Pink Flowering Currant |
Rosy Buckwheat |
Cleveland Sage |
Blue Bedder Penstemon |
Common Coyote Mint |
Wild Lilac |
These designs are simple concepts to provide inspiration and ideas. Check with local nurseries, landscapers or other sustainable garden designers to help choose the best plants for your yard.
This front yard garden artistically integrates ornamental and edible landscaping, combining the beauty of California native and non-native plants with the functionality of food production. Vegetable gardens do not have to be relegated to a far corner of the back yard, but can become a focal point in the landscape. The raised vegetable beds in the center of this yard provide a tidy area for annual food crops such as tomatoes and salad greens, while perennial food plants are integrated into the rest of the garden. Espaliered apple and pear trees take on the role of a living fence in the front of the yard, creating a sense of privacy while providing fruit at the same time. Dry stacked flagstone pieces form a low, tapering wall that frames the vegetable beds and creates a change of elevation in an otherwise flat landscape. The flagstone pathway compliments the materials in the dry stacked walls, while the vegetable beds are surrounded by easy to maintain compacted California Gold Fines. With the exception of the vegetable beds, this garden meets the requirements of the Santa Clara Valley Water District's Landscape Rebate Program.
A variety of flowering California native perennials, such as the Terra Cotta Yarrow (ATC) and Common Coyote Mint (MO), not only provide seasonal color, but a source of nectar and habitat for beneficial insects essential to pollinating the vegetable plants. Other perennial natives, such as the Pink Flowering Currants (RS) and Blue Elderberry (SM), have fruit that can be harvested. The native Yerba Buena (SD) along the entryway acts as a ground cover, but can also be used for tea.
The non-native Pomegranate bush to the left of the pathway is low water using and fruits well in our Mediterranean climate.
The vegetable garden area and much of the planting needs full sun, as in south facing garden. The plants against the house require shadier conditions, such as a north facing wall or under an overhang.
All of the perennial plants in this garden have low to very low watering needs. The fruit trees should be irrigated using bubblers and deep watering tubes. Irrigate the vegetable beds and fruit trees on separate valves as they will require different amounts of water.
For general installation, understanding of sustainable gardens, and other details, read the factsheets in the Green Gardens Healthy Creeks series.