Design

“Bedding Down”

ESPatch Feb 4, 2011 12 comments

Every garden design presents its own unique set of challenges, both physically, spatially, aesthetically, emotionally and of course financially.

The designers role is to synthesize emotions, set expectations and ultimately deliver the most creative, appropriate and optimized design scheme within the scope of the project to the best of his or her abilities, and then successfully execute it.

This design process sounds quite straightforward, but in reality, it remains very organic in nature, planned…yes, but organic, as it should be. The most ‘developed’ design, as pretty as it may appear on paper or LCD, mutates as you grit teeth, grab an iced turban (if it is summer), long johns (in winter), and start working into it, armed with a shovel, a strong will,…

…and an ever roaming, critical eye. I always adorn the toy version of Mad Eye Moodie’s roaming eye on initial site consultations, as I survey the area making notes. Most people interestingly choose to ignore it.

This garden had attempted to make some sense of splitting up the space, it just struggled with the fundamental questions: why? And for what exactly? The homeowner communicated early on that he wanted a low maintenance, low water needs solution and that he wanted to eliminate his mostly dead and weedy grass…sweet music to my ears.

RIP Zelda

The first port of call in this scheme was an exorcism to purge the space of all preexisting metal and rubber edging (you all know what I think of this) to

(a) stop me tripping over it as I moved through the property and

(b) well, it just makes me feel better.

The plan that I settled on integrates and plays off the existing oak tree, drawing visual attention away from the expansive rectilinear perimeter, focusing it to a formalized, and centrally concentrated planting scheme. Why? Well this has the effect of visually shrinking the space (and cost) associated with heavily planting up the perimeter (not an option in this case). A simple and sparse planting of loquats and a couple of large corner miscanthus will visually and quietly soften up the perimeter, pulling in the focus to the centralized and more densely planted, arching salvia leucantha and rosemary planting beds. These curved beds enclose the space and create a more intimate environment, helping to direct the eye to the end focal point…two smallish crepe myrtles (different colors) . These myrtles are guarded on both sides with my favorite evergreen, yes, you guessed it, Arizona ‘blue ice’ cypress.

These cypress trees will ultimately end up like nightclub bouncers, bodyguards protecting the star.

Here is a rendering (left) on top of digital photography that was used to convey the scheme looking back toward the house and here is the reality of the design (right) in the midst of implementation, (the bricks have not been bedded yet). With all the metal edging taken up, and a new, more organic flow through the property introduced, the space already feels more natural. The beds will be planted up when the weather is not quite so restless.

Oh give it a rest Jack.

Staying with the weather a moment, I took a walk down to my large stock tank to check on my fish early this morning.

It was a little more extreme out there then I had anticipated.

We are currently hunkered down inside the Patch with an Arctic front whistling through our long-leaf pine walls, and the oven open and set to 350! It is quite possible we were the cause of the rolling Austin blackouts. The good news is that my halflings got to witness this week just how brilliant hot water bottles actually are when Texas temperatures dip…one of Britain’s best exports.

…Precisely.

A thin layer of ice had formed,

encapsulating this water lily that actually bloomed only last week.

This lone, motionless goldfish looked like the waters had frozen around it.

Moving quickly indoors…remember that hair sap?

Lucky for him his mother is a hairdresser who just said “oh, lets just cut that out”!

His reward for this test of endurance?

“Cargo bay doors are open Captain…

excepting delivery…

Cargo bay lock re-engaged sir”.

A dinner at his favorite ‘sarcophagus’ restaurant. Oh yes, you are in for a real treat if you get a table anywhere around us! Your fine dining experience may indeed be compromised.

Finally:

I will leave you with a little freezing damage already visible.

My last tiger aloe has turned dark purple, never a good sign,

and my Mexican lime tree is once again looking decidedly ill, I feel another mammoth leaf drop is around the corner.

Cold little hands and fingers have been exploring and prodding their way around this new icy world.

And then this morning?

A Texas winter wonderland!

No school today.

This cannot be a good environment for “tropical” water lilies!

