GARDENING : Plantings Thrive in Water-Wise Plots
Robert Cornell flinches when he hears the term “water-conserving garden.”
“People think it means dry and dreary,” or a lot of extra work for the homeowner, “but I want to dispel that,” he says. “It’s not so.
“The entire landscape doesn’t have to be (drought tolerant),” he continues, “just use water sensibly. That’s why I like to call it water wise (instead of water conserving); you use it appropriately in a limited area.”
Cornell is a member of the state Green Industry Advisory Council on Water Issues, president of the L.A./San Gabriel chapter of California Landscape Contractors Assn., president of his own landscaping firm. He will speak next Saturday at the fifth annual Ecological Landscaping Symposium, sponsored by Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden in Claremont.
“I’ve been involved in water conservation for 10 years,” Cornell says. “It used to be very difficult to get (drought-tolerant) plant material, now there’s more variety and people are more open to the idea, especially after three consecutive years of drought. You can have a beautiful and diverse garden and still save water.”
Styles of Gardens
Cornell is one of six experts in the field who will speak on “Water-Wise Gardens, California Style.” For his part, he will demonstrate six styles of gardens (though there are many more, he says) from an English-cottage style (utilizing coral bells, Mexican sage and rock rose) to a seaside style (including sea lavender, ice plant and echium), and “only one of the gardens centers on cactus,” he says.
The purpose of the symposium, which covers everything from garden design to alternative grasses to sophisticated irrigation systems, is to educate the public because they are “part of the problem,” Cornell says.
“Change is being forced because of the (water crisis) situation,” Cornell says. But it will “take a change in aesthetics. Nurserymen and landscape contractors are still feeling their way. It won’t happen overnight, it’s a gradual process.”
Determined to assist in that process is Melanie Baer, manager of the Theodore Payne Foundation for Wildflowers and Native Plants in Sun Valley, who will talk about utilizing colorful plants that naturally adapt to the state’s diverse climates and are found right in our own back yards--the California natives.
“The main point I’d like to get across is how simple it is,” Baer says.
Micro Climates
One thing a gardener should be familiar with before planting, Baer says, is the micro climates in the landscape. Sections of the yard will differ, she says, in temperature, soil consistency and amount of moisture.
“Dealing with natives involves a sensitivity to environmental factors and a knowledge of their origins,” Baer explains. “With any plant, not just California natives, you have to find the right place for the plant. Every time you buy a plant you should know this information. If you go home with a fern, the nursery person should be able to tell you where the plant came from and how to care for it.”
In her talk on incorporating California natives into the landscape, Baer will offer ideas on colorful natives that require little care.
“I want to demystify native plants,” she says. “A lot of us have such busy schedules we don’t have time to spend in the garden. But if you find the right plant for the right place, once you get it in the ground it really requires low maintenance.”
The Native Plants
Baer also will suggest some native plants, such as the California lilac. “It’s a beautiful blue flowering shrub. You see it all over the world,” she says, but, surprisingly, it hasn’t caught on too well with California gardeners.
Also scheduled to speak at the symposium: Joe Y.T. Hung, chairman of Cal Poly Pomona’s Agricultural Engineering Department, who will discuss irrigation systems--”where you can or can’t put a drip system, for example,” he says; Michael MacCaskey, an editor for Sunset magazine, will produce a gardening update on water awareness; Ron Pecoff, landscape contractor and horticultural consultant to corporations and government agencies, plans to discuss exotic yet water-wise designs, and Victor Gibeault, environmental horticulturist at UC Riverside and editor of California Turfgrass Culture, will discuss state-of-the-art developments in water conserving and low-maintenance grasses.
Armed with all this information, symposium graduates can return to Rancho Santa Ana Nov. 4 for the Native Plant Sale, from 8 a.m.-2 p.m. in the garden’s parking lot.
The symposium will be held from 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. in the Mudd Theater, Claremont School of Theology, at Foothill Boulevard and College Avenue, Claremont. Registration is $61 (includes box lunch, refreshments, materials and parking). Call (714) 625-8767 or (714) 626-1917.
