Adapting native plants to achieve a Japanese Garden feel/look.
dragonfly_wings
15 years ago
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patings
15 years agogrouch0
15 years agoRelated Discussions
Japanese Gardens in Southern California
Comments (9)Relax Edzard, this is southern Calfornia, dude. jxbrown, been there , done that in SoCal. You see a lot of your type of 'motif' in SoCal and there are plenty of ways to work with it that suits your personality, budget and over all outlook on the whole gardening thang. I feel the most important aspect about your newly acquired property is to not lose track that this is no longer somebody else's garden , but yours to do with as you wish. If you choose to keep this garden going as it has been tended to in the past there are plenty of people to assist you in this area. Go to one of the monthly Cal Hort meetings and bring pictures and information about your garden. There is usually about 60 or so people at the meeting ( plus or minus depending on the topic of the speaker ) and someone there can point you in the right direction in regards to someone located locally who can assist you. From the sounds of it, ( and from my experience in living in SoCal and seeing this common type 'motif ' ) it does not appear to be any monumental historical work of art that belongs under the conservationship of a Hysterical Historical Society or the Garden Conservancy. If it was, there would already be a committe set up to meet and greet you about your garden. This style of landscape was and still is very popular with the mid century so. Cal architecture. Alot of people whether they were Japanese or not planned a Japanese inspired looking garden. Thousands of these gardens exist today and thousands have undergone transformations over the years. There are a myriad of ethinically diverse gardeners in S. Cal . that can assist you in taking this garden into its next phase. To wait a full year or 'a full cycle of seasons at a minimum before changing anything!!' is a tad bit over dramatic , especially in a temperate environment such as ours , where in just a couple of months one can lose control over their garden if it is not maintained. Give Cal Hort a try, chances are high that if your garden has some sort of notoriety that someone there will be able to help you by pointing you in the direction that you want to go with it. You'll also network with a bunch of gardeners who know who's who and what their specialty is, so you'll can interview and choose someone to work with that has the correct skills if that is the direction you choose to make for your new garden....See MoreAny suggestions for Japanese garden plants in clay soil?
Comments (5)Thanks for your suggestions. I hesitate to try to photograph the area as it's a long strip and would be hard to do, given my limited photographic abilities. So I'll try to describe it. It's a long narrow strip of land, about 5 feet wide and the length of the entire side of our house. But I probably won't convert the whole area. I at least want to convert the part that I can see from the kitchen windows, which is about 12 feet long. Future project would be the part below the dining room windows, another 12 feet or so. On one of the sides is the reddish brick wall of our house and includes a few basement windows. The other side is a reddish-stained cedar fence. It currently has native grape vines covering much of it. That could go or stay. It's a dry area, though I will provide some water. Moss wouldn't work. I can't put a lot of water into that soil because it is elevated and supported beyond the fence by a retaining wall that is tilting. Consultants have told me that introducing plants would be good for the stability, but not to saturate the soil with water. It's currently a weed patch, but I am smothering the area to kill them. There is a very large yew (tree-sized) at the end of the area, corner of the house. Hope this helps....See MorePlanted my first Japanese Maples, Companion plants ideas?
Comments (9)With the exception of the hydrangeas, all of those are full sun plants and a bit on the droughty side as well. Once the trees grow and fill in more - and that often happens faster than you expect - they will be casting their own shade and those plants will not be very happy. And you do not want to plant something now that will have to be dug up and moved later, disturbing the maple roots when you do. And while it is a totally personal observation, those plants just don't reflect the character of the JM's very well. kaitain4's suggestions are much more in character and kind of the typical JM accompaniments. You could also add hellebores or epimediums to the mix as well....See MoreIs anyone here doing any native plant restoration gardens?
Comments (39)Pinkmountain - I’m glad you decided to continue the discussion. I’m going to be dropping off the thread, but I hope you and others can continue it, if there is an interest. I appreciated the way you have shared your efforts to restore habitat. You are trying to do something about a situation that is really frightening. I realize that and am not really any different, I find it frightening as well and I’m sure we all find the world’s problems overwhelming. I can’t speak for others, I can only say that I have had lots of enthusiasm along the way to also do something about it. Have made the attempt with the resources I have. I’m still making the attempt. I could have used more support and encouragement at different times but wildflower and conservation groups in my area have other goals and agendas that don’t really reach out to people who are just trying to do what they can and need it to be made more accessible. So, I suppose they were doing the best they could and we are all trying to do the best we can. I just popped over to the Native Plants forum and not a lot happening there from my perspective. Not a lot of newcomers being nurtured. And Houzz has not even put a link to the Native plants forum and apparently no one there seemed to think to complain about that or to follow up until there was a link in the directory. A simple thing really. Everyone on this thread has made an effort and expressed an interest, just by contributing to this thread. I was enjoying hearing from members that I already know, how their interest is growing in natives and how that has been working out for them. And hearing from GW members I don’t know, like you. I started this thread because I met someone on another GW thread who was explaining how they had been working on a property for 4 years on a riparian area and I wanted to hear more and maybe see some photos. They had only posted to GW 3x and I thought a newcomer, maybe it would be helpful for her to see if there was anyone else here doing the same. It happened that she’s had trouble signing into Houzz, so she hasn’t posted yet. But the atmosphere on the forums here in regard to natives, I’d have to say it is challenging. From my perspective, any effort or interest on someone’s part in native plants is something to appreciate and celebrate and build on. People need to be met where they are and nurtured and encouraged by those in a position to do so, if that's at all possible. Maybe it's not. They have limited resources, challenging properties, time restraints, energy restraints, competing priorities and yet they still have an interest in trying to do what they can. They would appreciate being heard and supported. Certainly it is an approach that has been very successful over time in many endeavors to draw people in and encourage their interest and support. And this limited exposure I’ve had in the past week or so to those on GW involved in native plants, I’m sure is not the whole of it and maybe there are people here that are being welcoming and supportive. This is just what my experience has been as a newcomer to natives at GW this week. I am impressed by the scope of what you personally are trying to do. I share your sorrow over lost pristine natural areas and mature trees. I’m sure a lot of us do. I wish you good luck in your efforts....See Morerock_oak_deer
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