Dennis Mudd Home Garden Tour

I’m a big fan of the APLD International Design Conference. This year it was in San Diego and was delightful. Absolutely packed with amazing speakers, tours, and activities. Every year I swear I will take good notes and post in a timely manner before I have forgotten everything that happened. Every year I fail at that goal and this year is no different. I can see in my Notes App that I started to take notes but they are very bad and useless. So here we are once again posting vaguely but with lots of lovely pictures. :)

I posted last week about Easyscape so I thought I would at least get out a post about touring the home garden of Dennis Mudd the founder of Calscape and Easyscape. you can watch Dennis give a presentation about his landscape here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eilqQPUr3a4

Some entryway photos. the cool thing about this circular drive was that it is also a dry creek. One area is built so that it floods when it rains and it slows and directs the water to the landscape and allows the water to percolate back into the earth.

Dennis and his wife also were generous enough to open their house to us as well. I’ll just post a few pics of some details in the walls and flooring… and the dog, of course.

Some plant and hardscape pics:

They filled in their pool to create a lovely pond water feature.

The outdoor kitchen and dining area had amazing vines climbing through the willow - I believe a grape and a (non native)trumpet vine - covering the entire area. It was so lovely and I can imagine sitting under it eating your wood fired pizza must be amazing.

a delightful approach to a gate.

Bay Area Trees for Fall Color

I grew up mostly in the south in place without a lot of fall color. It got cold but the trees were mostly tall pine trees. They always seemed kind of depressing and dour. but I did like braiding the needles when I was little.

The Bay Area is not exactly know for fall color either. But there are several trees that can really bring it! Every fall I think, oh yeah I should document what trees are doing what right now and that time has finally come! This thought often occurs to me as I am driving through a particularly colorful street. And, yes, I did stop in the middle of the street to get this shot.

Street lined with colorful orange, red, and yellow Pistacia chinensis trees in the fall.

Pistacia chinensis - Chinese Pistache is a great tree for a streetscape or a residential setting. It doesn’t get too big, grows at a decent rate, provides a nice dappled shade and this amazing fall color. Here you can see an example of a 24” Box Keith Davey specimen at the nursery.

Lagerstroemia indica x fauriei 'Muskogee' is a nice crape myrtle that does well in this area and has gorgeous fall color.

Also consider this non native Buckeye - the Aesculus Early Glow. See some better pics here.

Next we have the Liriodendron tulipifera. This tree is in the magnolia family and has a really cool flower! I feel like I don’t actually see this tree very often. It does get HUGE soft may be that it is just too big even for the larger suburban neighborhoods in the East Bay. It is really pretty though!

Nyssa silvatica - Black Gum tree. This is another great tree for fall color. I’ve never spec’ed this tree but every time I see it I wonder why. Here is one in the background of this lovely patio at one of our projects.

In the nursery you can see this one has some set fruits. I don’t think it is a super messy tree though.

There are a million different Prunus varieties. When I first moved here the Prunus leaves fallen in the streets all yellow and red and spotty madame take up watercolors and sketchbooking. I don’t have the patience to figure out which ones these two are but I love how the leaves look intermingled on the ground!

Okay, one more. This Cercis is just looking very lovely with it's yellow leaves spread out under it!

All the Acers and Cornus trees have great fall color too.

The Story of Four Winds True Dwarf Citrus

Book Review: The story of Four winds growers true dwarf citrus by Floyd C. Dillon and Donald Dillon

I can’t remember where I picked up this little reprint. It says it is a  reprint from the California Horticultural Society and has lots of pictures attributed to Sunset Magazine. The dates listed are 1957-1961. 

I think this line from the first page is interesting, “Gardening habits were changing from the pleasure of growing plants to that of making outdoor living more pleasant.” Not only that but I bet the space constraints in many areas of California were driving the desire for patio sized trees.

I love this glimpse into the development of dwarf citrus and some insight into how people were thinking about their California gardens and how that was developing in the post WW2 years as Mid-Century Modern was appearing, etc. I’ll keep that for another post though.

