Designing Native Gardens

On January 16, 2010 Nopalito Nursery sponsored their first in a series of gardening with native plants lectures. The series included design, how to plant a garden with natives, Chumash Ethnobotany, grow your own fruit and then the all day Native Plant Symposium. Next up is "What to do with a lawn." These lecture classes have been just what I needed. Themes have been repeated and repeated. I'm beginning to get it. So here are some quick notes, so I won't forget.

What a great place to start. Design. The speaker was Carol Borstein.

Carol Borstein with David Fross and Bart O'Brien wrote California Native Plants for the Garden, a comprehensive guide to planning your own native plant garden. Pictures, pictures, pictures identified by plant type, geographic zones, light, soil, water and natural habitat and range. That's where I started. I skipped all the words and went straight to the pictures. Then I went back to the text.

Carol was the first to discuss the reoccuring themes of gardening with natives. The garden can be pretty all year if you plan. Think about color and seasons and fruit and flowers. Read the label on the one gallon plants you buy and believe them. If it says that little plant will grow to be 6 feet wide and 10 feet tall, believe it. She said horticulture is a mix of art and science.  The rewards of planting with natives are less water, less maintenance and less waste.