A landscaping project is never done...

Landscapes are ever evolving. Plants die and circumstances or tastes change. It is one of the reasons I like landscape design but I also see that, for some folks, it can be a source of frustration. “I just spent all this money on plants! Why do I have to spend MORE money on plants?!!!”

You don’t HAVE TO but it is awfully nice to go in to a mature landscape and fill in little gaps or just see what has worked and what has not worked. Plants are living things and, as such, can be squirrelly little shits. One plant thriving and the same plant, two feet away, has died a painful death. Maybe there is slightly less light in that spot or maybe the irrigation clogged and the plant wasn’t getting enough water for months, or a gopher moved in, there can be all kinds of reasons.

I’m thinking about this because we have visited a couple of our installed gardens this week. I swear we started designing this, like, back in 2017. I post about it several times before here and here.

These are the two concept sketches I made probably in 2017ish.

The tree I posted about in that last post ended up NOT bouncing back and spent several years looking like shit and making everyone sad. I’m so sorry we failed you sweet tree! :( We decided to replace it with a 36” box Arbutus marina. Here is the loyal little Ditch Witch bringing the chonky new tree in.

There are a couple of other spots in this landscape that just need a few more plants to fill in. There is also one-planting bed that is like, half sun, half shade under a big tree. Everything in that bed seems to fail and I’m just not sure why... Root competition? Dogs running rampant? Gophers? Compacted soil? IDK, but I want that bed to look as nice as the other areas in the landscape. Sadly, also, one of the counters in the outdoor pavilion kitchen cracked. It just wasn’t on a stable enough surface and was flexing too much. so that also has to get replaced. A TOTAL BUMMER!

Here are some nicer shots of areas that are working. Check out those crazy Senecio Skyscrapers! And in the 4th picture you can see the happy, relocated palm! That bed needs a few new plants though.

I have never been a dog person but since starting this profession I have come around. I could never be a dog owner but I do love meeting everyone’s dogs! Please behold this absolute sweetie face of a German Shepard puppy!!

Picture of a german shepard puppy with big, soft ears lying on concrete in front of a pretty garden bed.

Here’s a pavilion shot. Obviously, you can see the kitchen is back under construction. :(

Bay Area Trees for Fall Color

I grew up mostly in the south in place without a lot of fall color. It got cold but the trees were mostly tall pine trees. They always seemed kind of depressing and dour. but I did like braiding the needles when I was little.

The Bay Area is not exactly know for fall color either. But there are several trees that can really bring it! Every fall I think, oh yeah I should document what trees are doing what right now and that time has finally come! This thought often occurs to me as I am driving through a particularly colorful street. And, yes, I did stop in the middle of the street to get this shot.

Street lined with colorful orange, red, and yellow Pistacia chinensis trees in the fall.

Pistacia chinensis - Chinese Pistache is a great tree for a streetscape or a residential setting. It doesn’t get too big, grows at a decent rate, provides a nice dappled shade and this amazing fall color. Here you can see an example of a 24” Box Keith Davey specimen at the nursery.

Lagerstroemia indica x fauriei 'Muskogee' is a nice crape myrtle that does well in this area and has gorgeous fall color.

Also consider this non native Buckeye - the Aesculus Early Glow. See some better pics here.

Next we have the Liriodendron tulipifera. This tree is in the magnolia family and has a really cool flower! I feel like I don’t actually see this tree very often. It does get HUGE soft may be that it is just too big even for the larger suburban neighborhoods in the East Bay. It is really pretty though!

Nyssa silvatica - Black Gum tree. This is another great tree for fall color. I’ve never spec’ed this tree but every time I see it I wonder why. Here is one in the background of this lovely patio at one of our projects.

In the nursery you can see this one has some set fruits. I don’t think it is a super messy tree though.

There are a million different Prunus varieties. When I first moved here the Prunus leaves fallen in the streets all yellow and red and spotty madame take up watercolors and sketchbooking. I don’t have the patience to figure out which ones these two are but I love how the leaves look intermingled on the ground!

Okay, one more. This Cercis is just looking very lovely with it's yellow leaves spread out under it!