I don’t really know much about grafting (although my partner has been doing some very cool grafting in our yard recently, I should write about that!) This little booklet goes into the exact root stocks that they found to work with each type of scion. For instance, the ones rootstocks that worked with grapefruit were not good for the Eureka Lemon. Okay! I love these dedicated plant nerds figuring all this out! Also, apparently they had a special club called the Lemon Men’s Club. 

Here is what the Huntington Library Archive has to say:

“The Lemon Men's Club, based in Los Angeles, California, was started in 1904 as a service, education, and advocacy organization for the lemon industry in Southern California, including lemon associations, shipping houses and growers. Frederick Arthur Little (1868-1965) was a leader in the California citrus industry. Born in England, Little moved to Canada and then Ontario, California, in the 1880s, where he started a lemon grove. In 1896, Little moved to Santa Barbara and helped organize the Santa Barbara Fruit Exchange before returning to Ontario in 1898, where he organized the Ontario Fruit Exchange. He later worked as packing house superintendent for the Arlington Heights Fruit Company in Riverside County and managed the Arlington Heights Fruit Exchange. Little was an active collector of materials related to the history of the citrus industry.”

Ooo, another fruitful (hahaha) link here to a write up called ‘Mrs. Bryant Again Entertains Lemon Men's Club at Field Day Meeting - The California Citrograph June 1933’. Okay, what a great rabbit hole this is turning out to be. I have a bunch of links open now about Susanna Bixby Bryant who inherited her family's ranch in 1891 and turned it into a botanic garden featuring native plants! . Damn, that is so cool. She hired the Olmstead’s firm to design it later on and then the whole thing got moved after her death? Anyway, I’ll need to read up to this more later.

Back to dwarfing citrus trees - It seems like the next big innovation was a different grafting technique called ‘twig-grafting’. I have not read up on that but it seems this method hinders the development of the taproot of the tree and that must help it stay smaller. 

The rest of the booklet talks more in depth about specific varieties. One variety mentioned that I can’t remember ever noticing is the Ponderosa Lemon. These produce really, really big lemons and I can see that they are a variety available for purchase. I’ll have to keep my eye out for them at the wholesale nursery. I think it might be a fun one to grow!

Exploring a bit of Atlanta - Day 1

We made it to Atlanta!

Is it just that I am old now that a flight across the US utterly knocks me out? It ends up being an entire day of travel, and then I am left feeling grubby and dehydrated.

Before traveling, I tend to do a lot of googling of the location, and I made a saved places list in Google Maps. After I figure out the hotel, I google to see if there are any gardens close by or any gardens/landscapes in the city that are noteworthy that I think I might want to see. In this case, I settled on the Hotel Clermont - a refurbished motel and apparently a local iconic establishment. There is a local neighborhood shared garden just around the block! Perfect! What else looks good? The Atlanta Botanical Gardens and some place called Fernbank. That is really all we'll have time to squeeze into this visit.

Anyhow, we made it here, and I LOVE our hotel. It is so freaking cute. Great details, lobby is super nice, a bar and a restaurant, and a rooftop bar as well. Did I steal a Clermont Hotel pen? Yes, yes I did.

two happy looking people relaxing in a hotel lobby holding plastic cups of champagne.

We arrived, checked in, dropped our stuff off, and headed to the bar where we had some delicious cocktails. Then we walked down to the Atlanta Goddess Garden - https://www.goddessgardenatlanta.com/about. The weather here is... sultry. It all feels sort of primally familiar even though I am no longer acclimated to this kind of humid heat. It's nice to have a warm evening walk though.

This garden has a wild and overgrown feeling. Walking along the paths, there are many small shrines, seating areas, and spaces for growing edibles. There are also a lot of rats scurrying in the undergrowth, so I'm unsure how they can sustain any veggies or herbs!

