Gardeners Know All The Dirt

As life starts emerging from our post pandemic slumber, it got me pondering about our local garden tours that I look forward to seeing again. With so much sunshine and ideal garden-growing climate, opportunities locally are endless.

A garden represents a tremendous opportunity for EXTERIOR design. There are so many styles and types of garden designs. As you consider your garden design, I offer the following suggestions:

• Be True to the environment. Using plants that thrive in your area and are designed to work well in your climate – indigenous plants – not only succeed but also broadcast that unique look of the area you live in. Celebrating this fully just looks……natural, even when combined with a tightly clipped hedge! In San Diego, our micro-climates will determine what grows best where…the coastal region tends not to do as well with xeriscape-friendly plants, and vice versa.

• Gardens are useful in many ways: often they can create a controlled view from inside where chances are you will enjoy it all day, every day year-round.

• The introduction of water features installs the sound of a garden and often attracts birds that add to the allure. These sounds have the ability to muffle less pleasant sounds (air conditioning condensers, road noise, etc).

• Many forget that green is a color. While some gardens are a profuse display of multiple colors, sometimes an all-green garden can be very enticing too. All white flowers are magical at night: moonlight or just a little outdoor lighting makes them highly visible at night……as well as their daytime display.

• Be water-wise. As we likely head in to another severe drought season, consider a desert garden.

• Gardens should reflect the architecture and design of a house in my opinion. They don’t have to replicate one another but when they are designed in harmony, they flow best.

• Of all the gardens on the tour, the biggest mistake I observed was too many ideas thrown together with no cohesive plan. Start with a master plan and slowly build it out over time.

• A newly built or renovated home with zero budget for landscaping often shows and reflects negatively on a buyer’s reaction when selling. Curb appeal matters and no one likes looking out of a property towards a barren wasteland.

• Gardening is good for the soul. Many have been introduced to this old hobby in the past 18 months and love it. While pools, putting greens, screening rooms, and outdoor kitchens are great home amenities, a garden can prove to be one of the most enjoyable amenities of all, not only providing a place to enjoy, relax, play, entertain, unwind, meditate, etc, but also one that delivers a great hobby and activity that is both healthy and rewarding.

The visuals of a garden can add tremendous value to a home. Mature trees and plantings are expensive, but often enhance the mood and feel of a property adding real value to the bottom line. A neighborhood with well-maintained gardens usually is a more valuable one, and often the best gardens are NOT mega-extravaganzas. Those simple cottage gardens are as meaningful to valuation as the grander versions. A beautiful garden demonstrates care and highlights the one esthetic none of us can beat nature!