All the Acers and Cornus trees have great fall color too.

Project In-Progress

Oof, projects in-progress can look like a mess! There is some order to this chaos, I swear! Although, I will say that I prefer less chaos. In my ideal installation EVERYTHING gets done and then, like a week later, we come in with the plants, place them, ponder everything, and then plant. If contractors leave enough wire with their lighting fixtures we can then adjust those at that time. In this install we just din’t really have control of that. I can also see here that the sheet mulching is…. not great. I need several layers of OVERLAPPING cardboard. what happened here was that they literally planted the plants BEFORE they sheet mulched? It didn’t make a lot of sense.

This very small backyard was very boring. Why have a boring backyard when you can have color, and texture, and useable space?

Before picture. Photo is a long narrow lawn with a house on the left and a retaining wall on the right.

Currently, It looks like this. You can see we have added a new path and meanders through the middle of the landscape rather than crammed uncomfortable against the house. We’ve got some colorful plantings, a few small trees to help the absolutely scorching heat, and towards the far end there is a small patio with some raised beds, some really cute terracotta pots for herbs, and a self-contained ceramic water feature. We also bought a nice trellis from Terratrellis to help break up a very large and boring hot wall.

Anyway, I’m looking forward to seeing how this turns out!

Garden Design Styles

When I tell people I am a garden designer, they often ask me what style of garden I design. The answer is usually that I design (to the best of my ability given a million variables) the garden that my client desires. The garden needs to work for the client! I know many designers prefer to design in one style or another, and so their portfolio reflects that, and then people wanting that style seek out that designer. I have not really reached that point and I probably never will.

I did name my business Wild Things, in part, because I love a wild and unruly garden with lots going on and colors and wildlife and fun garden elements and nooks to explore. That kind of garden is great but not always practical. I ALSO love designing super modern gardens with clean lines and architectural plants just as well.

A lot of what I love about designing residential gardens is the space planning aspect of it. I spend an inordinate amount of time imagining what my clients might want to do in the garden, how they will move about in the garden, what will happen at different seasons, what they say they want/need vs. what I think they might actually want/need, etc. Of course, I'm just imagining all this, and what I really need is for the client to be as articulate as possible about THEIR OWN garden imaginings.

There is a business plan activity that I have encountered several times now that wants you to describe your perfect client. One of the items on my list is a client that is really engaged and curious about the possibilities. They will have a Pinterest or Houzz board with ideas, they will have memories of gardens from their childhood, and they will have some practical views on what they and their landscape can manage.

It's actually a tall order. If someone has never designed a landscape, it might be hard for them to come up with all of these ideas. That's why Pinterest and Houzz are actually such good resources for folks. Just diving in and getting a feel for what might be possible and what you find visually intriguing is a great start. I do often have to sit down with clients and dive into WHAT about a picture they are drawn to. Is it a specific plant, the style, a color combination, etc.

So the job of figuring all this out is really what draws me to this vocation. I do, of course, love plants, but plants come much later in the design process.

I was thinking the other day about how I played as a child. And I basically sat around in my room with my dollhouse decorating it and redecorating it. I had a million of those glass or ceramic animals you could buy at the Hallmark store (there was one just outside my neighborhood), and they were the inhabitants of my dollhouse. Mainly because I thought most human dolls were creepy. So, that's a lot like what I do now. LOL.


Pottery and Beyond

I live right near Pottery and Beyond in Emeryville so I like to stop by there now and then to see what they have in stock. Seeing containers and water features in person can be really useful. They do give a small industry discount, so that is nice. Most, if not all of their stock is from Pacific, Home, and Garden. You can just get their catalog or look online there to see the entire catalog. To order from Pacific, Home, and Garden you do need to have a wholesale account AND they are in Stockton (way, way… way out there). I don’t think they will deliver small orders.

So, for me, it’s worth it to go peek at items in person and determine if it is worth it to order from the wholesale company.

This visit I am looking at self contained water features for a small backyard client. These are nice because you don’t have to dig a giant pit like for the other types of pondless features. These contained fountains are easy to set up and really do have a nice water sound.