Here is the description from their website:

"Created by Shasta Zaring in 1990, the Goddess Garden Atlanta is an urban wilderness habitat and healing sanctuary nestled in the heart of the City of Atlanta. It is a sacred space dedicated to the Divine Feminine in all religions, paths and cultures. Altars to Goddesses from various world cultures adorn the paths and are tended by the Garden's keepers.

This one-acre private preserve, open to the public during daylight hours, is cultivated without the use of pesticides and herbicides and is a certified Audubon Society Wilderness Habitat. Located just off the Atlanta Beltline, the Garden is in walking distance to many city attractions, such as Ponce City Market, Historic 4th Ward Park, Carter Center and Little Five Points."

So it is privately owned but publicly available space. I wonder if they have to worry about insurance. Apparently, they have classes there, an attached AirB&B, and does seem like a nice place to go and chill in some lush green space! i can see that it is def. a labor of love for people in the neighborhood!

After our stroll we headed back to the hotel, drinks on the rooftop bar, and some dinner.

Landscape Sketchbook - Vignettes

I like to do little landscape vignettes. Not a whole landscape design but just a bed or a small area. It’s fun to use these informal, made-up sketches to explore color and texture and layering of plants.

Here is one with lots of maroon, red, orange, and yellow plants.

Another one with some red and adding in some boulders and gravel, IDK, I find drawing these fun and soothing!

Quick and easy visualization

Sometimes I just take a Google Street View screenshot and scribble on it when I am thinking about plants or layouts. Very handy for front gardens! This is not a thing I would use to show a client, though.

Sometimes fast and easy is the way to go!

Ladybug Picnic

One, two, three
Four, five, six
Seven, eight, nine
Ten, eleven, twelve
Ladybugs
Came to the ladybugs' picnic

Folks from Gen-x will probably be able to hear this song in their head. Also, the Pinball number counting sound which is not relevant here...

Image of a ladybug, or lady beetle, on an Eriogonum leaf in Oakland, CA

I love ladybugs, as I think most people do. They are so round and brightly colored and clearly love having picnics., what’s not to like?

Did you know they are also beneficial insects for your garden?

You may sometimes in the spring see garden centers selling little tubs of ladybugs. I admit to having purchased these in the past. I DO NOT recommend you buy these poor things, though. They are wild harvested and can carry parasites.

Anyway, what usually happens? They are long gone by the end of the day. You can do things to keep them there. For instance, release them in the morning and make sure you have wet down your entire garden. Also, a a ton of aphids for them to eat.

If you do have an aphid problem you can ask around your neighborhood to see if anyone has some you can abduct. Really, you want them to stick around and lay eggs because the larvae eat more aphids than the adults do.

What do ladybug larvae look like?!

Cute spiky red and black ladybug larvae.

How to attract ladybugs to my garden?

Ladybugs like to crawl around on flat topped flowers like Achillea (yarrow) and Calendula. They do eat nectar and pollen. Make sure you have water for them and shade. Mostly, they want aphids! I tend to have tons of aphids on my vegetable garden. So, odds are if you leave that kale plant too long it will soon be covered in aphids.

Buffalo Bayou Cistern in Houston, TX

I grew up in the suburbs of Houston. Houston is VERY BIG. Wikipedia puts the Greater Houston area at about 10,062 square miles, slightly smaller than the state of Massachusetts. The suburbs were pretty boring, and as soon as we were teens able to drive, we left our immediate area to explore. We mostly went downtown, as that seemed to be where all the excitement was. We visited all the museums and parks, and of course, the music venues like Emo's, the Axiom, the Vatican, Fitzgerald's... I'm forgetting the others. Someplace called the Unicorn, maybe? Numbers... hahahah. We were underage, so I'm sure there were many clubs that were off my radar, plus my memories of high school are a bit hazy at this point.

I go back to visit my parents, and the area and city always feel very familiar but weird because I no longer really know my way around, and so many things have changed.

My interests have changed with age, as you might expect. Not that I don't still like to go to a punk club now and then! But I do love to explore parks with an eye for design, plantings, and history.

