SF Bay area (Re: Low traffic and low water)

[Cat]

In article <yBmia.293789$3D1.161752@sccrnsc01>,
Roger > wrote:
>Lately it has very few participants, but I don't know why. Many from CA area
>show up on rec.gardens, a much more active newsgroup. If you give your
>growing zone and general location, you will find some respondents from the
>Bay Area.

Thanks ;>

>Best source for suitability of plants for a given zone and exposure: Latest
>edition of Sunset's "Western Garden Book"

I've been using that very happily - as well as

>No water restrictions where I live, in San Mateo Co. Near-normal rainfall
>this monsoon.

Woo! Any thoughts on drip irrigation?

>Re cheap plants, I get and trade some cuttings, slips, and seeds from
>neighbors who are also gardeners. Also we tend to do major plant shopping at
>Home Depot vs local and expensive nurseries, but we also buy some stuff
>locally since we like to get advice with plants, unavailable in Home Depot.

As the child of a plant snob, I find myself prone to looking for more
unusual plants - although my current setup is really quite banal ;> Home
Depot has very cheap plants, but they're often of unknown provenance, and
very often already abused.

I've had a really pleasant visit out to Berkeley Hort and over Skyline to
Yerba Buena (which is a really excellent nursery for natives!), and just
finished getting back from Common Ground in Palo Alto (although I was more
than a bit put off by their religious take on 'grow biointensive').

cheers!
--
================================================== ========================
"A cat spends her life conflicted between a deep, passionate and profound
desire for fish and an equally deep, passionate and profound desire to
avoid getting wet. This is the defining metaphor of my life right now."

[J. Farnsworth Wallaby]

Dear Gwen,

I'd start by contacting your local chapter of the California Native Plant
Society. Not only are they knowledgeable about what plant material will grow the
best in your area, BUT, since natives are...well native to your area, there are
many varieties of grasses, flowering shrubs, trees, vines, etc. that will fit
right into your plan!

If you haven't a plan, there are many "plant sales" that you can attend in the
Bay Area where volunteers can assist you!

http://www.cnps.org/
http://www.cnps.org/chapters/chapters_text_only.htm

Cat wrote:

> In article <yBmia.293789$3D1.161752@sccrnsc01>,
> Roger > wrote:
> >Lately it has very few participants, but I don't know why. Many from CA area
> >show up on rec.gardens, a much more active newsgroup. If you give your
> >growing zone and general location, you will find some respondents from the
> >Bay Area.
>
> Thanks ;>
>
> >Best source for suitability of plants for a given zone and exposure: Latest
> >edition of Sunset's "Western Garden Book"
>
> I've been using that very happily - as well as
>
> >No water restrictions where I live, in San Mateo Co. Near-normal rainfall
> >this monsoon.
>
> Woo! Any thoughts on drip irrigation?
>
> >Re cheap plants, I get and trade some cuttings, slips, and seeds from
> >neighbors who are also gardeners. Also we tend to do major plant shopping at
> >Home Depot vs local and expensive nurseries, but we also buy some stuff
> >locally since we like to get advice with plants, unavailable in Home Depot.
>
> As the child of a plant snob, I find myself prone to looking for more
> unusual plants - although my current setup is really quite banal ;> Home
> Depot has very cheap plants, but they're often of unknown provenance, and
> very often already abused.
>
> I've had a really pleasant visit out to Berkeley Hort and over Skyline to
> Yerba Buena (which is a really excellent nursery for natives!), and just
> finished getting back from Common Ground in Palo Alto (although I was more
> than a bit put off by their religious take on 'grow biointensive').
>
> cheers!
> --
> ================================================== ========================
> "A cat spends her life conflicted between a deep, passionate and profound
> desire for fish and an equally deep, passionate and profound desire to
> avoid getting wet. This is the defining metaphor of my life right now."

[Roger]

I agonized over drip vs sprinklers and ultimately opted for standard
sprinklers, as I dont like raking up the irrigation system - I am under
dripline of a number of very big Monterrey Pines, and they suck the ground
so dry I need a higher volume water source, and one more robust than those
clogging and fragile drip systems. I use drip on a row of monterey cypress,
tapped off the underground system. I have a system timer, but choose to
water manually, when things get really dry, to save water.
Re natives, I have planted cypress, pacific wax myrtle, coffeeberry,
ceanothus, and several bush and groundcover manzanitas. Unfortunately, I
found that out here on the coast, pittosporum and italian buckthorn (same
genus as coffeeberry) make much more vigorous screens than coffeeberry and
myrtle, respectively, so have replanted in places where natives have not
thrived. Groundcovers on steep slopes are prostrate rosemary, wild ginger,
red apple aptenia (bees love it) , and miniature pink iceplant.