation Management Information System. Check with your local water district or agricultural extension to see what may be available to you to help manage water.
Water is precious – use it wisely!Gardening in the interior west means using plants that will survive in our climate and environment. Take a walk through the mountains or prairies and see the abundance of different species of plants – All growing without irrigation!
Native stone from this site was used to build dry-stack rock walls to sweep through the landscape, add interest and divide the space.
The owners had a wall of ivy removed and the site graded to create paths. Stone native to the site was present, collected and used. It matches the color of the soil, blends easily with the native plantings selected and was readily available. This wall is all dry stack with drainage pipe behind it. Low voltage lighting grazes the wall for viewing at night.
When you use native plants you also encourage wildlife – like this swallowtail butterfly.
