West of St. Helena in Napa Valley sits a lovely garden surrounding a small house with a large porch and big picture window. I had an opportunity to speak with the owner, Glenn, about how this idyllic spot came to fruition.
Several years ago, Glenn and Anne purchased this home hoping to retire in the next few years. They saw the potential in an outdated but solidly built home in the perfect spot, along a country lane yet close to town.
They needed to renovate the house first, and then plan the garden. They launched their project by hiring a landscape and garden designer to help clarify their vision for the plot. Seven elements of good design guided their decisions. They needed to consider the function, site, hardscaping, microclimate, water management, plant selection and maintenance of their ideal home.
Function: The landscape designer asked questions to help determine which design would best support their interests and needs. Glenn and Anne were asked how they planned to use their garden. Did they plan to entertain? If so, where? Did they have any specific plants in mind?
The couple expressed a desire for an aesthetically pleasing garden that would also be water- efficient, sustainable, friendly to wildlife and care-free. In the front yard, which the public could see, they wanted an attractive landscape featuring plants with color, scent and texture. They also wanted to attract butterflies, bees and birds, and they wanted color in every season. The backyard was to be a place to contemplate, sit quietly, read a book and entertain.
Site: Since guests would park on the street, the home needed a walkway from the street to the front door. The couple parks their own vehicles in the driveway to the left of a house, so another walkway was needed from the front door to the driveway.
Hardscaping: When the project began, California was in the middle of a serious drought. To conserve rain water, a swale (a depression between slopes) and series of berms (an earthen embankment defining the swale) were added to the front garden to percolate moisture into the soil. A fountain was added for birds and butterflies and placed so that it can be seen from the front porch and window.
The backside of the house had several steps and levels. The homeowners decided to make the landscape two levels and use locally mined paving stones on the lower level to the creek edge. To protect the house from water, the paved area slants away from the house and toward the creek. Well-placed potted plants protect people from accidently moving to the edge of the creek.
Several trees were dug up. An olive tree was removed and given away. Two crepe myrtles were moved from the backyard to the front.
Microclimate: The front of the house faces south; the back faces north. With a southern exposure, the front tends to be hot in summer, making it a good site for plants that flourish with little water. The trees and boxwood hedges on both the east and west sides of the front garden create several microclimates requiring differing kinds of plants.
With its northern exposure, the backyard is cool and moist, with little variation in climate. It is ideal for water-loving plants.
Water management: Once the two levels were defined in the backyard, the grass was removed using the sheet-mulching method. In the fall, a plan for watering was devised. The design relies in two drip systems. The main pipes for the back were placed under the paving stones. Glenn chose a meter that he manually adjusts himself according to variations in rainfall and temperature.
Plant selection: As you enter the front walkway, the scent of night-blooming jasmine (Nyctanthes arbor-tristis), English lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) and mock orange (Philadelphus) greet you. At the base of the porch steps, pots of gardenia (Gardenia jasminoides), one on each side, add to the scent. Sun-loving California fuchsia (Epilodium) andmanzanita (Arctostaphylos spp) are among the plants that grow atop the berms that define the natural stone swale meandering through the garden. Both attract butterflies, hummingbirds and bees.
Below the boxwood (Buxus) are newly planted red-twig dogwoods (Cornus sericiae). In the corner below the porch is Anne's “conversation corner” shaded by the bloodgood Japanese maple (Acer palmatum). Other plants for the back garden include a fragrant flowering currant (Ribes sanguineum ‘White Icicle'), dwarf hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata ‘Bobo') and prostrate rosemary covering the creek bank.
Maintenance: Anne and Glenn can keep up the garden themselves due to the low-maintenance design. When they need help for tasks like transplanting trees, they hire local people.
For an opportunity to be inspired and learn more, you can visit Glenn and Anne's' garden on Sunday, May 21. It is one of six Master Gardener-owned gardens featured on the U. C. Master Gardeners of Napa County's “Discover Garden Magic” tour. Purchase tickets online at
http://ucanr.edu/survey/survey.cfm?surveynumber=20204
Master Gardeners are volunteers who help the University of California reach the gardening public with home gardening information. U. C. Master Gardeners of Napa County ( http://ucanr.edu/ucmgnapa/) are available to answer gardening questions in person or by phone, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 9 a.m. to Noon, at the U. C. Cooperative Extension office, 1710 Soscol Avenue, Suite 4, Napa, 707-253-4143, or from outside City of Napa toll-free at 877-279-3065. Or e-mail your garden questions by following the guidelines on our web site. Click on Napa, then on Have Garden Questions? Find us on Facebook under UC Master Gardeners of Napa County.
