Knittlin covered most of what I intended to say... nice synopsis. With one exception, perhaps: "Let's say there's someone out there who is the only person to have an unusual type of seed. The holder of the unusual seed sends a small portion of seeds to Svalbard. He continues to grow out and share the seeds. If, for some unknown reason, the only people who accept the seed from him all lose their seeds at the same time the original holder of them does, the original holder requests some of the seed he sent to Svalbard and is able to start over again." As I'm sure you already know, Svalbard does not accept seed from individuals, regardless of the merits of the seed. To get into their bank, the seed would need to be deposited into another bank first, and that bank would need to back it up into a second bank. So in the end, Svalbard + two other banks + the original grower would all have the seed. The good news is, that because SSE (Seed Savers Exchange) is now a depositor at Svalbard, it is possible for heirloom varieties to be protected. Don't get me wrong; I am still somewhat critical of the project. As another poster stated, if the great calamity does occur, it may be difficult or impossible to get the seeds from Svalbard to the depositor. Nor am I satisfied that all legal situations have been addressed... such as what happens to the seeds if the depositor no longer exists, has been taken over legally/politically, or lacks the means to propagate the seed. I am also apprehensive of corporate involvement, regardless of what rules might presently be in place. Governments change. Rules change. Greed is a constant. There are clauses in the Depositors Agreement that could, IMO, be abused to benefit the large multi-national seed companies. But for those that see Svalbard as the salvation from famine, it may never fill that role - or not directly. It is designed to preserve germplasm, not to propagate seed on a worldwide scale. That will always be the role of the the original depositors, their supporting governments, and the private sector. Were a major disaster to suddenly occur with one of the food staples (wheat, for example) it would take many years to multiply seed stocks, and in the interim, millions would starve. Sorry to end on a dark note, but that's the reality. Svalbard is something we hope we will never need to use.

gardengal48: ok, that is very helpful. Thank you. :-) nwnatural: given the feedback here, and our assessment of the situation, that is the direction we are going. karinl: I am glad to hear that it didnt come off as whining, which was not my intention. I greatly respect the skills and abilities of the people here who work with gardens and landscaping. It is just a bit overwhelming to the rest of us mortals. In terms of the ground cover, this was suggested to us by a friend who is a true gardener, and we have incorporated various types of thyme, teucrium, cerastium, etc. into our design. The problem is that this site was full of weeds when we cleared it to build the house and we need to control that without the use of chemicals if we can avoid it. Based on how the ground cover does, we may be able to slowly incorporate it in other areas, thereby achieving eco-enlightenment. :-) I have included photos below: gweirdo: it is somewhat difficult to answer your question, since we didnt do the landscape design. I can say that our intention was to use drought-tolerant plants that grow well in this area to create an ambiance that defined a place of sanctuary for us. Since a Mediterranean landscape evoked that feeling for us, we began to use that term, perhaps inappropriately. We also wanted to contribute to the land by replacing all the scruffy weeds with plants that would help support the local wildlife (the birds and the bees, not the adolescents in Mini-Coopers). The difficulty is to being able to communicate the experience we want from our garden using the limited lexicon that we have. It is like trying to tell someone from another planet what milk tastes like. We know exactly what we are talking about (fortunately) but no one else does. This probably means we were raised by wolves. To see the details of our design, please go here: http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/design/msg0623022121666.html inkognito: I believe I have read enough of your posts to both respect your knowledge and appreciate your writing style. I also believe that you do not mind a bit of verbal jousting, which I am happy to provide. No offense was taken. :-) I will talk to our landscaper about the suggestions you mentioned thank you. We were also concerned about the clean up on gravel, so you are spot on there. springvillegardens: your herb garden is beautiful and the view of the hills is amazing. You have obviously put a great deal of work and love into your creation. Thank you so much for sharing this. frankie_in_zone_7: your vote has been noted and recorded for posterity. I hadnt thought about the linear feet of raking on the paths. Hmmm.... perhaps I need to take up Zen Buddhism. When you say decomposed compacted material, do you mean decomposed gravel and would that be with landscape cloth underneath or not? Thanks.

I just happened upon this posting, and feel compelled to add a bit of info regarding fertilizing new plantings. The current "rule" regarding California native plantings is NOT to fertilize or amend soil at planting. This is especially true if the plants are native to your local area. In theory, if it's a native, the soil should contain everything your plant needs. That said, by virtue of normal landscaping practices, we have mucked things up for our plants. Still, with natives, it's best to start without fertilizer. If your plants are from other Mediterranean climate areas of the world, then a little starter fertilizer may be helpful. It may also be necessary to amend the soil to improve drainage. They key is to match the plant's natural habitat and needs as closely as possible. Note: if you have clay soil, but your plant is native to an area with different characteristics (rocky, sandy, low phosphorus, etc.), you need to be mindful of this. Clay is wonderfully fertile, but tough on plants that prefer better drainage. If you do choose to fertilize, organic fertilizers are better for the plants, soil, and the environment.

Just got back last night after spending a week up in Virginia. Went to Monticello and Montpellier. At Monticello, got some seed pods (with permission) from the great red hibiscus on the grounds. great-red-hibiscus Not sure if he was pulling our legs or not, but the person who gave the house tour said that while touring the gardens if we saw a egg plant or something that was ripe, go ahead and pick it, and that they donate the products from the gardens to food banks and such, so it was ok to pick. We did sample some of the peas, peppers and small tomatoes while wandering around. If I had a large enough back pack could have came back with a big pumpkin.