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As a designer I was excited when the Niguel Botanical Preserve asked me to create a garden of California native plants. I was given a large, undeveloped site where I laid out the pathways and planting areas. It gently slopes to the east, but still gets quite a bit of sun. There were a few existing oaks around the perimeter which helped to give it a bit of maturity. It is a one acre display of the stunning plant diversity for which California is renowned. A grassland, oaks, and all my favorite perennials and groundcovers are part of the collection, even an area devoted to plants of the Channel Islands. It is a work in progress and my laboratory where I observe and experiment with native plants suitable for the garden.
These images begin with the initial grading of the paths in early spring 2011 and then show the placement of plants and their planting by volunteers on Earth Day of the same year. The remaining images are of different plants in their prime. It is amazing the growth that has occurred in just two years.
As a designer I was excited when the Niguel Botanical Preserve asked me to create a garden of California native plants. I was given a large, undeveloped site where I laid out the pathways and planting areas. It gently slopes to the east, but still gets quite a bit of sun. There were a few existing oaks around the perimeter which helped to give it a bit of maturity. It is a one acre display of the stunning plant diversity for which California is renowned. A grassland, oaks, and all my favorite perennials and groundcovers are part of the collection, even an area devoted to plants of the Channel Islands. It is a work in progress and my laboratory where I observe and experiment with native plants suitable for the garden.
These images begin with the initial grading of the paths in early spring 2011 and then show the placement of plants and their planting by volunteers on Earth Day of the same year. The remaining images are of different plants in their prime. It is amazing the growth that has occurred in just two years.
Ceanothus spinosus, a cloud of powder blue.
Initial construction of the garden,
Volunteers planting on Earth Day 2012
Grasses in containers placed for planting.
Volunteers planting the grassland.
Planting the grasses.
Carex praegracilis
This is Stipa pulchra, our official state grass!
Manzanita flowers.
Manzanita fruit/berries
Dudleya pulverulenta
Path through the native garden of the Niguel Botanical Preserve.
Black Sage
Fremontodendron mexicanum with the Santa Ana mountains in the background
California Poppy's, Eschscholzia californica our state flower
.
Lepichinia fragrans or Pitcher Sage
Verbena lilacina 'De La Mina'
Mimulus
Island Bush Poppy, Dendromecon harfordii