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The California Native Landscape: The Homeowner's Design Guide to Restoring Its Beauty and Balance
Water shortages and water rationing are commonplace throughout California, rendering expanses of lawn and thirsty, nonnative plants unsustainable. The California Native Landscape addresses both concerns by showing homeowners how to succeed with natives and showing them how lush, colorful, and thriving their landscape can be. The authors stress the importance of smart garden design and combining the right plants to promote the natural symbiosis that occurs within plant communities. Native plants also play an important role in creating fire-resistant landscapes, and this new book has cutting-edge information on this crucial topic, refuting the myth that natives are more fire-prone than nonnatives. With its unique combination of proven techniques, environmental wisdom, and inspiring design advice, this is an essential resource for all California gardeners who want to create a beautiful, ecologically appropriate, and resource-conserving home landscape.
372 pages, Hardcover
First published February 26, 2013
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65 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
October 30, 2014
Where The Landscaping Ideas of Jays is the book I would recommend to someone starting out in native plant gardening to get them excited about the subject, The California Native Landscape is the one I would recommend for more of the nuts and bolts details about how to make it work.
For example, although many books on the topic discuss the ease with which alien weeds (the most difficult problem for the native gardener) can overtake formerly pristine habitat after it's been disturbed by human development, this is the first one I've read that really breaks down the science behind it -- the complex relationships between native plants and the soil fungi they co-evolved with, how standard agricultural practices can mess that ecosystem up, and most importantly how to make it better (which at the end of the day largely consists of simply "don't do that", but it's really nice to know WHY). The information on planting and maintenance practices incorporates this information as well, addressing specific common pitfalls, discussing why those practices are problematic, and offering simple solutions.
Although I'm not personally a big fan of herbicides, the section on herbicide use to control weeds was hugely informative, discussing mechanisms of action of specific different chemicals and how to use these to target specific weeds at specific stages of development without damaging the rest of the garden ecosystem. Again, this is a first among the books I've read, since to the extent herbicides are discussed in native gardening books they're usually either shunned as unnatural or prescribed for broad-spectrum annihilation without any discussion of potential collateral damage -- having in-depth information on how everything works enables an informed decision on what strategy you personally want to use.
Beyond the fine details of how to keep your plants healthy, this is also a good resource for larger garden design formulas, including how to create standard garden "looks" (e.g. formal, Mediterranean, Asian) using specific California native plants, and common design pitfalls (e.g. doing "one of everything" rather than using repetition and rhythm).
Overall, an excellent resource, especially for the native gardener with a science-nerd-ish bent.
For example, although many books on the topic discuss the ease with which alien weeds (the most difficult problem for the native gardener) can overtake formerly pristine habitat after it's been disturbed by human development, this is the first one I've read that really breaks down the science behind it -- the complex relationships between native plants and the soil fungi they co-evolved with, how standard agricultural practices can mess that ecosystem up, and most importantly how to make it better (which at the end of the day largely consists of simply "don't do that", but it's really nice to know WHY). The information on planting and maintenance practices incorporates this information as well, addressing specific common pitfalls, discussing why those practices are problematic, and offering simple solutions.
Although I'm not personally a big fan of herbicides, the section on herbicide use to control weeds was hugely informative, discussing mechanisms of action of specific different chemicals and how to use these to target specific weeds at specific stages of development without damaging the rest of the garden ecosystem. Again, this is a first among the books I've read, since to the extent herbicides are discussed in native gardening books they're usually either shunned as unnatural or prescribed for broad-spectrum annihilation without any discussion of potential collateral damage -- having in-depth information on how everything works enables an informed decision on what strategy you personally want to use.
Beyond the fine details of how to keep your plants healthy, this is also a good resource for larger garden design formulas, including how to create standard garden "looks" (e.g. formal, Mediterranean, Asian) using specific California native plants, and common design pitfalls (e.g. doing "one of everything" rather than using repetition and rhythm).
Overall, an excellent resource, especially for the native gardener with a science-nerd-ish bent.
November 27, 2019
Nicely written book with good photos. Includes basics of the California ecosystem and natural history, design principles, installing a new garden, maintenance suggestions, pest and weed treatment, and a lengthy selection on plant selection that takes up about 1/3 of the book. Each plant description includes a section on landscape usage. A good overall primer book for those new to CA garden design.
April 19, 2015
Practical and well-organized. Native plants are divided into categories that are relevant to the gardener, such as "large deciduous trees", "small deciduous trees", "screening shrubs", etc.
Lots of useful pictures, and I particularly enjoyed the section on traditional garden styles and the lists of California natives that can be used to substitute for exotic plants that are usually used in those traditional garden styles. Thinking about it more, I wish that section was enlarged - a few more pages on "designing a with California natives" (insert your favorite traditional style in the <>) would have been really useful.
Lots of useful pictures, and I particularly enjoyed the section on traditional garden styles and the lists of California natives that can be used to substitute for exotic plants that are usually used in those traditional garden styles. Thinking about it more, I wish that section was enlarged - a few more pages on "designing a with California natives" (insert your favorite traditional style in the <>) would have been really useful.
July 30, 2015
A must read for California gardeners. Any questions regarding history, landscape, soil, selection, and the many requirements in maintenance are addressed. This has suggestions and ideas for any and all successful adventures in horticulture especially during this period of drought in Southern California.
This offers an exciting daily lesson to keep close at hand between weed pulling and decisions about any possible plants to add. Your own personal landscape planner! Most importantly, ways to recreate a space in agreement with our terrain!
This offers an exciting daily lesson to keep close at hand between weed pulling and decisions about any possible plants to add. Your own personal landscape planner! Most importantly, ways to recreate a space in agreement with our terrain!
November 5, 2014
If you live in Southern California and have any landscaping, this is a MUST read. Greg Rubin is a top expert in the field of CA native landscaping. His company designed the landscaping at our home. This book explains not only what to plant and how to plant it, but also the science behind why natives thrive if appropriately planted and cared for.
May 16, 2016
Well suited for the technical gardener. Seems to be a bit too focused on Southern California, although the plants discussed should still work in most of the drier West Coast. This is an extremely important topic in the parched future of landscape design for much of the West. I will be using this book as a handy reference for my landscape design.
Have a GoodReads.
Have a GoodReads.
June 5, 2013
Too detailed for me, but great for serious drought-tolerant gardeners. I would have liked more pictures and diagrams. If you are already started in creating your drought-tolerant landscape, or if you are a landscape professional, this just might be the book for you.
December 28, 2016
This is the perfect resource for finding the plants that grow best in a desert climate with little water or maintenance. I will definitely return to this book when I am ready to purchase plants for our new, draught-friendly yard.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews