Fiddlehead Gardens

Before & After: Lawn No More

2011-08-02T16:00:00.001-07:00

The view from this Potrero Hill second floor deck shows the remnants of a lawn turned weed patch surrounded with border plantings of Euonymous, Rosemary and African Bush Daisy. The lower shade garden features 'the Blob' beneath the Incense Cedar.

Before:

The homeowners wanted to feel invited down into the back garden for reasons other than weeding! To make the space more usable and inviting, we replaced the lawn with a patio of Three Rivers Flagstone and spruced up the boarder plantings by adding low water perennials and grasses that add year round interest.

After:

We spruced up the lower garden by redefining the raised beds and adding steps and small landing make transition from sun to shade easy and inviting. Woodland plantings such as variegated Rhododendron, Coleonema, variegated Dianella tasmanica, Plectranthus and Oakleaf Hydrangea that will fill out the space and add to the woodlandy contrast of the sunny patio space.

Antoinette Approves!

Before and After: Rockridge Brown-shingle woodland garden

2011-07-05T14:51:00.000-07:00

Before:

This classic brown-shingle in Rockridge was being fixed up and sold. The seller and his real estate agent hired us to design the garden for the sale.

After: It's been over three years since this garden was installed (and we do not know the current residents of the house). The huge redwood in the front was existing, but we replaced the ugly broken concrete sidewalk with a Connecticut Full-Range flagstone path, and planted a 'Forest Pansy' Redbud tree (the tree with the heart-shaped purple leaves), and added more white agapanthus, a red flax, orange New-Zealand wind grasses, and purple flowering African daisy. Closer to the house we added some rhododendrons, and an oakleaf hydrangea to compliment the existing tree fern.

Lawn begone!

2011-07-01T13:57:00.000-07:00

This client in El Cerrito wanted to get rid of her lawn. It was weedy, went brown in the summer, and was a constant maintenance hassle. She wanted sturdy, drought-tolerant plantings, and a level, wider walkway. The front steps were small and slanted, so we designed a larger walkway and bigger stairs, and had the front patio covered with Connecticut Full-Range tiles to match the Roman pattern we did on the walkway.

Before: This crabgrass lawn looks good in spring, when it's green after the rains. But come summer, it all goes brown and weedy since there was no existing irrigation.

After: This garden was planted sparsely so that that the plants will have a little separation around them even after they "grow in". The pictures below show it newly planted, so everything is small but it is very neat and tidy. The client likes structural Meditterranean plants with bold colors and clean lines, like protea, flax, and leucadendron. We planted a Meyer lemon tree against the house to provide a sense of scale in the garden. This garden will not require much maintenance to keep it looking clean and colorful. I can't wait to see it in a year when everything is established. I think the house is scheduled to be painted in the meantime as well, so it will be a fun transformation.

Close-up of the Roman pattern of tiled Connecticut Full-Range flagstone. It consists of 4 different-sized tiles and has a very "clean" look.

Welcome to my garden.

2011-06-28T15:05:00.000-07:00

My San Francisco Bernal Heights garden is bursting at the seams this summer. The winter rains and recent spurts of warm sunny weather have brought the garden into its own. Planting a combination of California natives, drought tolerant and low water plants from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa creates a colorful garden with year round interest. Hardscape elements include a small deck, dry creek, sitting stones and bench. Each sitting area is tucked into the garden offering a space to enjoy the immediate surroundings or the view of the city beyond.

Utilization of bloom color, leaf texture and leaf color creates contrast and interest in the planting areas. Repeating colors of fuschia colored blooms from the old rose in the background and geranium in the foreground as well as the yellow pom poms of the interspersed Chrysocephalum have added continuity that tie the garden together.

As you exit through the gate, you enter into the gravel patio garden featuring a basalt water fountain and blooming perennials. These are the main attraction to the local yellow finch, finch & hummingbird populations.

Also incorporated in our gravel patio garden are a seating area for outdoor dining, fire pit and sitting stone.

This amazing Calandrinia spectabilis is one of the most rewarding succulents in the garden. It gets no irrigation.

New Sign!

2011-06-28T13:15:00.000-07:00

We got a new sign to put up in our gardens after we install them. Look for them around town.

This is the same garden from the last post, now in its full summer glory. It only has quarterly maintenance and still looks fab--proof that you can do drought-tolerant and low-maintenance without sacrificing color or 4-season interest.

Piedmont garden installation, before and after

2011-02-07T10:54:00.000-08:00

This is another installation we did last summer. This site, off Moraga Avenue in the Piedmont area of Oakland, had a slight slope on either side of the front walkway that needed stabilizing and structure. We added some rocky outcroppings to create some interest and flat areas for planting.

Before:

During: Rockwork phase of installation

After: we planted low-maintenance but colorful grasses, flaxes, and Mediterranean flowering perennials like salvias and lavender against a backdrop of evergreen shrubs like manzanitas and breath of heaven. We planted a large fruitless olive which will soon provide screening from the nearest neighbor's house. Our lovely Patricia strikes a pose while doing some maintenance there. This garden is very low maintenance--we go quarterly to do some weeding, check the drip irrigation and set the timer accordingly, and some light pruning, dead-heading, and separation of plants. Another great property of this garden is how colorful it is even now, in early winter. Come summer the catmint, thymes, salvias, and lavenders will be blooming but until then there is still enough winter interest because of the colorful foliage.

Montclair before and after

2011-02-03T12:07:00.000-08:00

Here's another garden we installed this past winter, in Montclair hills area of Oakland. Montclair has neighborhoods like this one that are in the middle of natural California woodlands, surrounded by beautiful redwoods, oaks, and bays. If not fenced in, the gardens are visited by deer, and often are shaded by mature overhead trees. This front terraced garden had the original planting in some areas from when the house was built, in the 50's or 60's, namely the juniper hedge at the top of the hill (see below) and in general had an overgrown, outdated feel. We left the ivy on the steepest part of the hill but ripped out the juniper hedge, added a little mossrock terracing to stabilize the slope, and planted Choisya ternata, Mexican Mock Orange, a deer-resistant evergreen shrub to give it a lusher look and some flowers. There was also an ancient privet (the bare branched tree in the first photo below) that we took out, and replaced it with a purple Japanese maple. Then we added in some woodland deer-resistant shade plantings, like rhododendrons, ferns, variegated Japanese pieris, a Daphne, and foxgloves. This garden is still brand new, so I can't wait to see what it looks like in a year or so after the plants are established and the maple leafs out.