On my most recent visit, I decided to check out Buffalo Bayou Park, and more specifically, the Cistern. I don't remember this area being a park when I lived in Houston. It might have been, but it seems like they have put a lot of effort into it more recently, with tons of trails, landscaping, art, and gathering spaces.

You can see how big the whole park is! There is much to explore!

But it's hecka hot in Houston in July. I'm just not acclimated anymore, and I don't like being so hot and humid. It's not really conducive to exploring the outdoors. I did convince the family to head downtown to check out the Cistern on this trip though! I think I had seen that they were putting on concerts and art exhibits, but for our visit, they just had the regular history tour as an option. I love a history tour, so that was fine by me!

The Cistern is, obviously, pretty big! It held up to 15 million gallons of water. It is not in use anymore due to an irreparable leak. I just love that someone decided to turn it into a place to visit and tour. I'm imagining a meeting where some people are like, "Why the heck would people want to visit a musty old broken cistern?!" And other people are like, "Well, we can tell you are not huge nerds, so we're not even sure we can explain it to you!"

The ramped entrance is very dramatic!

I didn't manage to get many good photos. It looks as you might imagine... just like Khazad-dûm in the Lord of the Rings movies.

The water in this picture is only about 2 inches deep but the reflection makes it look like the water is deep and clear. I recommend this tour and exploring Buffalo Bayou Park. I’ll be back to check some of the other interesting-looking areas. The Lost Lake, the Arboretum, and there is a bat colony to visit(!), and a Children’s Nature Play Area.

Landscape Sketchbook - Blobs of Color

I was just playing around with color in this sketch. I really love seeing a landscape where there is super bright color introduced. So far I have not really had a chance to get a client to do this. I have certainly suggested it and tried! I really have! I just love a bright contrast and pop of color!

Pretty Little Grass - Melinis nerviglumis

This is such a pretty grass! I have one that I got from Annies Annuals. Devil Mountain has it listed as Rhynchelytrum nerviglumis but I have only seen it as Melinus nerviglumis. It’s not exactly low water but I really love the soft pink plumes.

From San Marcos Growers site:

Melinis nerviglumis (Ruby Grass) - A small semi-evergreen cool-season grass from S. Africa that forms a tidy 1 foot tall clump. It has blue-green foliage that turns purplish-red in the fall and showy pink flowers that rise a foot above the foliage in the spring and summer with spent flowers still attractive into winter. Best in full sun with regular water in a well-drained soil but tolerates considerable periods without irrigation and near seaside conditions. Is hardy to around 20° F and perennial in gardens in USDA Zones 8 and above but useful as an annual in colder climates. Cut back in fall to midwinter to allow fresh new foliage to emerge in early spring. A very attractive grass massed or scattered in a border planting or as a container specimen. This grass is called "one of the showiest of the small flowering grasses" by John Greenlee in his "Encyclopedia of Flowering Grasses". Ruby Grass is native to large areas of Africa south of the Sahara and also in Madagascar. There are several interpretations for the entomology of the genus name. One thought is that it is derived from the Greek 'melas' meaning "black" for its black seeds but another thought is that it is from the Latin 'mel' meaning honey for the sweet aroma some species have. The specific epithet is in reference to the veins on the glume (flower bracts). We have grown this plant since 1997 and early on used its older name Rhynchelytrum neriglume. This same plant is marketed under the names 'Pink Crystals' and 'Savannah' and besides Ruby Grass is commonly called Bristle-leaved Red Top. It should not be confused with the related Melinis repens that has naturalized in disturbed sites along the California coast. 

Discovering the Extraordinary Playscapes Exhibit

During our trip, we had a totally unexpected but amazing moment. We stumbled upon The Boston Society for Architecture's Extraordinary Playscapes exhibit while walking around Boston. As someone obsessed with playscapes, I was thrilled by this discovery!

The Science of Play

The exhibit was extensive, filled with information mostly about commercial play spaces but also delving into the reasons for play and how play spaces influence child development. There were interactive exhibits, outdoor installations that I couldn’t visit, and plenty of beautiful drawings, plans, and models.