By Penny Proteau, U. C. Master Gardener of Napa County
It's time to get into the garden. Whether you are planning a new garden, renewing an old garden, adding color and interest for summer or hoping to grow award-winning produce, now is the time to get started.
How to start? Make a plan. Whether you sketch out a simple vision or commission a full set of drawings, your plan will be useful for all your future gardening decisions.
When drawing up your plan, evaluate your space. Where is the sun throughout the year? How do you want to use your yard? For recreation? Growing vegetables? Entertaining? Or perhaps as a play area for children? Do you have pets? Do you want chickens? Do you view your garden as a private retreat or a public space?
Canvas your neighborhood for yards that you admire. Make a note of what you like about the landscaping. You may think you'll remember, but notes help. For inspiration relevant to our location, take a look at http://www.napa.watersavingplants.com, an online resource for water-wise gardening in the Napa Valley
After you have committed your plan to paper, think about irrigation. Thoughtful irrigation and wise planting choices will save you a lot of fuss and heartache in drought years. California native plants offer a diverse palette. Also look at Mediterranean plants to increase your options. Both are suitable for our wet winter/dry summer climate.
Wise water planning also means hydrozoning, or putting plants with similar water needs on the same irrigation station. Consider using pots for specialty plants that may need different care and maintenance than in-ground plants.
For inspiration, don't miss the U.C. Master Gardeners of Napa County's garden tour on Sunday, May 21. Purchase tickets for the “Discover Garden Magic” tour online at
http://ucanr.edu/survey/survey.cfm?surveynumber=20204
Master Gardeners are volunteers who help the University of California reach the gardening public with home gardening information. U. C. Master Gardeners of Napa County ( http://ucanr.edu/ucmgnapa/) are available to answer gardening questions in person or by phone, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 9 a.m. to Noon, at the U. C. Cooperative Extension office, 1710 Soscol Avenue, Suite 4, Napa, 707-253-4143, or from outside City of Napa toll-free at 877-279-3065. Or e-mail your garden questions by following the guidelines on our web site. Click on Napa, then on Have Garden Questions? Find us on Facebook under UC Master Gardeners of Napa County.
If you are looking for attractive and low-maintenance additions to your garden, look no further than California native plants.
Most of California falls within a zone known as the California Floristic Province. Defined by the Sierra Nevada range on the west, this area is considered to be a biodiversity hotspot. Its many types of terrain and climate have given rise to around 8,000 endemic plant species. Consequently, you have many choices for native plants in your garden, whether you are looking for a delicate flower such as the California poppy or a tough survivor like manzanita.
Native plants offer numerous benefits. Many are drought tolerant, a popular attribute in recent years. However, even drought-tolerant plants need some water until they're established. Deep watering the first year will encourage deep root growth so the plant can access the water it needs in the future. This early attention will pay off by saving you time and money for years to come.
While native plants enhance your landscape, they also provide food and shelter for local wildlife. Many birds relish their berries and seeds and use them for perching while hunting insects, hiding from predators and nesting. Development has removed large amounts of native habitat, but as gardeners, we can help by recreating those living spaces in our own yards.
Native bees will also feel at home in a garden filled with California natives. They pollinate plants (especially important if you are growing edibles) and are a food source for birds and lizards. Most native bees do not sting unless provoked, and they do not form large colonies, so there are no nests or swarms to manage.
One iconic Napa Valley native is the majestic oak. We have nine native species here, but the most common are the coast live oak, the scrub oak and the valley oak. "Live" means the tree is evergreen. It is impossible to travel around the valley without noticing their beauty.
Often I have accidentally come upon an oak, approaching it at such an angle that its full shape is suddenly visible. I am awed by its beauty. The thick, continually branching arms stretch to the sky, as if holding it aloft. From a distance, the blanket of waxy leaves appears soft and fluffy. These are unique trees that, as natives, require particular care.
Like many native plants, oaks are drought tolerant, which means that they are sensitive to over watering. They do not want any summer water, so irrigation lines or plants with high water needs should not be placed under them.
While the effects of too much water are not immediately visible, long-term over-watering can kill an oak tree. Mulching around the base is also discouraged. The leaves and other litter that drop from the tree, if left alone, will naturally prevent weeds from sprouting and also return nutrients to the soil.
You can learn more about native plants on the California Native Plant Society web page. There you will find lists of plants native to Napa Valley and nurseries that stock them. The society holds twice-yearly plant sales where you can learn more about California native plants.
