Variegata Studio
Consultants Garden Design, Horticulture, Arboiculture, Copyediting, Proofreading
About Services Blog Contact
Landscape Design Gardening Botanical Fieldwork
Horticultural & Aboricultural
         
Not all gardens need turfgrass, gravel no water Cerinthe

Not all gardens need turfgrass.

  

‘Mrs Robb’s Bonnet’ (Euphorbia amygdaloides robbiae) with native buckwheats (Eriogonum spp.) and ‘Buttermilk’ California poppies; Santa Rosa, CA

  

Honeywort (Cerinthe major ‘Purpurascens’) with ‘Buttermilk’ California poppies (Eschscholzia californica), Santa Rosa, CA

Low Water Gardens
Irrigation Issues
Water-related issues -too much or too little- is probably the most common plant problem. Many irrigation and water issues can be avoided or minimized by working with the soil and exposure you already have when selecting plants.

Stressed plants are usually not good-looking plants, and the garden space doesn’t feel cared for or nice to be in.
Erigeron WR Preying mantis fence lizard

Cabbage white butterfly on native Erigeron ‘Sea Breeze’, Novato, CA; garden cabbage, mustards, radishes and nasturtium are host plants for this butterfly.

  

Preying mantis on red-hot poker (Knifophia uvaria); Beltane Ranch, Glen Ellen, CA

  

Western fence lizards (Scleroporous occidentalis) are quite happy in low water gardens.
VARIEGATA SANTA ROSA CALIFORNIA