We spent a lot of time at the "Imagination Playground" exhibit by David Rockwell. This featured large blue foam blocks that you could manipulate. Much like small-scale building blocks, these large ones allowed you to create your own world and build your space. I loved how these blocks enabled people (kids and adults) to interact in various ways. Whether you’re a builder, a zoomer, or a quiet hider, you could use these blocks to play for hours.

I just love plan view drawings. They are one of the reasons I was attracted to the career. :D.

Nature play is near and dear to my heart. Not only did I create a forest pre school for my kid but I also worked on the play environment at his k-8 school. I also have a whole workshop I have taught at the Mothership Hackermoms in Berkeley.

Here is a link with exhibit info:

https://www.architects.org/exhibitions/extraordinary-playscapes

https://www.architects.org/about/bsa-space/visit

Exploring MIT: A Glimpse into T**'s Alma Mater

During our East Coast visit, we spent some time on the MIT campus. It was really lovely to see where T** went to school and to show J*** around. The campus is beautiful. T** shared a fantastic story about dropping thousands of super balls from the ceiling of one of the buildings. We’ll leave out the environmental impact of that little adventure!

This might be the building he was talking about.

We came across signage for a rainwater harvesting project that was quite impressive. It’s great to see these types of initiatives on a college campus, inspiring young minds. This project features a 50,000-gallon cistern, and all the collected water is used for flushing toilets and landscaping irrigation around the building. Here isn article from 2009 about it.

Rainwater Harvesting at The Strata Center

We came across signage for a rainwater harvesting project that was quite impressive. It’s great to see these types of initiatives on a college campus, inspiring young minds. This project features a 50,000-gallon cistern, and all the collected water is used for flushing toilets and landscaping irrigation around the building. Here isn article from 2009 about it.

We also admired a rock wall memorial, complete with a water feature and seating area. I like how the rock retaining wall follows the form of the built up soil behind it.

The campus had some gabions in use as well. For those who are unfamiliar, a gabion is a wire container filled with rocks, which can be construction waste like broken concrete or other large rocks. They can serve as seating if you add a nice cap, and as retaining walls if you include a barrier on the retaining side. My feelings about gabions are mixed. While they’re an excellent way to keep broken concrete out of landfills, they need to be filled with pieces that fit well and look nice, which can add time and labor to a project. Moreover, there’s the concern about little fingers getting caught or small rodents and spiders making homes in them. However, with the right client willing to cover the extra effort, they can be a sustainable and attractive option.

The weather was incredibly humid, something I'm not used to anymore! I do love the East Coast though. Later we will meet up with some old friends and then we are off to RI, one of my favorite places!

Pots on a Deck

This area is quite hilly, and many homes feature decks with stunning views. In some cases, the backyard slopes so steeply that a deck is the only way to fully enjoy the outdoor space. Beautifully designed plant containers can enhance the deck experience, surrounding you with nature and making it even more enjoyable.

I love designing pot vignettes. Selecting pots with harmonious colors and appropriate sizes is crucial. Tiny pots on a large deck or oversized pots on a small deck can frustrate clients and detract from the overall deck experience.

Container shopping can be quite enjoyable, whether you're doing it alone or with clients. It's essential to invest in high-quality containers. From my observations of various client landscapes, I've noticed many small, cheap, and abandoned containers cluttering their side yards. I really don’t love the fiberglass containers I keep seeing. Pottery store inventory can change frequently, so it's important to shop and purchase your pots in a timely manner.

I love the other garden ornaments you can find. Concrete cats, pigs, chickens, etc.

Plants ready to get installed into new homes!

A selection of pots about to get planted up. In the background there you can see two crappy older fiberglass (or plastic even) pots that have simply failed at the seams. They will get hauled off and dumped. We replaced them with nicer ceramic containers in the same basic shape. I love this color palette.

People can get serious sticker shock when it comes to buying contains. Jaws hit the floor, etc. I like to emphasize that they will lat a lifetime and beyond.