Before:

After

Before

After

The young garden

2011-01-31T11:09:00.000-08:00

When we are working on a design for a client, we often have to make choices and recommendations about what size plant to purchase and how close to place the plants we buy. Ultimately the decision is influenced by how relatively dense or sparse the client wants the garden to look a few years down the road. Some want a tidier or more minimal look, with lots of separation between the plants--others want a more wild, "natural" or cottage-y look, with the plants growing together and mingling. Some plants grow so quickly that it is most cost-effective to buy them very small, in 4" or 1 gallon-sized containers. Others take so long to grow that we recommend buying them as big as you can afford. Oftentimes some shrubs and trees are worth buying in a 5 gallon or larger size, in order to get the instant height and scale needed in the landscape or container. For example, some fruit trees like citrus are worth buying in a 15 gallon-sized container, so that it will bear within its first several years in the ground. Also, if there are screening or privacy needs, starting with a larger shrub will address the issue sooner.

The newly planted landscape will look a little sparse in general. For example, this is a picture of a garden in West Berkeley we installed last winter (I posted about it previously here)

Before:

After it was first planted, in July 2010. Lots of room between plants, and groundcover on edges planted closely to form patches:

Now, Jan 2011, 6 months later:

This garden like all others right now is definitely in winter-mode, i.e. not in full blooming glory, and we lost a succulent in the pot in front from either the frost or the intense rain we had in December. But overall the garden is filling in as expected and looking pretty good I think. By this summer it will look fully established and the screening of the dodonaea shrub (purplish/bronze plant in the back) will be full enough to provide good screening of the trash area as intended.

Prune, Baby, Prune

2011-01-28T11:00:00.000-08:00

Get out your ladders! Most of the leaves are off the trees now. It makes for pretty collages on the ground, and also affords the opportunity to really look at the branching structure of the trees to which they belong. Also, these deciduous trees are dormant in the winter months, so we prune Japanese maples and other trees and shrubs that need careful shaping with major cuts now, before they leaf out and their sap starts to run. As a result, we often do our major pruning of fruit trees, Japanese maple and other deciduous tree, rose, and other woody winter perennials in January.

We work annually at this scenic garden in the El Cerrito hills overlooking Wildcat Canyon. The client has many mature, productive fruit trees, including several varieties of apples, plums, a fig, lemon, lime, loquat, nectarine, and pear. We have been pruning there for about five years and at the client's request have slowly been bringing down the height of all of them to a more harvestable height.

There are several great written pruning resources that we rely on. Most are available in the local nurseries in the winter season. This one is a great staple we love: How to Prune Fruit Trees, by R. Sanford Martin. (photo courtesy of Shae at Hitchhiking to Heaven), originally published in 1944. It has general instructions and diagrams on pruning almost every fruit tree we encounter around here on a regular basis.

Apples, pears, plums, cherries, and nectarines produce their flowers and then their fruit on special structures called fruiting spurs (seen below).

There are special pruning techniques that we use to encourage spur (and thus fruit) production. Without getting into too much detail, we generally cut off all dead and injured branches, and then cut back any whip-like vegetative growth and all crossing and inward-growing branches to encourage light penetration into the canopy. Then various pruning decisions are made based on type and age of the tree, height at which it is to be maintained, number of existing fruiting spurs (if there are many, then we cut some off to keep branches from breaking under the weight of heavy production, and to encourage regeneration when existing spurs are old) and whether or not it has been consistently pruned and shaped in past years. In this garden, the multi-talented Ami prunes and snacks on a Granny Smith Apple tree.

We prune the woody perennials at the same time. Some varieties of grasses get cut to the ground, and salvias, lavenders, rock roses, loropetalums, pittosporums among others, get a hard pruning and shaping. Shrubs that are blooming now, like some camellias, azaleas, rhododendrons, and choisya ternata are pruned later after bloom.

Roses: Before

After:

Then once all the space is cleared around the plants, we take the opportunity to put down organic fertilizer like this kind, or this kind, epson salts for the roses, chicken manure for the fruit trees, and then mulch all the beds, leaving them all tucked in and ready for spring!

Bok bok bok

2011-01-26T12:49:00.000-08:00

I was plant shopping at East Bay Nursery last week and stumbled across an unexpected sight in the bedding area...

Hello new friend! Keep those slugs and snails away! By the way, some of the spring flowering trees, shrubs, and perennials, plus all the bare root roses and fruit trees are starting to arrive, so go visit your local nursery today to get first pick!

Succulent Planting in Oakland Hills

2011-01-24T12:10:00.000-08:00

Here's a look at a succulent front garden in the Oaklad Hills we planted in November 2010. The larger elements include an Agonis flexuosa 'After Dark' (purple peppermint tree) against the house by the brick, and kangaroo paws and colorful agaves as its focal points. Filling in are small grasses including Festuca glauca 'Elijah's Blue' (blue fescue), Carex testacea (orange sedge grass), and a variety of small spreading succulents and drought tolerant ground covers including sedums and dymondia.

We like to use Grape Seed mulch (left over from wine processing) with succulent gardens and in pots, for its dark black color and tidy appearance. It is available by the bag or in bulk at American Soil Products.

Containers galore!

2011-01-17T11:15:00.000-08:00

I love planting containers! I love how transformative containers can be. They can be works of art, or set the stylistic mood of a landscape or any outdoor space.

All containers above available at Design Within Reach

Everyone knows that after the holidays is a great time to shop for deep discounts. This is true for shopping at nurseries and pottery warehouses as well. I've been amassing pictures of pottery that I like for a while now, and thought I would talk a bit about how we shop for and select our pottery for installations.

When we know we are adding some containers to a design, we first talk to the client about what style they are envisioning. This is often determined by the house style, the decorating style of the client be it rustic country or modern; house and trim color, hardscape material such as brick, tile, or flagstone, and type of plant that will fill the container. It is often more of a visual impact to have simple container displays--one or several large containers rather than a jumble of lots of small ones. If doing an arrangement of several containers, we will choose the largest one first and select some smaller companion pots (if any) in complimentary shapes and colors.

There are many colors and styles that catch my eye:

colorful, modern and uniquely shaped

(both above were once available from Flora Grubb Gardens in San Francisco, CA)

Some are obvious choices for certain styles of house or garden architecture, such as hand-painted Mexican pottery to compliment the Spanish style houses found in the Bay Area, or classic urns to compliment more formal Italian and French garden styles.

