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Glen Craig Crt. Garden
Henry Mink's original design, tinkered with over the years by the homeowners and other landscapers, ended up with an unsatisfactory result. The garden needed a new design to make its flower beds more effective and flowing. The mailbox is now surrounded by three matching pine bluegrass.
Individual plants, previously scattered throughout the garden, have been pulled together in groups to compliment each other with their foliage, color and environmental requirements. A large ceanothus, planted right next to and competing with the bigberry manzanita was removed, allowing the succeeding shrub to thrive among its shorter companions. A new coffeeberry hedge, providing year-round interest, replaced some random, declining predecessors under the front window. The homeowners, who take pride in their local native specimens, are knowledgeable native plant enthusiasts, regular CNPS volunteers, and experienced gardeners, so the project was a team effort with their help.
The garden is now under my periodic maintenance care as well, and it is featured each year during the annual Going Native Garden Tour.
Elegant clarkia provides a picturesque backdrop for this rock.
Annual wildflowers and bulbs light up this section of the garden during spring.
Globe gilia blooms at the edge of the stepping stone path.
Bird's eye gilia.
Babyface brodiaea.
Globe gilia.
Elegant clarkia, California poppies and sulfur buckwheat decorate the mailbox.
Fresh, new foliage of the bigberry manzanita.
Bird's eye gilia, California poppies and sulfur buckwheat mingle between the groundcover manzanita and coyote brush.
The rust tones of the summer-dormant pine bluegrass create a lovely, seasonal decor under the mailbox.
This closeup photo of the center garden demonstrates the beautiful changes of the summer and early fall seasons.
A treasured valley oak is getting established in the center of the garden. Pigeon point coyote brush softens the garden's edge. This shrub provides shelter for birds and summer food for beneficial insects.
California buckwheat is an essential summer food source for the pollinators and beneficial insects, and later, it provides seeds for the birds.
With its bright red, tubular shaped flowers, California fuchsia provides a favorite nectar for the hummingbirds. To the right, melic grass goes dormant this season. Photo: Arvind Kumar
The abundant, yellow flowers of the spreading gum plant, is a magnet for beneficial insects and butterflies during summer. Photo: Arvind Kumar
The front garden in winter, after replanting. The neighbors' flowering plums bloom in the background.
The bigberry banzanita is surrounded by sulfur buckwheat on the left and franciscan manzanita on the right.
The meandering path, built with flagstone and goldfines, allows the rain water to percolate into the ground and stay in the garden. The birdbath provides year round water for wildlife.