CA Native and Mediterranean plantings harmonized in our design/build project in Rincon Valley last summer. Our clients were passionate about horticulture and hired us to reimagine their property which had a landscape in disrepair featuring crumbling brick, dying lawns, failed drainage off the roof, and a water feature from a bygone era. With no functioning irrigation system we redesigned the water system from the well all the way to the emitters at the plants, employing sustainability every step of the way.
Our marching orders were a native landscape including a privacy hedge in the outer gardens, and a mediterranean garden against the house and a color palette that remained in whites, purple, and green. Through conversations we learned our client was an avid farmer and fruit tree grower, so we leaned into the mediterranean palette to include a wide variety of citrus, and fruiting olives, with pollinator support from Lavander, White Lantana, and Nepeta. Pennisetum ‘Hameln’ (Dwarf Fountain Grass) added a lush green texture and movement in the breeze, all of which complimented the contemporary farm house aesthetic and remaining brick facade.
The CA Native gardens were drought tolerant, low-maintenance, with a focus on sustainability while maintaining open views across the landscape including Eriogonum ‘Warriner Lyttle’ (one of the most ecologically critical native plants visited by a broad range of native insects), Verbena lilacina and Penstemon heterophyllus for low pops of purple color, and Carex tumulicola grasses for verdant pathway borders. Accents of vertical architectural interest from Muhlenbergia rigens (Deer Grass), and Salvia clevelandii and a backing of Lleymus ‘Canyon Prince’ grasses before reaching a hedge mixed with Myrica california, Garry elliptica, and Arbutus unedo. Lastly we installed patches of Asclepias fascicularis (Narrowleaf Milkweed) to support the Monarch butterfly population along the hedge area.