(Mexican painted terracotta planter once available at East Bay Nursery in Berkeley, CA, Italian classic urn online at VandM.com)

Some examples of more rustic Indonesian and Moroccan pottery are pictured below

Or some spaces call for more contemporary shapes and materials.

(all pictured directly above and below available at AW Pottery in Oakland, CA)

I particularly love the subtle blue/green/brown color shifts in some of these Indonesian pots. They seem to compliment a variety of house styles and work with many different shapes and types of plants, whether it be something upright and formal like an olive or a Meyer lemon tree, Asian-influenced like a black bamboo or Japanese maple, or informal such as a grass or amflowering perennial.

Container installation

2011-01-14T14:33:00.000-08:00

This was a quick project we did last fall, staging some containers for a house in the Hiller Highlands area of the Oakland hills that was going on the market for sale. The house was white stucco, blue trimmed Spanish-style, with terracotta tiles on the roof and brick-red accents. We decided to do one large urn in the front entrance, and flank the arched windows with two matching urn-shaped pots, and use Mediterranean plants like bougainvillea, citrus, and palms.

Before: entranceway

Before: windows

After: large urn in entranceway with palm and colorful shade underplantings

After: two matching ceramic urns with citrus and white flowering bougainvillea

Happy New Year

2011-01-11T13:06:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone from Mya and Racheal and everyone here at Fiddlehead Gardens!

Sorry for the long silence on the blog front. We've been extremely busy in the field and the blog had to go on the back burner for a while. Plus I (Mya) had a (second) baby boy in October and went on maternity leave so Racheal was flying solo for a while with a full load of installations, maintenance, and holiday festivities to juggle. Way to go Racheal!!!

Anyway, we are back at the computer with lots of great pictures and garden ideas and tips to share so please check back. And in addition to our perennial list of personal resolutions to exercise more, eat less sweets, and read more books, we have a list of professional goals which we thought we'd share.

Our New Years resolutions include:

1. Blog more! Hopefully once a week. Post more befores and afters, which are so fun to share. Post more maintenance tips for you do-it-yourselfers out there. And share inspiring plant finds, gardening ideas, and pictures from our gardening adventures. We encourage our readers to comment and send in photos and questions of things happening in your garden as well.

2. We would like to get Racheal's beautiful garden at her house in Bernal Heights on a garden tour. We will get some photos up soon for a virtual tour but she is having a hard time finding any organization in San Francisco that sponsors actual tours, so please let us know if you hear of anything.

3. Hopefully this is the year for me (Mya) to re-do my own garden. Classic shoemaker's shoes syndrome here, but I'm going to prioritize my own home this year because I'm tired of looking at my raggedy garden in its current state. I have a lot of edibles in my garden, so it is an opportunity to show how one can incorporate food production for your family into a small space and still have it be beautiful and organic.

4. Continue to learn about and maximize Bay-friendly environmental gardening practices.

5. Do more design and build of small spaces like patios, courtyards, and small backyards. I am particularly interested in the challenges of small space gardening since I have a tiny garden and lots of requirements for how I want to use it. We love all the new trends in vertical gardening and container gardening and otherwise greening up urban spaces.

So we're looking forward to sharing our progress on these various fronts as the year progresses. To kick it off, take a look at the vertical garden pictures above. The first is a succulent-filled picture box that was made (I think) by the fabulous Mike (Teddy) at East Bay Nursery and was on display there for a while last fall. This would be stunning as a focal point mounted on a dark-colored stucco wall. And the second photo is of a vertical garden we built and installed for a client in the Elmwood area of Oakland. The client constructed a fence panel to conceal a trash/utility area and we built a tropical-themed vertical garden on it. They liked it so much that they had us make a second garden panel on the other side of the gate to match. The plants were chosen for their color, ability to tolerate shade, and cold-hardiness/ability to over-winter in our climate, and include some bromeliads, ferns, sweet flag grasses, and shrub begonias. Contact us for construction details if you're interested in replicating this look.

West berkeley garden installation: before and after

2010-07-18T09:00:00.000-07:00

This was a quick and fun front landscape project for an office in a live/work space in West Berkeley. The object was to make it more attractive for employees and clients coming to the office, and make it more modern and clean. Before: The gravel driveway was a mess, the existing plantings were overgrown and raggedy, the cement paver pathway to entranceway (on left) was cheap looking and not noticeable, and in general the whole landscape had hardly any color.

After: We chose more modern plantings like leucadendron, kangaroo paw, flaxes, and succulents to provide structure and more color without making it too flowery or frilly. We constructed a larger, more significant entry/pathway out of flagstone set in gold decomposed granite. We also extended this flagstone pathway across the parking strip to provide access to the municipal water/sewer box and a place to step out if a car is parked alongside. The lighting and angle in the photos washed out the colors a little but the flagstone has really pretty orange and red and brown markings which you can see better closeup. We changed the gravel in the driveway to decomposed granite to match. The result is a cleaner, more colorful landscape with a more modern look. We also added two new square planters, both made of corten steel, to match the corten steel edging we used to edge the pathway. Also we updated irrigation and added a separate valve for the containers (pictured and behind fence).

Plantings were an eclectic mix of tough and colorful plants chosen for their color and form. Dymondia, a silver tight growing carpeting groundcover will set off the new flagstone path and planter and wine-colored blooms on the arctotis ground cover will provide year-round interest. Santolina and mexican feather grass will provide a drifts of silver and gold backdrop for the showy leucadendron 'Jester' that is a focal point near the sidewalk. Apricot tones in the two flaxes pick up the color of the leucadendron. A purple hopseed bush hedge was added in the back of the landscape to provide extra screening of trash/utility area behind lattice fence. This fence will soon be replaced with something more modern and attractive. I think steel panels to match the planters would look fab! Can't wait to see how this looks in 6 months after everything gets bigger and more established.

Same garden, half a year later

2010-07-18T00:05:00.001-07:00

It's always satisfying to see a garden thrive and fill in quickly after it's been planted--we consider it a testament to the careful and thorough soil amendment and preparation we do when we do an installation. We were recently back to the same garden in El Cerrito that we planted in Nov 2009 for a maintenance visit and it is looking great! The exposed irrigation hose in one of the photos makes me crazy to look at, but please ignore it and know that we re-buried it as part of our routine maintenance in our visit. I should also say that we got rid of an existing old lawn when we planted this garden, to reduce maintenance and water use. It will be fun to see this same garden in fall when the Japanese maple turns color. Mya

Busy summer of installations!