I thought this was a really nice one! It’s not a design I have seen before and I like the tall narrow design and the pattern.

The above video gives you a nice idea for how they sound. They are definitely less natural sounding because you can hear the ceramic echo. I don’t mind that and think they are just a great solution for small spaces, patios, and are just no-fuss kind of water features.

Pottery and Beyond also has a fair amount of hilarious ceramic or cement garden features. Please behold this hilarious sad fish. Why did I not buy this for myself?! I may have to go back.

Behold this sad fish. LOL.

Remember moving that epic palm tree in Walnut Creek?

In order to get this project going we had to move this giant palm tree first. See my post from 2019 here: https://www.wildthingsgardendesign.com/blog/moving-a-palm-tree

This project is creeping along at a snails pace for a variety of reason! But I thought I would just post a three year update about this Brahea armata. Look how healthy it is! Operation move-a-palm was a success!

Healthy looking palm in it’s new location

This photo was taken from inside the partially completed new pool pavilion. all the other hardscape has been completed. The pool was resurfaced and new updated pool deck concrete has been poured. The retaining walls are in but not stuccoed yet. Sadly, the tree right next to the pavilion ended up getting a bit damaged. Will it recover? We shall see!

Here is a shot of the pavilion under construction. We’ve got some infrared heaters installed and some cute light fixtures! You can see the palm peeking out over the house in the left corner.

Manzanita Gall

I was walking down the street and saw this plant and was sort of baffled by it. Have I seen this before? Maybe? Anyway, I took some pictures and googled around and then also asked my boss @terralindadesign.

So, these are caused by aphids. They are eating the leaves and cause the leaves to create this redish gall around the aphids. I’m still sort of having trouble picturing exactly what is happening here but the link above has a pic of a manzanita gall cut open and filled with aphids. I never took the Pests class at Merritt and clearly I should have!

manzanitagall.jpg

Then and Now

I stumbled across this picture of our side yard the other day. Wow! It is highly cringeworthy. But such is the price and reality of construction.

Um. It looks you might have left some stuff in the side yard…

Um. It looks you might have left some stuff in the side yard…

About a year and a half later!!!

About a year and a half later!!!

Just came across these two photos of the space in 2014 just after the basement was done. You can see we still had the metal awning, no stairs, no porch, etc.

Chicken Math

Our second to last chicken died in February of this year and, with just one chicken left, I decided that we would get a new batch of chickens. My timeline was dependent on Concord Feed and their schedule of chickens. I was hoping to get some specific breeds. I ended up just getting the ones they had available and I am very glad I did because the week after I picked ours up there was a global pandemic declared and people went nuts buying up all the chickens. It was all about sourdough starter and buying ‘pandemic chickens’ in those first few weeks. I mean, also it was about people being scared, dying, losing their jobs and a host of other horrible things.

We ended up getting six chickens, 2 cream legbars, and four cochins (black, blue, buff, speckled). Our older hen is an Easter Egger and she mostly hates us.

Even now I feel the inexplicable pull of chicken math. I really want to add some chocolate eggers or a Lavender Orpington… there are so many adorable chickens out there.

Meme showing a still of Boromir from The Lord of the Rings with the caption, “One does not simply get a few chickens”.

Meme showing a still of Boromir from The Lord of the Rings with the caption, “One does not simply get a few chickens”.

Baby chickens are just the cutest things! Check out these nerds as babies:

So the week after got these the SIP order was put in place. My sister and I organized a pet fashion show for the kids in our lives. It was a great success. I submitted several chicks wearing muffin papers.

Photo of a sketchbook page open to a watercolor and ink drawing of a ticket (front and back) saying ‘Pet Fashion Show March 2020”

Photo of a sketchbook page open to a watercolor and ink drawing of a ticket (front and back) saying ‘Pet Fashion Show March 2020”

Picture of a gray and white chick butt wearing a muffin paper as a skirt.

Picture of a gray and white chick butt wearing a muffin paper as a skirt.

Pink Tamales and an Outing to Pt. Richmond

The goals for this outing were for me to check out the landscape in front of the Natatorium, go to Keller Beach, and to try out a restaurant in Pt. Richmond.

