designing a water-wise design goals garden · design goals •it works in our environment •it’s...
TRANSCRIPT
2/26/2015
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Designing a Water-Wise
Garden
• Patti Handfinger
• Master Gardener
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Design Goals
• it works in our environment
• it’s beautiful
• it fits your site
• it keeps you healthy
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Before
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Feel Your Space
• the breezes
• the setting
• the views
• the shadows
• the sounds
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After
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The Sustainable Difference
• process not product
• sequence
• change through time
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Site Analysis
• the sun path
• the neighborhood
• your special space
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Wind Patterns
• Santa Ana
• salty breezes
• wind breaks
• seasonal directions
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The Neighborhood
• traffic
• preservation
• HOA courtesy
• privacy
• front porch
• good fences
• rabbits and deer
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Getting Started
• what you do in each area
• moving through the space
• treasures to keep
• over-watering
• problem areas
• scrap book of what you like
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Here to There
• creative crossings
• bridges low places
• use nature
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Paths
• Hierarchy of width
• Safe surfaces
• Extending visual width on a budget
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First Resource
• existing trees
• existing plants
• existing paving
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Design 3 Rs
• Re-purpose
• Reduce waste
• Restore
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Curb Appeal
• what guides you to your front door
• gates
• privacy
• matching your architecture
• mending fences
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The View from Inside
• what you see from each room
• what your neighbors see
• screening
• focal points
• bright rooms
• living awnings and screens
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Parking
• safety
• permeability
• convenience
• stepping out of the car needs 18”
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Utilities
• location
• access
• screening
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The Street to Your Door
• driveways - permeability
• pathways - defined with curves
• buffer space between the street and the
house
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The pathway -
curved
permeable
inviting
safe
soft edges
color
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another style
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Follow the Sun Rise
• use shadows for afternoon shade
• find that sunny patio
• through the seasons
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Soil Considerations
• fertility
• stability
• drainage
• erosion
• testing
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Drainage Test
• dig 1 gallon hole
• fill with water
• wait 30 minutes
• repeat
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Soil Types
• sandy
• loamy sand
• sandy clay
• silty clay
• clay
• choose the right plants!
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Slopes
• hills and high spots
• low places
• building topography
• cool shady north and east
• warm (hot) dry south and west
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Water
• sources
• plumbing
• water flow over the land
• drainage
• standing water
• a good neighbor
• cutting back
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Color
• few abrupt changes
• follows the seasons
• focal points
• flower spikes
• flow
• fewer annuals
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Simple Foliage Colors
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Color
• monochrome - variation of foliage
• contrast - draws attention
• harmony - soothing
• white - evening interest
• gray - buffers between colors
• its not just the flowers
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Use gray foliage to
blend and buffer.
