I love my career, Landscape Designer it is a calling, an art, and a science. I am glad when I have the opportunity for learning about new plants and planting methods because I want to be a Garden Problem Solver. Friday I was able to join other Landscape Designers at Village Nurseries to learn about some new and some old favorite plants that truly are Garden Problem Solvers.
The top photo is a great Spanish Lavender surrounded by a new Salvi greggii called ‘Radio Red’ it really is a RED red. The reason I focused in on the lavender is because I have found that living in Santa Clarita there really are some varieties of lavender that are better than others. My favorites are Lavandula angustifolia ‘Hidecote’ an English Lavender, Lavandula stoechas ‘Otto Quast’ and ‘Madrid Pink’ are all great varieties of Spanish Lavender and Lavandula ‘Goodwin’s Creek’ a nice silvery choice that is also part of my repertoire.
We are really trying to capture water these days, and creating a swale or rain garden is one way to do that. Bioswales have been used for years, and there are some great plants that can be used to soak up that water and filter it when the water we are capturing is gray water or run off that has issues. I personally would rather create a rain garden within a garden space than a swale off site, in any case I think plants such as Eleymus, Bouteloua, carex and even acorus can be helpful plants in this situation.
I found another great garden problem solver, Mahonia ‘Soft Caress’ a smaller, thornless Mahonia that takes dry shade and can tolerate clay. It has beautiful golden yellow flowers that rise above the gorgeous foliage and it blooms November through January. I saw this a couple of months ago at another Village presentation and have specified it for two jobs already. Some of you with shade will be seeing this one on your plant list!
Those are a few of the many plants that I learned about, I plan to use them in your garden design as I become the Garden Problem Solver for your home.
If you would like to solve some garden problems of your own, please think about giving me a call at 661-917-3521 or visit my website and contact me there.