2010-07-15T22:18:00.000-07:00

Sorry so quiet on the blog for so long. We have been super busy with lots of new projects. But we've been taking lots of pictures along the way, so check back as we have lots of new gardens to show you! Above are some after shots of a garden we designed and installed in El Cerrito last winter, followed by two before pictures. The criteria for the new design were low water, low maintenance, deer-resistant, and colorful. The client liked Mediterranean plants like jewel-toned salvias and wooly thyme. We also planted some strawberry trees along for screening, added stepping stones for access across the garden. In the shady parts of the garden, we planted some fall-blooming rhododendrons, doug irises, pittosporum tobira variegata, and an Oshio Beni Japanese maple and oakleaf hydrangea for fall color.

Berkeley hills parking strip planting

2010-04-29T14:31:00.000-07:00

Say goodbye to blah parking strips! We designed and planted this parking strip and renovated some areas inside the fence of this Berkeley hills residence about two and a half years ago. Plantings had to be tough, drought tolerant, low maintenance, and deer resistant! We planted tough but colorful evergreen shrubs like 'Razzleberry' loropetalum, 'Sunset Gold' Breath of Heaven, and added structural perennials like santolina, leucadendron 'Jester' and African daisy. These plantings only require quarterly maintenance to keep them looking their best.

Below: Leucodendron 'Jester' is in the foreground, purple loropetalum in the middle, santolina is the fuzzy silver mounded perennial in the back, african daisy is the low silvery perennial in front, and lime thyme is the bright green ground cover.

Below: close-up of the multicolored leaves of the 'Razzleberry' loropetalum

Hope everyone is enjoying the sun again! The rain is great for the gardens and my allergies but it sure has been soggy working outside! Mya

Rossmoor condo before and after

2010-04-26T12:20:00.000-07:00

Here are some before and after pictures of a fun little project we did in Rossmoor. The client had just bought a condo and the back patio area had never been landscaped. Rossmoor is through the Caldecott tunnel, out by Walnut Creek and Lafayette, so the summers are hotter than in Berkeley and colder in winter.

The front was full sun, and the two matching blue pots were just in need of some sprucing up with new plantings. We re-planted both of them, replacing a half-dead kangaroo paw with a new one, and replacing a deer-munched nandina with a leucadendron 'Jester' in the other matching pot. We added colorful trailers, like lobelia, parrot's beak lotus, and million bells.

Front entrance before:

Front entrance after

The back was a different environment, requiring colorful but tough, deer-resistant shade plantings. The soil had never been amended, and was heavy clay with lots of roots from the overhead trees. We put in a coral bark Japanese maple as the focal point on the side with the deeper bed, and added clivia, a coral-colored rhododendron, nandina, southern sword ferns, and acoris 'ogon.' We also added two matching orange pots to flank the back sliding glass door.

Back patio:
Before and After #1

The other smaller bed, directly opposite, was in deeper shade and needed plants that could tolerate less light. We put in a sarcacocca, a variegated pieris for contrast, a red flowering camellia sasanqua, and underplanted it with more clivia, a maidenhair fern, and more acoris 'ogon'

Before and After #2

Back patio #3: Before and After

Spring is Here!

2010-04-05T13:27:00.000-07:00

This winter's work and late spring rains have rewarded us with amazing gardens.

Here are some of our favorites:

Pieris Japonica 'Mountain Fire' and Banksia roses in Emeryville.

Each of these beds in Emeryville gardens offers a different version of the quintessential 'Preppy' garden!

A drought tolerant & native garden in San Francisco.

Quail on the hunt in this newly planted garden in the Oakland hills!

This lovely Berkeley Craftsman Cottage garden is bursting with spring blooms.

Happy Spring.

Early spring Blooms

2010-03-08T14:00:00.000-08:00

Spring has arrived in the Bay area.

The winter rains have subsided and our gardens will finally reap the benefits of a wet February. Here we see a Euphorbia in full bloom accompanied by low-growing Plectranthus 'zulu wonder' and variegated Plectranthus set off by the silver foliage of Dusty Miller.

The long flower spike of Anagazoides - Kangaroo Paws - is reaching over to greet this Euphorbia.

Leucadendron 'wilsons wonder' glows when paired with this grevailia.

This Salvia chiapensis 'pops' when flanked by the dark foliage lorapetalum chinesis peeking out from its raised bed.

Lavatera's lavender blooms beckon us to the garden once more.

Happy Gardening.

Racheal

Winter Garden in Alameda

2010-02-08T10:05:00.001-08:00

This Alameda drought tolerant garden is burgeoning with blooms as it anxiously ushers in spring.

The winter rains have helped spurn new growth and snail activity in the garden.

To combat snails, we broadcast snail bait throughout the garden. Especially in the kangaroo paws which seem to be snail factories this time of year!

This Leucadendron is a show stopper in the winter garden. The unconventional blooms of Australian natives provide color and interest in this winter garden.

Happy Gardening.

Flagstone Path & Drainage Considerations

2010-01-18T10:46:00.000-08:00

This work in progress in Elmwood is to create a flagstone path walkway around the house leading to an existing patio in the back.

Here you can see that a small retaining wall was added to support the higher grade of existing trees and shrubs.

The path and soil grade against the house had to be lowered in order to avoid soil build up directly on the house.

Additional retaining stones were added on the lower side of the path to help prevent erosion.

Because drainage is a known issue at this location, we want to prevent any seepage against the house. We added 4 inches of drainage rock beneath the walkway, set the stones in sand (as opposed to decomposed granite) to further enable quick drainage from heavy rains and potential run off from the slope of the established planting area and channeled downspout drains away from the house.

The completed landscape will have plantings to complement the house, existing plants and small space on either side of the path.

Check back later to see an update to this project.

Plant a tree today!

2009-12-07T13:28:00.001-08:00

Now is a great time of year to plant a tree!

Bare-root trees are arriving in the nurseries any day now. Think of the tree you will be purchasing as a lifetime investment. How well your tree, and investment, grows depends on the type of tree and location you select for planting, the care you provide when the tree is planted, and follow-up care the tree receives after planting.

