Thirsty landscaping losing its zing? Late autumn through early spring is the perfect planting season to replace boring lawns and tired ornamentals with beautiful California native plants.
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mong the San Diego area’s many charms, there’s one often overlooked benefit that deserves far more attention: our natural native plantscape. In a region famously hospitable to imported flora, our parks and gardens overflow with familiar international greenery that’s simply still not as suitable as the local stuff it supplants — nor, many would say, as beautiful. But there’s growing recognition of native plants’ natural beauty, utility, ease of care, and value to community. A growing number of proud Californians are celebrating the place they love by restoring a more natural condition to their properties — designing yards that use far less water, increase the population of birds and other pollinators, look and smell amazing, and may even reduce the risk of home wildfire damage. Before you rush out front to dig up the lawn, a little planning might save you some trouble and maximize the benefits of going native. Browse on for some evergreen tips and sage advice to get you started down the right (garden) path!
Set Your Goals, Know Your Limits The possibilities for your new garden are practically endless, so it’s important to draw some lines to keep your research focused on stuff that will be useful to your new little paradise (and not land you an accidental botany degree). Your ideal garden should evolve naturally from factors you can identify, such as location, available sunlight, how you’ll use the garden, and things you want to avoid. Luckily, the California Native Plant Society designed their Calscape website (gardenplanner.calscape.org) to guide you through identifying your objectives and constraints. With a mere four questions, it can deliver a list of suggested plants alongside their qualities, plus sample designs to help turn that list into an actual plan. With this information as a good starting point, you can fine-tune your purchasing and design ideas by examining your property’s qualities and challenges. If you need to plan erosion control, your property’s terrain
Deciding what plants belong where is both an art and a science, and there’s no shame in enlisting the help of a landscaper specializing in California native species — ask your REALTOR® to recommend landscapers and specialist nurseries in their professional network. While expert landscaping may turn out healthier and more beautiful, with some homework the DIY homeowner can learn enough to make a pretty good start of it, then make incremental improvements as time goes on.
might suggest a certain combination of plants and drainage. If you’re in an urban-wildland interface zone with higher fire risks, you should consider your desired landscaping’s fuel potential, and design the layout to help stall or stem the advance of fire. Your soil’s natural pH level might require adopting plants suited to its acidity/alkalinity, or call for soil amendments to make your garden more hospitable to the ones you prefer. If your yard is subject to HOA restrictions, that’s a whole nother ball of wax.
Color Between the Lines Now that you’ve sketched in the general shape, it’s almost time to open up a box of Nature’s own crayons. But first, you’re going to have to make peace with eradicating almost everything nonnative so your new masterpiece has the best chance of looking and feeling its best. If you decide to keep any existing flora, you may have to explore ways of mitigating the natural competitive influences it can wield against your other chosen plants. (In fact, natural plant enmities are something that you should consider when planning any healthy garden, whether all-native, allconventional, or mixed.) Time to gather inspiration! Go in person to visit some of our area’s restored habitats or native gardens, like the one in Balboa Park near Morley Field. Use search terms to find photos and stories online. Make notes about what you like and don’t like, and why (particularly if you’ll be consulting with a landscaper or nursery), and try to envision how those features may be suitable at your own property.
The California Native Plant Society (cnps.org) and its San Diego chapter (cnpssd.org) both offer fertile resources to help you learn about effective native plant gardening from the ground up. There you can find guides to getting started, links to local and regional specialty nurseries, and descriptions of the many ways a well-designed garden can help you and your community. For a deeper dive, search for articles and aptly named books by famed local horticulturist Greg Rubin. His first book, The California Native Landscape: The Homeowner’s Design Guide to Restoring Its Beauty and Balance, may be the field’s definitive bootstrap manual, rich with wisdom on the artform’s hows and whys. The DroughtDefying California Garden: 230 Native Plants for a Lush, LowWater Landscape is a good companion volume with an obvious narrower focus that’s perfect for our semi-arid region in this drought-prone land.
Get Digging Like any new project around the home, native plant landscape restoration can have a bit of a learning curve. But it’s an investment to be proud of, and the sooner you get started, the sooner it will repay handsomely in natural beauty.
Wherever you decide to plant your roots, your local REALTOR® is the perfect natural resource to help you grow your dreams.
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