Workshop: U. C. Master Gardeners of Napa County will host a workshop on “Oaks and Natives” on Saturday, May 13, from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., at Skyline Park, 2201 Imola Avenue, Napa. Enjoy a guided tour around the park to appreciate and learn about oak woodlands and the stresses they face. Then continue with a stroll in the Martha Walker Garden to see oaks and native plants in a garden habitat. Learn about plant care and using native plants under oaks and elsewhere in your own garden. Take advantage of this opportunity to enjoy two of Napa County's woodland gems. Online registration (credit card only)
Master Gardeners are volunteers who help the University of California reach the gardening public with home gardening information. U. C. Master Gardeners of Napa County ( http://ucanr.edu/ucmgnapa/) are available to answer gardening questions in person or by phone, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 9 a.m. to Noon, at the U. C. Cooperative Extension office, 1710 Soscol Avenue, Suite 4, Napa, 707-253-4143, or from outside City of Napa toll-free at 877-279-3065. Or e-mail your garden questions by following the guidelines on our web site. Click on Napa, then on Have Garden Questions? Find us on Facebook under UC Master Gardeners of Napa County
A few years ago, back during the drought, I was ready to give up on hydrangeas. They were the coal-mine canaries of my yard, the first to droop if they were dry, and after the first few years not blooming much.
They also received different amounts of filtered sun so they were of different sizes. My enthusiastic but haphazard pruning hadn't helped, either.
Looking for inspiration, I walked around downtown Napa. I noticed that few of my neighbors seemed to care about symmetry, and their lovely hydrangeas were of differing shapes and sizes.
The varieties were different, too. Lacecap and mophead types (Hydrangea macrophylla) often appeared in the same yard, and by the time I reached the commercial area of Napa, I observed another specimen much in vogue—the oakleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia).
I decided to replace one hydrangea at the end of the row with the oakleaf variety. It was so obviously different that symmetry would be a non-issue. And it was tall, with large, deeply lobed leaves and showy cones of creamy flowers.
I also learned that one reason the oakleaf hydrangea is so popular around local hotels and restaurants is that it requires less water than other varieties. In the winter, its peeling bark and bronze leaves provide some interest.
Oakleaf hydrangea flowers on old growth, so it should be pruned after its first bloom. This winter I broke that rule and did a light pruning to shape it, but I made sure to keep a lot of buds on the stalks. Helped by this year's generous rainfall, my oakleaf hydrangea should be more luxuriant than ever this summer.
Hydrangeas are beautiful shrubs that reward the home gardener with a spectacular flower display if they are watered and fertilized adequately and pruned at the right time. Keep the soil moist, not wet, to a depth of one inch. (Oakleafs require less water.) A layer of mulch will keep the soil moist longer. Hydrangeas like sun; filtered sun is best for keeping their color.
Fertilizing is also important. When you plant a hydrangea, dig a hole three times the size of the container. Then fill the planting hole with a 50/50 blend of soil and an acidic amendment, such as a commercial soil mix for camellias and azaleas. Dig in some compost to improve texture. Plant the shrub so it is level with the ground and add a one- to two-inch layer of mulch.
Fertilize in early spring or summer. The bloom color of some varieties reflects how acidic or alkaline the soil is. Alkaline or neutral soils produce pink flowers; acid soils produce blue flowers.
To produce blue flowers, you may need to acidify the soil. Use a water-soluble acidic fertilizer with few or no phosphates, since phosphates are alkaline. In the fall, apply one teaspoon of aluminum sulfate per foot of plant height. Mix with water and drench the soil. Don't expect a change overnight.
For pink flowers, you need soil with a pH of 7.0 to 7.5. If necessary, adjust with a balanced fertilizer, but add superphosphates in the fall or winter. It is easier to turn flowers pink than blue. Don't fertilize after August, as hydrangeas are preparing for dormancy.
As for pruning, first determine if your hydrangea blooms on new or old wood. Old- wood bloomers (hydrangeas that produce buds on the previous season's stems), such as broadleaf hydrangeas and oakleaf hydrangeas, should be pruned after they bloom. Remove weak, dead or crossing stems. (Scrape your knife along a stem; if you don't see green, it's dead.) Make sure to leave green stems, as they will be setting buds. With these varieties, prune only for shape and remove no more than 30 percent.
New-wood bloomers such as ‘PeeGee' (Hydrangea paniculata) and ‘Annabelle' (Hydrangea arborescens) produce buds on new stems. They can be pruned any time except when they are preparing to bloom. You can prune these varieties more aggressively but avoid taking them down to the ground in fall. They can have large flower heads that need support from some old growth.
Hydrangea leaves and buds are poisonous if eaten. According to the California Master Gardener Handbook, animal poisonings were reported in older literature, but no recent cases have been reported. Wear gloves when pruning to prevent contact dermatitis.