Planting the Tree

The ideal time to plant trees and shrubs is during the dormant season—in the fall after leaf drop or early spring before budbreak. Weather conditions are cool and allow plants to establish roots in the new location before spring rains and summer heat stimulate new top growth. However, trees properly cared for in the nursery or garden center, and given the appropriate care during transport to prevent damage, can be planted throughout the growing season. In either situation, proper handling during planting is essential to ensure a healthy future for new trees and shrubs. Before you begin planting your tree, be sure you have had all underground utilities located prior to digging.

Whether the tree you are planting is balled and burlapped or is bare root, it is important to understand that its root system has been reduced by 90 to 95 percent of its original size during transplanting. As a result of the trauma caused by the digging process, trees commonly exhibit what is known as transplant shock. Transplant shock is indicated by slow growth and reduced vigor following transplanting. Proper site preparation before and during planting coupled with good follow-up care reduces the amount of time the plant experiences transplant shock and allows the tree to quickly establish in its new location. Carefully follow eight simple steps, and you can significantly reduce the stress placed on the plant at the time of planting.

Dig a shallow, broad planting hole. Make the hole wide, as much as three times the diameter of the root ball but only as deep as the root ball. It is important to make the hole wide because the roots on the newly establishing tree must push through surrounding soil in order to establish. On most planting sites in new developments, the existing soils have been compacted and are unsuitable for healthy root growth. Breaking up the soil in a large area around the tree provides the newly emerging roots room to expand into loose soil to hasten establishment.
Identify the trunk flare or crown. The trunk flare is where the roots spread at the base of the tree. This point should be partially visible after the tree has been planted (see diagram). If the trunk flare is not partially visible, you may have to remove some soil from the top of the root ball. Find it so you can determine how deep the hole needs to be for proper planting.
Place the tree at the proper height. Before placing the tree in the hole, check to see that the hole has been dug to the proper depth—and no more. The majority of the roots on the newly planted tree will develop in the top 12 inches of soil. If the tree is planted too deeply, new roots will have difficulty developing because of a lack of oxygen. It is better to plant the tree a little high, 2 to 3 inches above the base of the trunk flare, than to plant it at or below the original growing level. This planting level will allow for some settling (see diagram). To avoid damage when setting the tree in the hole, always lift the tree by the root ball and never by the trunk.
Straighten the tree in the hole. Before you begin backfilling, have someone view the tree from several directions to confirm that the tree is straight. Once you begin backfilling, it is difficult to reposition the tree.
Fill the hole gently but firmly. Fill the hole about one-third full and gently but firmly pack the soil around the base of the root ball. Then, if the tree is balled and burlapped, cut and remove the string and wire from around the trunk and top third of the root ball (see diagram). Be careful not to damage the trunk or roots in the process.

Fill the remainder of the hole, taking care to firmly pack soil to eliminate air pockets that may cause roots to dry out. To avoid this problem, add the soil a few inches at a time and settle with water. Continue this process until the hole is filled and the tree is firmly planted. It is not recommended to apply fertilizer at the time of planting.
Stake the tree, if necessary. If the tree is grown and dug properly at the nursery, staking for support will not be necessary in most home landscape situations. Studies have shown that trees establish more quickly and develop stronger trunk and root systems if they are not staked at the time of planting. However, protective staking may be required on sites where lawn mower damage, vandalism, or windy conditions are concerns. If staking is necessary for support, one of the most common methods is staking with two stakes used in conjunction with a wide, flexible tie material to hold the tree upright, provide flexibility, and minimize injury to the trunk (see diagram). Remove support staking and ties after the first year or two of growth.
Mulch the base of the tree. Mulch is simply organic matter applied to the area at the base of the tree. It acts as a blanket to hold moisture, it moderates soil temperature extremes (both hot and cold), and it reduces competition from grass and weeds. Some good choices are leaf litter, pine straw, shredded bark, or wood chips. A 2- to 4-inch layer is ideal. More than 4 inches may cause a problem with oxygen and moisture levels. When placing mulch, be sure that the actual trunk of the tree is not covered. Doing so may cause decay of the living bark at the base of the tree. A mulch-free area, 1 to 2 inches wide at the base of the tree, is sufficient to avoid moist bark conditions and prevent decay.
Provide follow-up care. Keep the soil moist but not soaked; over watering causes leaves to turn yellow or fall off. Water trees at least once a week, barring rain, and more frequently during hot weather. When the soil is dry below the surface of the mulch, it is time to water. Continue until mid-fall, tapering off for lower temperatures that require less-frequent watering.

Other follow-up care may include minor pruning of branches damaged during the planting process. Prune sparingly immediately after planting and wait to begin necessary corrective pruning until after a full season of growth in the new location.

After you’ve completed these eight simple steps, further routine care and favorable weather conditions will ensure that your new tree or shrub will grow and thrive. A valuable asset to any landscape, trees provide a long-lasting source of beauty and enjoyment for people of all ages.

Source credit: International Society of Arboriculture
http://www.isa-arbor.com

Happy Holidays from Us to You!

2009-12-07T12:36:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays from Fiddlehead Gardens!

As the rains begin to fall and the leaves depart from their branches we look forward to the quiet of our winter gardens. To get the garden ready for its winter respite which will ultimately lead to explosive spring blooms and growth, we offer the following winter maintenance tips:

-Winter pruning of deciduous trees, fruit trees, roses and hard perennials.

Plant growth has slowed down above the soil line which makes it the perfect time to prune and shape trees and shrubs. Some plants like roses will perform better through spring and summer if they take a few months off from bloom production in the winter. They need to be forced into dormancy by removal of leaves and a hard pruning back .

Below is a example of a proper cut for pruning roses.

Locate the growth point and angle the cut AWAY to prevent moisture from resting on the cut.

Clean and sharp tools will ensure a clean cut and healthy new growth next spring.

The right tool for the right job!

Be sure to make appropriate size cuts with your pruners. If the branch is too big-bring out the pruning saw to make your cut.

Here we are removing a dead branch from a rose.

A nice clean cut doesn't leave any stubs or gouges in the rose crown. That means less chance for unwanted moisture and bacteria build up.

-Fertilize with a slow-release organic fertilizer.