Stay Tuned for:

“Ice Ice Baby”

All material © 2011 for eastsidepatch. Unauthorized
intergalactic reproduction strictly prohibited, and punishable by late (and extremely unpleasant) 14th century planet Earth techniques.

Check out this “Rangers” site: http://www.wildliferanger.co.uk/

“Walking on Thin Ice”

ESPatch Jan 25, 2011 15 comments

Sitting on her wizened cedar stump (thanks Bob) the local “Patch” seer predicted a hard freeze this week in her crystal ball…

…as night fell she swirled around her fire, occasionally devouring a marshmallow, and a few

blackened shrimps? (Okay that was really bad).

Naturally she was right about the freezes.

A lone canna leaf, frozen to the spot. The temperatures swing wildly at this time of year in Central Texas, freezing nights contrasting with clear warmer days.

This canna doesn’t seem to know what to do.

Pinecone cactus have decided there is safety in numbers and huddle up close in the cold, check out the face on the winking Mayan-looking character lurking behind the ice plant on the right.

Tephrocactus articulatus

The rather fearful, grimacing expressions on these cacti indicate exactly how they feel about the cold. The extremities on the “cones” have caved inward in response to the cold night temperatures, though it will totally recover come the spring, with some heat and a few Botox injections here and there.

“Ya ya! Give it to er now ESP, make sure ze has enough left for me esp? ESP? EESSSPPPP?!”

A few plants respond to the cold a little more elegantly, like this very regal Queen Elizabeth Stonecrop,

Sedum spurium ‘Queen Elizabeth’

This little plant just keeps getting better and better, the colder and colder it gets.

It’s leaves now resemble miniature roses.

This royal succulent can live up to ten years!

“I am not impressed”.

This dwarf miscanthus also looks better as the temperatures dip, its once green leaves now a pin-striped white and purple maroon. I cut these ornamental grasses back to a few inches from the ground in the spring as soon as I see new green growth re-emerging. I see these all around town cut back prematurely, completely missing this purple phase.

Moving on…

The Patch has been hard at work on a residential installation in south Austin, removing a bit of this,

and a lot of that. I detest unnecessary steel edging almost as much as the Bermuda grass that it invariably attempts to contain, and it is the first thing I usually remove on an install. It really is horrible stuff, overused and invariably badly implemented as a sort of short garden “hurdle” to trip up any unsuspecting person walking in the vicinity. Should you have to remove it? Expect some, or all of the following:

You can count on being finger-nipped or worse, impaled on one of “Vlad, the Impaler’s” metal spikes, (Vlad reportedly invented steel landscape edging back in the 13th century). I will not mention the language that you will adopt as you work your way down a wobbling unruly line of removed edging, trying desperately to pry and wiggle one rusted or earth-clogged section from another in the most contorted positions imaginable (feet have to be used). It is harder work then shoveling! Oh and if the end of a metal spike has hit a stone or tree root as it was driven into the ground? Forget about it and just resort to bending the two sections together (I have found three sections start to get heavy), though be warned, in a final ditch attempt, this demonic barrier will try to spring up to slap the side of your head with the back of it’s aggressive metal hand. Give me bricks or boulders any day for a less annoying (physically and visually) and infinitely more flexible and naturalistic edging solution.

Under copious amounts of mulch, I found these ghostly roots tightly interwoven to the underside of the weed suppressant material that we were removing, desperately searching and scouring for a way out from under the smothering black blanket. These roots had traveled staggering distances.

Amazing…Bermuda grass IS the Borg.

“YOUR GARDEN WILL BE ASSIMILATED…RESISTANCE IS FUTILE”.

“Oh, but I know your weaknesses Bermuda Queen”.

Oh come on, it is Bermuda grass! Do not talk to me about vinegar and this and that!

Finally:

Cast Iron plant is once again living up to it’s name.

Soft leaf yucca catching some winter rays.

Ghost plants look their best this time of year.

One of my favorite clean up jobs!

I love picking up leaves at the best of times as you know, but when they are embedded into the heart of a sago palm?

Well, enough said!