With just a little care, hydrangeas will reward you with color all summer.
Workshop: U. C. Master Gardeners of Napa County will conduct a workshop on “Growing Hydrangeas” on Saturday, May 6, from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., at University of California Cooperative Extension, 1710 Soscol Avenue, Napa. Hydrangeas add style and color to the home garden with their variety of foliage textures, bloom shades and size options. Learn about caring for, pruning and propagating hydrangeas for beautiful outcomes. Vigorous and long-lived, hydrangeas reward the home gardener with extravagant results.Online registration (credit card only); Mail-in registration (check only or drop off cash payment).
Master Gardeners are volunteers who help the University of California reach the gardening public with home gardening information. U. C. Master Gardeners of Napa County ( http://ucanr.edu/ucmgnapa/) are available to answer gardening questions in person or by phone, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 9 a.m. to Noon, at the U. C. Cooperative Extension office, 1710 Soscol Avenue, Suite 4, Napa, 707-253-4143, or from outside City of Napa toll-free at 877-279-3065. Or e-mail your garden questions by following the guidelines on our web site. Click on Napa, then on Have Garden Questions? Find us on Facebook under UC Master Gardeners of Napa County.
As a grandmother of three darling children, I worry about so much: Are they happy? Are they healthy? Are they eating good food? Are they getting enough exercise? Are they learning enough math, science, reading, writing, art? Do they think I am the best nana in the whole world?
Fortunately, their schools have one place that alleviates my worries (except maybe that best- nana one), and that is the school garden.
This is not just wishful thinking on my part. A growing body of research supports the idea that school gardens can help meet many educational and nutritional goals for our children. The University of California at Davis actually has a school garden program to educate students and teachers about developing, using and sustaining school gardens to educate children.
Their suggested lesson plans show how to teach reading (using seed packets and plant descriptions), math (measuring planting depth, rainfall or temperature) and science (exploring how things grow and soil composition). Gardens can also be used to teach history, literature, art and culture.
Imagine a sixth-grade teacher introducing a section on Native American or Latino culture. Students could plant a historic herb garden or a “three sisters” garden (corn, beans and pumpkins).They could research the history of these cultures in our country and write or create art about what they have learned. Then they could cook what they have grown and perhaps learn to eat something that they have never tried. All these activities start in the school garden, where they are also getting exercise away from electronic screens, learning healthier eating habits and learning to work as a team.
A first-grade teacher might read The Sunflower House by Eve Bunting to his students. The children could then collect seeds from a dried sunflower head, create planting pots from newspaper and care for seedlings until they were big enough to plant in a “sunflower house” in the garden.
They could simultaneously work on writing and drawing skills by producing illustrated stories about the sunflowers. And they could boost their observational skills by noticing how their sunflower house grows, how pollinators seek out the blooming sunflowers and how birds come and eat the ripe seeds.
These garden activities are the ones students will remember long after they have forgotten many other lessons. I hope I have convinced you that a school garden makes an effective outdoor classroom for your children's or grandchildren's school.
The sad truth is, many school gardens fail or are not fully utilized. They lack funding, ongoing support from the school community and training for teachers on how to use the garden. Napa Valley Unified School District policy states clear support for school gardens as a way to improve student wellness and nutrition. But there is no money in the district's admittedly limited budget to support school gardens.
All too often, one teacher or parent enthusiastically takes on the garden, only to move on to another school without integrating the garden into the curriculum sufficiently that it survives and thrives without them. Alice Waters' Edible Schoolyard project is one exception, but teachers are rarely taught how to use the garden nor given suggestions for garden lesson plans.
These challenges are surmountable but require effort from the community.
You can help make school gardens a reality for more students. You can volunteer to start and maintain a school garden or donate materials, tools and time to an existing garden. Or you can assist the new grassroots group of garden teachers and coordinators formed to support school gardens in Napa.
Reach out to your local schools or the school board to offer assistance. Connect with the new grassroots group by contacting the U.C. Master Gardeners of Napa County's School Garden Task Force at 707-253-4221. Leave a message about your interest and a task force member will get back to you.
Master Gardeners are volunteers who help the University of California reach the gardening public with home gardening information. U. C. Master Gardeners of Napa County ( http://ucanr.edu/ucmgnapa/) are available to answer gardening questions in person or by phone, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 9 a.m. to Noon, at the U. C. Cooperative Extension office, 1710 Soscol Avenue, Suite 4, Napa, 707-253-4143, or from outside City of Napa toll-free at 877-279-3065. Or e-mail your garden questions by following the guidelines on our web site. Click on Napa, then on Have Garden Questions? Find us on Facebook under UC Master Gardeners of Napa County.