Fertilize now for spring and summer growth. A slow-release granular fertilizer applied in the winter will help your garden in the coming growing season. Plants like citrus and palm do not take in fertilizer as the temperature drops into the 50s. They should be fertilized in the early fall to help prevent leaves from yellowing, and then fertilized again if possible with a foliar spray liquid fertilizer, like a seaweed composite or fish emulsion, on a warm winter day.

-Mulching.

Winter mulch application will help prevent moisture loss from the soil as well as provide some weed suppression. If you use a mulch that is somewhat broken down (like 1/4" fir bark or 'Forest Floor' from American Soil Products, it will also condition the soil as it breaks down, providing valuable nutrients to the soil microorganisms and organic matter to the soil, much like compost does. Some mulches from tree bark, such as shredded redwood, contain too many oils and tannins to condition the soil which would slow or prohibit plant growth, so these mulch types should only be used in areas where weed suppression is desired.

-Plant bulbs, trees and large shrubs.
Get your bulbs in the ground now for spring bloom.

Planting trees and shrubs now will aid in strong root production through the winter and healthy canopy growth through spring and summer.

-Sow wild flowers and winter lettuces.
Take advantage of the winter rains and sow your wild flower seeds now.

-Protect frost tender plantings.

Succulents like agave, jade, sedum & echevaria as well as tropical and semi-tropical plants such as banana, bougenvilla, citrus, tree fern, princess tree, canna, ginger and clivia will benefit from frost protection (especially if potted). We recommend covering plants with a tarp or burlap to provide additional warmth during periods of freezing temperatures. Also, wrapping plants with christmas lights can add the additional warmth needed to combat the cold.

This established succulent garden in Emeryville survived our recent front without any additional protection.

Best Wishes for a Happy Holiday Season!

Mya, Racheal, Sarah, Sylvestre, Lupe, Cate & Patricia

Tropical flavor

2009-12-07T11:52:00.000-08:00

We love this little garden we take care of in the central Berkeley flats. We recently added a few more plants to add color and texture through interesting foliage. The existing fountain (which looks to me like a tropical island talisman) was recently moved over and we planted ferns, grasses, and and oakleaf hydrangea to surround it with lush vegetation. The garden has some interesting collector plants in it, including this super cool and very unusual green(!) flowering lavender.

Their kitty approves.

Garden Centerpiece

2009-11-20T16:29:00.000-08:00

In preparing for a holiday gathering I set out to create a centerpiece for the table that reflected my latest inspiration-GRASSES.

Blue fescue 'carnation grass' is set off with complimentary succulents, lichen and small stones.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Racheal

Award-winning fine dining with a view

2009-11-18T22:01:00.000-08:00

We are going to be refining the lighting at Berkeley's award winning Rivoli, on Solano Avenue. This Berkeley favorite dining spot, open since 1994, is famous for both its fresh, earthy food and its view overlooking a private, serene garden. It recently underwent an interior remodel of the dining space, and Fiddlehead Gardens helped with a garden renovation to complete the more contemporary look. (see blog archives). Now that the garden is looking its best, the owners want the lighting to showcase it in a more subtle way. In these dark winter months, especially, the lighting is necessary as it is dark when the restaurant opens its doors. Photos below show the new garden in the daylight.

The existing lighting is a panel of floodlights across the top of the windows, which is effective for making the space visible, but the light it casts is really flat, and does not do a good job of highlighting some of the beautiful features of this garden, such as the large magnolia's sculptural trunk, the flowers when it blooms, or the plantings in the containers.

But what it does create is a very magical indoor/outdoor experience for the diner, as the restaurant's indoor globe lights are reflected in the glass and seem to be strung from the branches of the magnolia. This effect is even visible in my photo, below, taken about 8 pm during dining hours.

Our challenge is to preserve this magical effect but tone the lighting down--make it more subtle, uplight the interesting trunks of the magnolia and camellias, make it bright enough to see the garden but create more depth. Stay tuned for our lighting renovation AFTER photos!!!!

Seating for Two

2009-11-12T17:02:00.001-08:00

We designed and installed this Bernal Heights Cottage Garden in 2005.

Bernal Heights is a typical San Francisco neighborhood in that homes are built in close proximity to one another. It was important for the home owners to create a sense of privacy in the garden so that it could be enjoyed at patio level as well as from the deck above. We planted Bay Laurel, Princess Tree and a Fig along the back fence to create a lush backdrop to this cottage style garden. The brick patio was created from bricks salvaged from the demolition.

Variegated potato vine and a seasonal planter seem magically suspended along the deck.

Deck seating offers a beautiful view of the garden below and a chance to enjoy this fiery Japanese Maple.

Fall Color

2009-10-22T16:53:00.000-07:00

Despite our temperate climate, Fall color abounds in gardens throughout the Bay Area. Each garden pictured below uniquely celebrates fall with a plant palette ranging from drought tolerant to tropical.

Leucadendron 'jester's red flowers are a fall show stopper in this Oakland garden.

Fall is introduced to this backyard garden through the red leaves of a dwarf Japanese maple. When the sun hits the leaves, they glow in all their autumn glory.

Pairing Melianthus with Variegated Canna are an interesting tropical translation of Fall in the Bay Area.

The contrasting color of this garden in the Berkeley Hills mimics the cool & balmy weather of our October days.

Mai tai, anyone?

2009-10-19T23:57:00.000-07:00

This is a garden we designed and installed in the spring. It is a small front garden and back patio planting strip of a condo in the really hot area of Oakland by Fruitvale, the so-called "Banana Belt." It was midday when I took the photos so the lighting is pretty harsh, but the bright colors still show up pretty well even though some of the photos are a little blown out.

The back is secluded and one side is part-shade, so we went for a more lush planting than in the front. We were going for "tropical retreat." The planting had to be in scale with the small space, and well-behaved--not too messy or fussy. Also, unlike the front, we worked with some of the existing plants--a large plum tree, a beautiful and very vigorous bougainvillea, and a globe cypress in the corner. We added semi-tropicals like rainbow coprosma, a tangerine flower cultivar of abutilon, purple lorapetalum, golden acoris, and a Tasmanian tree fern.

The client wanted colorful and dramatic plants that could take the heat against the house in the front, and would remain fairly tidy and low maintenance. We used kangaroo paws, salvia 'limelight', and a leucodendron 'safari sunset' for the focal points and surrounded them with chartreuse green sedum groundcover, orange-flowering arctosis, silvery dusty miller, and parrots-beak flowering lotus to spill over the walls. A purple hopseed bush against the house and purple loraptalum spilling over the wall added some darker foliage for contrast.
we
,

This planting happened in the spring of this year, so you can see it filled in pretty quickly!

