Westside Reader August 2015

August 2015 Westside Reader • 35
g a R d e n g at e s
designing the ‘new
Climate’ landscape
is the new chic
by Jane Gates
Staff Writer
Sometimes fashion styles seem frivolous.
Other times they are driven by
practical demands. In the case of
landscaping, the current lack of rain —
following a series of hard drought years
over the past few decades — is defining a
whole new style of gardening. Even if we
do enjoy a generous ‘El Nino’ year in the
near future, it will take a long-lasting radical
turnabout to return the ground
water and our storage areas to predrought
levels. Yet a garden built for the
current new climate will thrive and look
gorgeous whatever the weather sends us
— a trend setter for long-lasting style.
Fear has people worrying that they can
only have Arizona-type cactus and rock
gardens. Or worse, flat seas of dull gravel
(which, ironically, is a non-living version
of the blank seas of lawn we are addicted
to). But the truth is that water-wise landscapes
can be designed in any style you
want. All it takes is some creativity, imagination
and a willingness to break away
from limited thinking. The new fashion is
making front yards of boring green lawn
look dated and unattractive. Instead, liberation
from the thirsty “emerald sward”
that has held us imprisoned for nearly a
century is allowing us to play with textures,
colors and materials that open a
limitless opportunity to design works-ofart
landscapes that are interesting, glamorous,
unique and in harmony with our
environment (which means less maintenance
and pollution — good-bye gasoline-stink
mower-blowers).
So…where to begin? There is enough
information on this subject for another
book — or two, but for the moment, let
me tease your thoughts with some ideas.
Let’s start off with non-living materials
that require neither fussing nor irrigation
and can last for decades.
One direction to go is to add some enjoyable,
useful space to your yard. Extend
your living space outdoors by adding a
sport court, a putting green (of easy-care
synthetic lawn), a patio for entertaining,
a meditation nook, a child or pet play
area, an outdoor room or some other
space that pays you back for the taxes
you spend on your property. Make your
yard as valuable and decorative as your
house, then enjoy more time outdoors
getting vitamin D and releasing your
everyday stress. (Create your own easy
and comfortable home therapy garden!)
You can even design your space to echo
your favorite vacation spot. Use bamboo,
wicker (or durable vinyl look-alike materials)
to create a tropical theme. Use
areas of gravel and sand, a boulder or
two and some cast cement décor to build
a Japanese garden. Or add a white picket
fence, an archway, a romantic swing or
bench and a drought-tolerant garden to
invent an English cottage garden in your
This Asian shed not only offers storage, but a focal
point to set the mood in a Japanese style garden.
yard. Color can also be a theme as in an
all red, yellow, purple or white garden, a
garden of soft pastels, cool colors (blues
and purples) or hot hues (reds, oranges
and yellows).
Then there are the plants. Some
drought-tolerant plants bloom with
showy, colorful flowers — like the Desert
Bird of Paradise (Caesalpinea gilesseii)
or the native Wooly Blue Curls (Tricostemma
lanatum) or the Matilija
Poppy (Romneya coulterii) while others
offer green color year round. Some have
short-lived brilliant flower shows
whereas others flower more demurely
for longer periods of time. Some have foliage
as colorful as flowers, others have
interesting leaves or textures. The trick
is to plant the right plants in the right
place and to coordinate them with their
colors or textures so you have a concert
of beauty — areas that blaze up like the
trumpet section or the woodwinds in a
symphony — then slip into the background
while another section (like the
strings) take over. This creates shifting
focal points and a garden that maintains
interest all year round.
Blend your non-living materials with
the living members of your landscape
and you can design a work of art that is
totally unique, fits into your own taste
and lifestyle, yet consumes little water
and demands minimal upkeep. You might
be surprised at how many interesting —
and sometimes free — materials you can
use to build your water-wise garden. The
drought doesn’t have to be bad news for
home landscapes at all; it’s an opportunity
to upgrade your garden to the new
chic! WR
Jane Gates, owner of Gates & Croft Horticultural
Design, author of “All the Garden’s
a Stage” (Schiffer Books) and
“Design a Theme Garden” (Amazon.com),
is a professional garden speaker, landscape
designer/consultant and a practicing
artist and illustrator. An avid gardener
here in Santa Clarita, you can find her at
www.gatesandcroft.com and www.gardengates.info.