What the heck is a Natatorium?! A natatorium is just an indoor pool. This one is called the Richmond Plunge and it is a public warm saltwater pool. It is fairly newly restored, in 2010 I think the building was retrofitted, solar panels installed (these panels help heat the water) and a new, native plant landscape was installed as well.

Wandering through the landscape in the front of the building I noticed that along the side by the train tracks the landscape continues. There is a regulation sized Bocce Court, a farther back behind the building there are tennis courts, picnic areas with tables and grills, a Little Free Library, and more native plants.

View of a teenager reading a plaque in front of a brick building with a large sign that says, “Municipal Natatorium”.

View of a teenager reading a plaque in front of a brick building with a large sign that says, “Municipal Natatorium”.

We ended up going to Masa to get tamales to bring with us to Keller Beach. I had been the Keller Beach before but a long time ago and I couldn’t remember what access was like. My prediction last month that my achilles tendons were giving out was, unfortunately, correct and so I am wearing a boot to try to give the left one a rest. We ended up not going all the way down to the beach but we sat on a bench looking out over the swimmers and ate our tasty tamales. We split a strawberry dessert tamale, the first dessert tamale I have ever had. It was good!

Just sitting by the water listening to kids playing in the water and the sound of wind and waves feels so restorative. I was amazed at how far out the swimmers went! I forget that people swim here. I have only been in the water here (in Northern CA) a handful of times.

View of a small beach surrounded by greenery covered cliffs, a few people are in the water and you can see the Richmond Bridge in the background.

View of a small beach surrounded by greenery covered cliffs, a few people are in the water and you can see the Richmond Bridge in the background.

There is so much more to explore around here I am sure we will be back. Here is a link to a PDF of the East Bay Regional Park tri-fold about this areas trails.

Plaque displaying the Ferry Point Loop and Shipyard Trail.

Plaque displaying the Ferry Point Loop and Shipyard Trail.

We also made two side trips. First, to Serrano’s Bakery in Richmond and then to TAP Plastics to get some silicon mold making supplies.

gingerpig.jpg

Albany Bulb Outing

Kiddo and I headed out to Albany Bulb this week to do some exploring. Immediately upon exiting the car I realized I have forgotten my binoculars. Huge mistake! The wetlands were LOUSY with Avocets and other Brown Birds of Medium Size (BBoMS). I’m shocked newly everyday how much my eyesight has deteriorated in the last 5 years and resolve to put my car binocs back in the car where they belong.

Multi-branched tree with a painted trunk and SF and the bay in the background.

Multi-branched tree with a painted trunk and SF and the bay in the background.

I have deep suspicion at this point that my Achilles tendons are royally unhappy but I soldier on and we head out to see what we can see. About halfway in to the Bulb we realize that we need to order Picante for pick up STAT. Thank god we can stop for a sec so I can rest my legs and place our order. In true teenage fashion Kiddo is also more excited about getting a burrito than exploring. :)

Chunk of old concrete nestled in dried grass covered in graffiti. Graffiti says ‘Anxiety’ and also has a picture of a CA poppy with text next to it that says California Poppy.

Chunk of old concrete nestled in dried grass covered in graffiti. Graffiti says ‘Anxiety’ and also has a picture of a CA poppy with text next to it that says California Poppy.

Why yes this concrete is expressing just how I feel: anxious and excited to look at plants.

At this point I am trying to convince Kiddo that an acceptable summer project would be to think of an art project to do at the Albany Bulb. He is not convinced and continues to be wholesome AF.

Have you been to Albany Bulb? You can read up on it here. The thing I like about the Bulb is all the twisted metal embedded in chunks of concrete. IDK, I just like that kind of thing. Well, I like it up until I start to think on the human race and how it creates massive amounts of construction debris and is ruining the planet.

Now I am trying to convince Kiddo that all this land is manmade and so is Emeryville. I don’t have enough facts at my disposal to be convincing enough, alas. I wander off into a fantasy in which Kiddo writes a high school report on the created and stolen lands of the Bay Area.

Bay Nature has an interesting article about the bulb.

