Los Angeles Garden Symposium offers ideas galore

Published March 20, 2012 | By Jane

Residential garden designs: Photo by Jane Gates

Whether you are a gardening enthusiast or professional, next month heralds the return of the annual ‘Gardening under the Mediterranean Skies’ symposium in the Los Angeles area. This year the topic is ‘Style and Whimsy in the Sustainable Garden’. This event will bring together some of the top garden speakers from the West Coast offering subjects like native gardens and art, color and whimsy, broken concrete techniques and more. There will also be workshops, discussions and some fabulous tours showing off remarkable examples of landscaping in some outstanding Pasadena area homes as well as tours to historic gardens.

I was lucky enough to get a preview of four homes that are scheduled for the afternoon tours. All were very different and despite my 35 plus years of experience in the green industry, I was delighted to discover some new approaches to spark my own creativity . The homes were diverse enough to have something of interest for everyone – and I saw fewer than half the tour homes. To give you some idea, I was guided around the steep hillside property of the Dadd Residence where the professional artists/homeowners put their creativity together with a lot of elbow grease to build a tropical paradise that requires minimal water.

Artistic railings lead beyond the water tank to the amphitheater: Dadd Residence photo by Jane Gates

In fact, they installed a tank that collects winter rainwater sufficient to water their ¾ acre opulent gardens over the dry months. Paths trail up glamorous plantings of bromeliads and calathea plantings, snake down ravines held in place with huge sculptural agaves and cacti, and wander across a sparkling swimming pool area cushioned in a garden of drought-tolerant plants and California natives. The central focal point is an all natural outdoor amphitheater where they host regular concerts on weekends.

The next residence in South Pasadena turned out to be another worthwhile visit on the seminar tour. Faylin Voeltz is a delightful gal who discovered her love of plants and art and translated them into garden and interior design. Her charming Mediterranean-styled house is surrounded with the textures and colors of succulents, lavenders, roses and many other ornamental plants that fill the garden with color year-round while her low maintenance and water bills make her the envy of the neighborhood. A dramatic fountain is off-set by low, groundcover plantings.

Mediterranean archway to the cooking and baking area of the Voeltz Residence: Photo by Jane Gates

And framed by a bold Mediterranean archway is an entrance to the prolific vegetable garden and a whole world of ovens, smokers and wood storage to keep her husband’s culinary skills happily honed.

Another stop brought me by the Murphy Residence where a relatively small garden space was transformed by designer Anthony Exter into a modern garden with plants fashioned adeptly to create a three-dimensional piece of art. The formal lines blend permeable paving with areas that are as useful as they are artistic. Steps lead up to a clean, open patio perfect for entertaining while white slab walls form a theme of rectangles sculpting balconies, backdrops and even an enclosure for the outdoor kitchen.

Clean, contemporary look of the Murphy Residence: Photo by Jane Gates

Purple and black foliage from Cordylines, Phormiums and Aeoniums contrast powerfully with the various greens of vertical grasses and softer mounds of Sedum sieboldii. For thoughts on how to make the most of a small space and turn it into a show piece, this residence is loaded with ideas.

The fourth residence I visited showed me just how much better a well-designed sustainable garden could look when compared to the all-to-overused, water-guzzling lawn. The owner of this landscape has named it ‘Heatherside Garden’. Upon arrival you are welcomed into a front area that becomes a botanical courtyard. The design, laid out with the help of Mark Bartos, irresistibly invites you to wander the paths that form designs with decomposed granite, gravel and colorful gardens of foliage and flowers. Artichokes become tropical foliage plants and blend the drought-tolerant areas into a more lush feel as you wander down a rustic brick path to a romantic old culvert. Stroll through hidden gardens into the backyard with a large ramada filled with pots and whimsical ornaments. Wander through a variety of different gardens that surround the pool. And stop and say “hi” to her two dogs that are well catered to with the design of the garden.

Beauty meets sustainablity in the Wilson's 'Heatherside Garden': Photo by Jane Gates

Not only is the ‘Heatherside Garden’ comfortable and lovely to look at, its owner, Monica Wilson, says her water bills have been slashed dramatically.

There are five more homes being offered on symposium tour. If you are into gardening, the Gardening under the Mediterranean Skies VIII: Style and Whimsy in the Sustainable Garden is the place you need to be from September 23^rd through September 26^th. For more information on the workshops, speakers, panels and tours through special gardens — including the homes I visited here — check out www.PacificHorticulture.org/education-events, email symposium @pacifichorticulture.org or call (760) 295-2173.

Originally posted 2010-08-26 05:16:02. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Be Sociable, Share!