Designer’s Delight

This landscape delights the eye and beckons attention for a lot of reasons! This is the only home on the garden tour with lawn. Lawn?! Yes, lawn. Let’s be clear…the Elk Grove Greener Gardens Project is not a ‘hater’ of lawn. Similar to eating your favorite sinful treat, we suggest moderation or at least reducing the quantity. When using turf there are a few things to keep in mind that make it ‘greener’ (and we’re not referring to its color). Install lawn in widths that allow for efficient irrigation coverage and maintenance practices. Keep your irrigation system in good working order and prevent runoff and overspray. And, use a mulching mower to return nutrients to the soil and reduce the need for synthetic fertilizers. The overall aesthetic of this home is very pleasing…the exterior color selection, custom entry gate, turquoise front door, wide staggered entry steps and then there’s the landscape! The plant material selection in this garden is extensive and varied. The choices are generally water-wise with the exception of some existing plant material that the homeowners retained with the renovation. The level of contrast in foliage color, texture and formis exciting. The use of succulents (Dudleya, Echeveria, Aeonium and Aloe) throughout the landscape adds to the chorus of contrast. The variety results in color from both foliage and flower that is year round. But what makes this landscape so worthy of special attention is its reduced use of turf in combination with its extensive use of climate appropriate, water-wise plants to create a beautiful garden…a designer’s delight! (Sculpture – ‘Circles of Life’ by Kanika Marshall, www.kanikamarshall.com)

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