On our way back to the car we see some lovely BLM and All Brown Live Matter graffiti. It certainly bears repeating until everyone believes it for real.

Close-up of weathered wood with BLM spray painted in red.

Close-up of weathered wood with BLM spray painted in red.

Texture and Pattern in the Landscape

It's a cold and damp here in Oakland. We went for brunch and then took a walk over by Lake Merritt, where we played on the Mid-Century Monster and explored the Mediterranean Garden.

The Mid-Century Monster, recently renovated and repainted green, everyone loves playing on this sculpture and it's so nice to see if back up and accessible. It was originally created for the 1952 California Spring Garden Show. I need to look up pictures of that to see how it was displayed.

I'm such a fan of the Lake Merritt Gardens and have been bringing Jack here since riiiiight before he was born. Here is my TMI story... A month before Jack's due date, and just two days after starting my maternity leave, my water broke unexpectedly. I was freaking out, and the doctor advised me to wait before coming in for some reason! To calm me down, we took a walk at Lake Merritt. I vividly remember wearing a muumuu and Crocs—quite the sight! No amount of walking around in a nice garden and looking at Canada Geese was going to calm me down though.

We walked around through the Mediterranean Garden and I was just struck by all the texture and patterns during this walk-through. Once again reminding me of one of my favorite landscape books From Art to Landscape by W. Gary Smith. That book is one of the things that firs got me thinking about the use of these forms and pattern in actual landscape design. When I was in school for Computer Animation creating textures from photographs was one of my favorite parts of modeling

There are a number of patterns found in nature. Types include repetition, symmetry, drift, serpentine, spiral, branching, radial, and fractals.

Of course many of these are used in any kind of design work.


I like this example of serpentine and repetition. The tall upright palms are repeated all along the serpentine path, both drawing the key farther and farther into the landscape.

Moving a Palm Tree

The project we are working on now is big and fairly complicated. They have an amazing palm tree in the backyard that is in the way of the new pool pavilion we have designed for them. It's a residential lot with some weird angles and an existing pool and other built elements that are making siting the pavilion difficult. Hence, we are moving the palm. It is a huge and mature Brahea armata - Blue Palm, how much does this thing weigh?! A lot.

We called in the local 'Palm and Avocado Tree Guy', Gary Gragg, of Golden Gate Palms Nursery fame. You can visit the nursery in Richmond, California; find more info here: https://www.goldengatepalms.com/

We invited Gary out to take a look and to ask about the possibility of moving the palm. He comes out and says, "No problem, let's move this baby girl!" Or something like that, anyway.

Mature Blue Palm getting transplated

Gary is a bit of a character - outgoing, gregarious, knowledgeable, and very positive. A true and delightful plant geek. We actually had him out to our own house a few weeks ago to consult about avocados. My spouse is obsessed with having avocados. We bought three and they got planted all together in one large hole - 3 plants, one hole. Read what Gary has to say about avocados in the Bay Area here: https://www.goldengatepalms.com/avocados

Back to our Walnut Creek project... Gary and his crew arrive and maneuver their excavator/forklift into the backyard. The receiving hole has already been excavated and the palm is ready to go. After lifting the tree out of the hole, they decide to go get a smaller forklift. I love how insect-like this machine is!

We all leave for some lunch and freaking out. But Gary comes back with the new forklift and they get back to work. I go back to standing around watching and kind of squealing in alarm. At some point, the palm is off-balance and all the guys jumped on the back of the forklift to balance it out. I admire this "get it done" attitude that appears to be fairly reckless about personal safety, but at the same time I do NOT want to see someone get flung ass over teakettle onto the pavement.

They can't grab the tree from the base like I was expecting. Which makes sense, there is no way to keep it stable from that position. The thing is dang heavy. Instead, they grab it around the middle and slowly drive around the pool to its final resting place.

The pool toys gently drifting about is making me crack up for some reason. So serene!

HOPEFULLY, it will bounce back from this fairly traumatic move! Palms, as you can see from some of these photos, have a fibrous root ball rather than a tap root. They don’t mind being moved but it’s still a trauma and you never know! They need to keep the root ball HELLa moist for a while, while the palm acclimates.