Japanese Garden

2009-10-12T15:02:00.000-07:00

This lovely Japanese Garden in Rockridge is in its peak for fall color.

Designed and installed by the original home owner, the garden features an interesting concrete treatment on the walkway and raised beds created with recycled concrete.

We were called in this summer to help tame the garden back into its japanese form.

This garden promises year round interest with flowering viburnum, rhodedendron, clivia, cotoneaster, dahlia and pieris to name a few.

Racheal

Small Berkeley backyard garden-AFTER

2009-10-05T21:00:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately the light in these photos is terrible but hopefully you can still see the plants. We did a few moss rock boulders to give a little context to the largest of the planting beds, under the plum. We used lorapetalum 'razzleberry' to screen out the neighbor's cement retaining wall without obstructing the view into their yard (to make the garden seem more expansive. In front of that, we planted variegated dianella, which is the grassy, upright plant near the boulders, some silvery purple heuchera, and groundcover of the bronze-colored ajuga and white-flowering isotoma. Other flowering shade perennials included in the planting are plectranthus, a shrub begonia, a white-variegated fuchsia, and japanese anemones. Against the fence are some flowering evergreen shade shrubs like rhododendron with a lilac-colored bloom, oakleaf hydrangea, an apricot-colored abutilon, and diachroa, aka "evergreen hydrangea." In the sunny areas we used an apricot-colored agastache, white-flowering euphorbia, tricolored ornamental sage, and purple fountain grass.

Small Patio Garden in Berkeley: Before

2009-09-29T21:27:00.000-07:00

Hi,

We just finished a small project in central Berkeley in the flats, near Sacramento and Cedar. The homeowner had installed a small patio in her backyard and wanted us to redo the plantings around it. There were some mature trees existing--a huge multi-trunked purple plum, several camellias, a Meier lemon and a beautiful bronze colored Japanese maple. The exposure is mostly filtered sun, with some warm sunny patches closest to the patio. After pictures are coming...

Artful fountain in Berkeley front garden

2009-09-03T21:33:00.001-07:00

I was in the flats in central Berkeley the other day and saw this striking water feature installed by Colors Garden. It wasn't on when I saw it but obviously the rock spends some time wet because it is completely covered with velvety moss. It reminds me of an Andy Goldsworthy installation. The garden surrounding it was nice, too. Mya.

Kensington Cottage Charm

2009-09-01T23:01:00.000-07:00

We designed and installed this garden about a year ago. The homeowner is a real estate agent and wanted his house and garden to have some major drama and curb appeal. It is one of the photos we have up on our website under 'Our Work', but now it has filled in considerably from when those photos were taken. The home is kind of a storybook/Tudor style, painted a sage green with brick front porch and entryway. We added some large flagstone slabs for the path in a pink color to match the brick, and put in a raised bed along the inside of the fence out of dry-stacked moss rock to give the planting height so it would be more visible. The house style and size of the garden really called for planting that was informal, small-scale and cozy and also really colorful. This "cottage-style" usually implies lots of maintenance-heavy flowering annuals and perennials planted closely together. But the resident neighborhood deer had to be considered when selecting our plants because the fence around the front garden was so low they could jump right over. So we opted for yucky-tasting but showy Mediterranean flowering perennials such as salvias, agastache, thymes, in addition to some Austalian/New Zealand aromatic or furry-textured plants that deer leave alone, like kangaroo paws and leucodendron. The low-growing silver plant with orange/red flowers is arctosis. The mass of silver foliage is artemesia. The dark purple foliage we added in for color and contrast without having the maintenance of dead-heading flowers. The street trees are crepe myrtles.

More Berkeley Hills shade garden

2009-09-01T22:28:00.000-07:00

Meant to throw these pics up with the last post about our maintenance and renovation account up in the Berkeley hills but was experiencing technical difficulties... I love the door and other details on this house. Everything is so beautifully done. The homeowner did the containers herself, but I wish I had thought of that--variegated abutilon with mondo grass surrounding it--so simple and pretty! We did the design and planting of the little cutout area in the deck, just keeping it simple and Japanese-inspired, with some rocks, mondo grass, and bamboo (clumping, of course, since it's planted in the ground).

Maintenance activities in this woodland shade garden right now include pruning the rhododendrons that bloomed in early summer to control shape and size, and spraying down all the foliage really well to clean the dust and spiderwebs off the leaves--it's that time of year! When we have a stretch of really hot days it can't hurt to do some supplemental deep hand-watering (to supplement that done by your irrigation system, if you have one). Just make sure you do it really early in the morning or early evening when the sun has faded a bit to prevent burning the leaves.

Made in the Shade

2009-08-21T22:27:00.000-07:00

We were working on some maintenance accounts this week. This garden, up in the Berkeley Hills, is one I love. We do monthly maintenance here and have done some renovation over the past year, replanting some areas that needed it and replacing a few plants here and there. It is a shade garden in the front, and the plantings here have to be tough to withstand the neighborhood deer and the needle drop from a huge pine overhead. The focal point plants are rhododendrons and maples, with an understory of complimentary ferns, hellebores, and some other woodland perennials. The planting also has an Asian feel, with plants like pieris, nandina, and bamboo.

The homeowner is an architect and I love the elegant deck she designed for the walkway along the side of the house--it floats.

Bronze Age

2009-08-17T18:35:00.001-07:00

As we approach the fall season, bronze foliage seems to be popping up everywhere!

Check out some of my favorites:

Bronze Dahlia in Window Box with Sedum 'Majestic Purple', Nasturtium & Australian Strawflower

Ajuga 'Bronze Beauty'

Heuchera 'Caramel' with Sedum Ameacanea

Ceanothus 'Tuxedo'

Japanese Maple with Carex oshimensis

Phormium 'Jack Sprat' with Senecio serpens

Racheal

Garden Renovation: Rivoli Restaurant

2009-08-05T16:22:00.001-07:00

Chef owner, Wendy Brucker of Rivoli restaurant, located on Solano Ave in Berkeley, asked us to bring new life to the restaurant's secret garden. With the interior in the midst of a renovation, the garden needed a new look to compliment the interior without losing too much of the garden's identity.