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Monochromatic
• purples
• harmony not monotony
• could add
– white
– gray
– yellow
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Texture
• variety used to add interest
• year-round
• multi-season
• creates visual depth
• drama with coarse textures
• soothing fine textures
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Texture
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Texture needs variety
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Texture
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Movement
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Size
• variety adds interest
• same plant at multiple growth stages
• sculpts flat topography
• use odd numbers in groups
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Size Variety
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Repetition
• natural groupings
• mounding
• clusters
• spacing
• avoid monoculture
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Time
• evolving
• periods of growth and dormancy
• shifting focal points through the season
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Shape 2D
• interim filling
• mature proportions
• scale
• how it fits together
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Form 3D
• horizontal - spreading
• ground-cover replaces lawn
• vertical - focus and movement
• rounded - mounded contours
• changing - tall flower spikes
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Ground Cover
• simple
• mulch
• gravel
• pavers
• plants
• permeability
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Tall Flower Spikes
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Accessories
• pottery
• protected seating
• trellises
• arbors
• bird baths
• chimes
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Rain Drops
• sheltered dry areas need water
• gutters
• bio-swale
• permeability
• keep it on your property
• run-off = resources down the drain
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Topography
• dry creeks catch water
• existing trees give definition
• berms provide drainage
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Topography illusions
dig a dry creek
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Lighting
• safety
• beauty
• security
• view from inside
• view from street
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After Dark
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A Special Purpose
• native specimens
• wildlife habitat
• child’s play
• meditation
• newspaper and coffee
• culinary
• collectors gardens
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Wildlife Habitat
• year round
• shelter
• water
• pollinators
• nectars
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Edibiles
• hydro-zone
• full sun
• close to kitchen
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Edibles
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Raised Beds and Pots
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Picture it in your mind
• Framing your home
• Getting from the street to your door
• A place to pause
• An invitation to explore
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Safe and Accessible
• avoid hazards
• eliminate steps
• sloping paths
• smooth surfaces
• supportive sidewalks
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Unity
• match your architecture
• consider your setting
• use borrowed landscapes from
surroundings
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Style
• formal, geometric and rectilinear--allee of
trees
• natural and curvy--winding paths
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Foot Traffic
• lawns
• gravel and decomposed granite
• pavers
• poured concrete
• ground covers
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Harmony
• repeat your plants
• repeat your hardscape elements
• make the floor consistent
• make scale consistent
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Color Scheme
• limit the palette
• buffer with grays
• pop with whites
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Problem Areas
• Dry shade
• Deer and rabbits
• Slopes
• Oaks
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Balance
• proportion
• symmetry more formal
• or asymmetry more natural
• axis
• sight lines
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Repetition
• makes it look natural
• cluster
• focal and support
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Succulent Bouquet
• water wise
• clusters
• subtle color
• dry shade
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Contrast and Variety
• variegated foliage
• placement of shade and shadows
• color contrast
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A Traditional Look
• yes, this too can be water wise
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Shape and Form on Your Plan
• shape is 2D map
• form is 3D as viewed from the ground
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Shape shows the dry
stream and ferns
Form shows the
tall trees
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Working with Form
• punctuate with verticals
– trees
– tall shrubs
• flow with horizontals
– ground covers
– meadows
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Line of Sight
• inside out
• room to breathe
• vantage points
• focal points
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Texture
• fine textures push back
• coarse textures comes forward
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Color
• foliage
• variegation
• seasonal
• inside out
• colors of hardscape
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How People Fit
• protected seating areas
• arousing curiosity
• close up
• frame distant vistas and views
• exploring treasures
• intriguing gateways
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Field Design
• mock up
• mark out boundaries
• stake the corners and twine together
• mark your trees
• newspaper boulders and shrubs
• fake walls
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Meadow
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Measuring
• base sheet
• start at the house
• draw the lot lines
• locate all structures and trees
• add details
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The Bubble Diagram
• on trace on top of base sheet
• planting ovals
• structures rectangles
• loosely to scale
• patios, play areas, orchards
• screening
• access
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The Concept Plan
• puts the bubble to work
• patios
• walks
• trees
• water features
• gardens
• orchards
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Plant and Materials Palettes
• Keep it simple
• compatibility
• availability
• sustainability
• costs
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A Professional Palette
• two ground covers
• two paver styles
• two mulches
• two tree varieties
• two fillers
• six perennials
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Speciality Plans
• grading and drainage
• lighting
• planting
• irrigation
• legal issues
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Light and Sound
• night views
• curb appeal
• masking unwelcome noise
• muffle traffic with trickle
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Getting Help
• family and friends
• Master Gardeners helpline
• landscape designers
• landscape contractors
• gardeners
• arborist (ISA certified)
• plumbers
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Maintenance
• do you like to prune?
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Maintenance
• sustainable doesn’t mean maintenance
free
• pruning
• raking
• right plant, right place
• fine gardening vs. mow & blow
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Enjoy
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Getting to Work
• plan
• photo
• pencils
• eraser
• ruler
• scrapbook
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