Come along on a visit to a residential garden in La Costa, CA that won the district’s WaterSmart Landscape Contest!
You’ll enjoy seeing (and getting ideas from) courtyard and street-side gardens that showcase owners’ Bob and Melanie Buck’s skills, aesthetics, and style.
Before its extensive renovation, their yard had “large grassy areas and messy pine trees that dropped pollen and cones everywhere,” Mel recalls. Now it’s an eye-catching, colorful, easy-care mix of succulents and tropicals.
Not only does Mel share great gardening tips, you’ll view before-and-after photos of how she and Bob remodeled and cleverly blended their home’s indoor-outdoor living spaces.
FIND OUT…
~How the couple cut their water bill in half
~Smart ways Mel combines small succulents
~How and why to use a stucco wall as a garden backdrop
~What Mel does with agave pups 😳 (It’s shocking.)
~Why she keeps a “problematical” 4-foot-diameter foxtail fern
~Mel’s clever way to cultivate and display air plants
~How she amends the garden’s slow-draining, nutrient-poor soil.
Do go to the CORRESPONDING PAGE on my site for more info and a gallery of 30 of the garden’s plants: https://debraleebaldwin.com/succulent-landscape/award-winning-waterwise-garden/
Have a question on ANYTHING to do with succulents? Go to https://debraleebaldwin.com and browse the menu or use the Search bar.
My site is not monetized—no annoying pop-up ads. It’s my gift to my followers and the culmination of my career as a horticulturist/photojournalist specializing in succulents. You’ll find 100+ pages of tips and ideas; thousands of photos and must-know facts for specific varieties; curated design ideas for gardens, landscapes and containers; interviews with experts; seasonal info; and much more. Use the site as a research tool that also is entertaining—the same goal as my YouTube channel. Q’s welcome!
Did you know that many of my videos have corresponding pages on my site? They offer a quick way to get info you need and learn more. Go to this one’s article and gallery of plants, all labeled: https://debraleebaldwin.com/succulent-landscape/award-winning-waterwise-garden/
LEARN MORE: Have a question about succulents not answered here? Use the Search bar at:
ONLINE SUCCULENT SOURCES
— Mountain Crest Gardens: https://bit.ly/2k5gxqA
BOOKS BY DEBRA LEE BALDWIN
— Designing with Succulents (mainly about in-ground gardening), https://amzn.to/2M7bBig
— Succulents Simplified (good overview for beginners), https://amzn.to/2Ewil2I
— Succulent Container Gardens, https://amzn.to/2VZvGeE
CONNECT WITH DEBRA
— Website: https://debraleebaldwin.com
— Newsletter: https://debraleebaldwin.com/subscribe/
— Online “Stunning Succulent Arrangements” Class: https://www.craftsy.com/class/stunnin…
— Blog: https://debraleebaldwin.com/succulent…
— YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_c…
— Facebook: @DebraLeeBaldwinOfficial
— Instagram: @debralbaldwin
— Succulent Chic Shop: https://bit.ly/2If7Qpg
ABOUT DEBRA
Award-winning garden photojournalist and bestselling author Debra Lee Baldwin shares her expertise about “plants that drink responsibly” in print, photos, videos and her “Celebrating the Joy of Succulents” newsletter. Debra is based in Southern California, home to more succulent specialty nurseries and growers than anywhere else in the world.
#succulent #succulentgarden #cactiandsucculents #garden #gardenscapes #gardeningtips #gardening #gardentour #design #gardendesign #gardenideas #tillandsia
23 Comments
Did you know that many of my videos have corresponding pages on my site? They offer a quick way to get info you need and learn more. Go to this one's article and gallery of plants, all labeled: https://debraleebaldwin.com/succulent-landscape/award-winning-waterwise-garden/
hey debra thanks for the nice videos
Love it! I’m working on planting my own “Dry Garden” in Zone 9 in Pleasanton, California. I have been taking on-line classes thru The Ruth Bancroft Garden, and I highly recommend it. Thank you for your great videos, Debra.
Que jardim maravilhoso! Grata 💙
Thank you Deborah like always your videos. They are so beautiful.
wonderful tour! loved it❤❤❤
Love your videos! Thank you. 🙂
Wonderful tour and video, Debra!
Beautiful!
Good to know about the agave. I guess I'll take it out. I have been keeping things at bay, though with the worm casings, as far as I know.
Nice❤
Beautiful garden!❤❤❤
Nice agave clusters.
Thank you for the video. What a beautiful garden. I love how they opened up the house to the garden.
5:15 When she said they dig up the Agave parryi runners "early", and "throw them out", I figured it was fine because I’ve done the same, with tiny runners… I want to prevent the spread, thus I pull the smallest, youngest pups. And then she pointed out a more… substantially sized one! 😱 😂 I guess the definition of a weed is all about perspective.
I personally have to contend with Agave angustifolia runners, which other family members had found for free, and planted poolside, in the shade—so they’re extra comfortable, getting reflected light off of the pool but still being sheltered under a weeping willow. Of course, I’ve removed pups several times, and one even showed up ten feet away! But I make sure to pull the smallest babies. Not only is it just easier to do but there’s less guilt on my part! I look at the prices of some of these agaves and they’re actually one of the more valuable genera. My own must be worth hundreds at this point, and even attenuata and 'Blue Glow' can still cost a pretty penny these days, despite their widespread use. I’m not telling anyone what to do. 😉 I just hope that, if it’s over maybe 5" in diameter, pups are being given away…or sold, at the very least! Or donated somewhere!
This is lovely – and it's so great to see the photo with the beginning of her takeover.
If we leave our garage door open for more than 15 seconds, we end up with lizards and even frogs in our garage. Don't you end up with such critters when you have your home open to the outside? We'd have ground squirrels, mice, pack rats, you name it. (We live in Valley Center.) But there are lizards everywhere.
We were told to remove our palm trees because they go up like Roman candles in a wildfire, but we haven't been able to do it . . . we just can't bring ourselves to cut them down. We also have many pigmy palms around our yard. I loved seeing this video. Thank you for posting it.
Amazing! The names of the plants showed above is helpful and much appreciated!
Beautiful garden!🥰🥰🥰love the ficus!
Gorgeous garden! Tempts me to move to that climate. I'm in zone 5.
Beautiful garden and well done video.
I realize "sticks of fire" euphorbia is common in gardens and public places all around San Diego. But I must request that whenever you feature one, as in this video, you add a STRONG warning, that even the slightest drop of its white sap, transferred to your eye by your hand,your hair or a tall blade of grass can cause SEVERE EYE PAIN, lasting for hours, and usually sending its victims to the emergency room. I did appreciate the plant names, pronounced and written, and loved the overall look, especially the opening from living room. Sandi