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Author Archives: Kate Wiseman

Want your own California native plant garden?

A California native plant garden is a tough thing to peg down: what do people really mean when they say native plantsView full post »

A really drought tolerant fountain

I came across these wonderful fountains today at Cordova Gardens in Encinitas, and I was so charmed by them, I had toView full post »

Fire Pits and Fire Bowls

There are so many examples of terrible fire pits out there (if you google the words “fire pit” you will seeView full post »

Dave’s Garden: possibly the most useful plant website

If you spend a lot of time Googling plants, you have probably already come across the Dave’s Garden website. IfView full post »

It’s all in the details

Just a quick photo for today: a wonderful trellis I came across in my ramblings around South Park. There are so manyView full post »

Rushes and Reeds

Ornamental grasses have seen a real rise in popularity recently as a wonderful way to soften a drought tolerantView full post »

An interesting espalier

An espalier is a tree or shrub pruned to grow in a flat, two-dimensional plane. Typically they are used against walls orView full post »

Garden spotlight: Carmel Valley

This design in Carmel Valley does such a wonderful job of playing with color and texture that I thought it warranted aView full post »

Landscaping goes vertical

Vertical Gardens, Living Walls, or Green Walls are all used to describe a fascinating facade of plants applied in theView full post »

Many desert palms are ideal for San Diego

Only in San Diego can we actually be talking palm trees at Christmas time! The palm tree is so iconic in this town thatView full post »

Why not to plant Ficus close to your house’s foundation

They say a picture speaks a thousand words, so I think I’ll let this one speak for itself. Sage Outdoor Designs isView full post »

Picking boulders 101

One idea that comes to mind for many people looking to save water in their landscape is to incorporate rocks andView full post »

Christmas comes to San Diego County

Winter in San Diego! It snowed this weekend in Julian and I snapped this quick photo of pyracantha dusted with snow inView full post »

Quail botanical garden changes their name

Quail botanical gardens has recently changed its name to San Diego Botanical Garden. Although it will always be Quail toView full post »

Excellent drought tolerant landscape design

This front yard design was done by Los Angeles based Landscape Architect Rob Steiner, and I like it so much I wanted toView full post »