The existing camelia and magnolia trees create a sense of privacy that become the foundation for this interesting shade garden. Using bold texture and varying degrees of color, Paige's design and plant choices create a serene outdoor environment that compliments the mood of the newly refurbished interior and award winning menu!

Secret Garden Before and After.

Before.

After.

Maintenance Tip - Gophers & Moles

2009-07-28T19:12:00.000-07:00

Racheal here. Some of our clients' gardens have mole and gopher problems. In the past we have always advised against poisons and recommended inserting vibrating stakes into the damaged areas. They send out a high pitched frequency that is supposed to prevent the rodent from returning to the area. We have had moderate success with this especially doubling the amount of stakes in the coverage area that the manufacturer recommends. The bummer about this solution is that these stakes go off every few seconds. They sound like baby goats. It makes it a bit challenging to sit and enjoy the garden.

A fellow gardener we know thinks he has the ultimate solution - water. After finding a gopher hole he inserts a hose and floods the trail. He swears that this is the answer to all of your gopher and mole problems. But all I can think of is Bill Murray in Caddyshack.

I'll keep you updated on the success of the "water method".

In the meantime, check out this funky Coral Euphorbia I came across at Flora Grubb Gardens in San Francisco.

Maintenance Tips

2009-07-23T18:51:00.000-07:00

Hello,

Racheal here making my foray into 'blogging' with my first of many helpful summer maintenance tips that will benefit your garden's long term health.

Spray down foliage.

During our dry summer months trees and shrubs collect pollen and debris on their leaves which can limit their ability to be healthy and productive. A quick spray down once a month will help tremendously and prevent invaders like mites and thrips from settling in!

Above you see one of our healthy indoor atrium gardens that benefits from a spray down every two weeks. Spraying the garden with the hose mimics the tropical environment these plants thrive in.

The densely planted garden below will benefit greatly from some thinning and spraying down. Check back to see how it changes post renovation!

Inspiration for lush woodland shade gardens

2009-07-22T23:23:00.000-07:00

Mya here. I took these pics at Berkeley Horticultural Nursery last week as inspiration for our Alameda project.

Alameda formal garden- AFTER

2009-07-22T22:19:00.000-07:00

I think it turned out pretty well. Very pink, but that's not necessarily a bad thing, is it?

Alameda formal garden- before pictures

2009-07-20T23:00:00.001-07:00

Here is what we're working on this week. We were hired by the daughter of the homeowners who have lived in this house in Alameda since they built it in the 1950's. It has been re-landscaped periodically over the decades. Some of the original plantings remain, like a huge Southern Magnolia by the driveway, a few rhododendrons and camellias, and some citrus trees in the back garden.

The homeowners wish the new garden to be traditional, somewhat formal, but still vibrant and colorful. They planted the planter box themselves but were dissatisfied with the results, so their daughter wished to surprise them by having it professionally done. We are adding to the evergreen foundation planting, but making it interesting with colorful foliage as well as blooms.

img_0045, originally uploaded by myalicious. We will keep some of the hydrangeas in the planter box against the house, but rip out everything in the beds by the stairs for a clean slate. We are also adding a boxwood hedge with a border of impatiens at the base of the ivy-covered wall (in the far right side of the picture).

Black-tie optional

2009-07-20T22:05:00.000-07:00

Mya here. I'm thinking a lot about formal gardens this week.

We are re-doing a garden this week (will post pictures soon) for the parents of one of our clients. They live in the historic neighborhood of Alameda, down by the water, where the homes are old and stately. These beautiful huge mansions are often sitting on a wide expanse of lawn, with boxwood hedges surrounding formal evergreen foundation plantings of camellias, rhododendrons, and hydrangeas, and bordered by a sweep of impatiens. They look a lot like gardens in New England, but without the hostas or peonies. There may be matching topiary on either side of the front door. Now you might not think that a Berkeley gardener could appreciate such formality, but when this style is well done it makes me want to go pick up an American flag of my own to stick by my door.

Farewell Smith and Hawken

2009-07-14T12:26:00.000-07:00

Wow, I just found out that our favorite high-end patio furniture and garden accessory store, Smith and Hawken, is going out of business and not even accepting orders online anymore. Apparently they are liquidating everything! Good time to pick up some bargains, though. Get there while supplies last!

We just did a design for a garden in San Francisco, in Noe Valley, and it was installed last weekend. I think it looks great! One of the tenants that lives there has a blog and posted some pictures. Read about it more on their blog Fourspace. Photos courtesy of Fourspace--thank you!

It was a tricky design because the space was small and needed privacy without creating a walled in feeling. Neighbors looked down into the space from the two and three-story houses on either side and behind. The property owners planted some bamboo for screening, and then needed a design to give them enough space for grilling, dining and entertaining, growing veggies (in the horse troughs) and some lushness to make it feel like a tropical retreat and cover some of the fence that surrounded the garden on three sides.

It also needed to be fairly low maintenance and low water since it was a rental. So we created a tropical look, by using lots of big-leaved colorful perennial plants in shades of purple and chartreuse green, without using true tropicals that would need lots of humidity and be cold-sensitive. And evergreen flowering shrubs like camellia, dodoneia and cestrum have a lush look but don't require the amount of water that a lot of true tropicals do.

Now they need to hit that sale at Smith and Hawken to pick up the perfect teak table and chairs!

Poppy!

2009-07-09T09:59:00.000-07:00

Check out this beautiful poppy.

Don't forget to look up!

2009-07-06T22:42:00.000-07:00

Look what we found the other day when we were doing maintenance in this Temescal garden, attached to a rose branch of all things. A hummingbird nest with two babies! Guess the thorns offer some protection from predators.

Welcome to our blog!

2009-07-06T15:03:00.000-07:00

Woo-hoo! We are now officially bloggers!!! Testing, testing,
1 2 3.

Hello from Mya here at Fiddlehead Gardens! Racheal and I have decided it would be really fun to start a blog so we can post inspirational design photos, news on seasonal gardening activities and events such as what looks good at the nurseries, who is having a sale, what new plants are being created, etc. and also updates on what our company is currently working on. Please bear with us as we figure out the software--we're better with our fingers in the dirt than on a keyboard. But we're also modern girls, so we'll have this technology figured out pronto.

Our plan is to blog at least once a week, and post a lot of photos, so please come back and see us! Also we are in the process of updating our website, www.fiddleheadgardens.com. Some newer photos of gardens we have designed and installed are up, so please take a look.