In the Garden Articles

Livable Landscapes

by Joan S. Bolton

It may not be a conscious decision. But most of us select plants based entirely on how they look, rather than also considering whether those particular plants, in the long run, are appropriate for our mild, dry climate.

That's something that sustainability advocates would like to change.

Rick Darke, an expert on ornamental grasses, is the latest garden guru to take up the cause. He puts his own stamp on the sustainability movement with a concept he calls "Livable Landscapes."

The catchy phrase promotes the idea that we're to embrace whatever environment surrounds us. It's also part of the title of his new book, "The Encyclopedia of Grasses for Livable Landscapes."

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"There are options even in the tiniest space to introduce something that is something authentically from that larger landscape," Darke said. "Even though I may be living in a tract home in California, I may drive to one of the most glorious landscapes in the world. If I can capture a little bit of that, some significant cue, make that a part of my daily experience... It may be that one Calamagrostis, a little sweep in front. It's a little drought tolerant and has a little seasonality."

While Darke firmly believes in using native plants such as our reed grass (Calamagrostis), he's not pushing for natives only.

"People who are jumping on the native plant band wagon and are doing everything possible to keep them alive: that's not a livable landscape. That is just as much an exercise in consumption as someone who's getting a rare exotic," he said.

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Instead, Darke said when he looks for suitable plants, he roams neighboring properties and old farms near his home in Pennsylvania.

"I know these people aren't hacking it, whacking it, fertilizing it. It looks good. so that says to me, even if it's something that's exotic, it's a sensible plant... You can mix things that are both local and exotic in terms of being foreign, and make a livable landscape.

"The art of gardening is learning how to plant so you can actually grow something that does well with your water, soils, wind."

On the Central Coast, for instance, Darke said, "Grasses in mass are an authentic California coastal signature."

Yet that doesn't mean that he wants folks to fill their gardens with rolling waves of grain. Instead, he prefers a mix of grasses, herbs, flowering shrubs and trees.

"Grasses are most beautiful when they are used in association with other plants and garden elements that are different than them," he said.

In his book, Darke displays familiar scenes of Central Coast hillsides cloaked in tawny grasses, chaparral and oaks. One image, taken at the Leaning Pine Arboretum, provides an interesting counterpoint to another image that Darke shot at the Royal Horticultural Society's Wisley garden in England.

The first is a sweeping view of robust clumps of deergrass (Muhlenbergia rigens), fremontia and ceanothus among serpentine boulders at the Leaning Pine Arboretum. Clearly, it's our native landscape at large.

The second image is a close-up of strappy-leaved dwarf agapanthus and small clumps of serrated tussock grass (Nassella trichotoma) growing in cobblestones and mulch.

The composition and feel of the two landscapes are very similar. Yet while the first is beyond our bounds, the second could be easily replicated in just about any garden here.

In addition, rather than scoffing at agapanthus as all too common or not native enough, Darke noted, "Agapanthus is part of the cultural landscape. It's been in coastal California gardens way more than a century. It's deeply rooted in what works."

Likewise, Darke advises seeking out other plants from Mediterranean climates that grow well here, especially those than get by with little irrigation.

"I've got pictures of California landscapes, lawns being watered with water running off the sidewalk. You don't have the water to waste," he said.

Darke said he waters new plants in his East Coast garden. But once the plants are established, he stops.

"I think it's possible to garden without irrigating. Many people you're writing for may be dead by the time that happens. We're going to go there. The kind of consumption that we've been encountering, it's not sustainable," he said. "If I were gardening in California, I'd be working with what I have."

That includes taking another look at the earth tones of many of our native grasses.

Darke noted that the colors brown, beige and tan are popular in interior design. Yet, "In the garden, we sometimes get fixed on 'If it isn't green, it doesn't count.'... In the book, there are a number of shots of California native grasses months after they've bloomed. The architecture of those grasses, the remnants of their seed heads with new growth coming up, that's a beautiful look... The sere colors of California browns, if you will, are really quite beautiful."

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Now, For the Book

In his new book, "The Encyclopedia of Grasses for Livable Landscapes," Rick Darke promotes the idea that gardening doesn't stop at the edge of one's property.

Instead, he urges gardeners to draw from the surrounding environs to create "livable landscapes" composed of grasses and other plants that thrive with limited resources.

"I see the role of the garden not just as sustainable but as sustaining," he said. "It's lovely if you can eat them. (But) you can have a landscape that sustains you in terms of intrigue and insight. Isn't so much of the world spending money to chase boredom away? Can you bring a little drama into your very mundane, very common ground? I know this works. You've got to make that jump."

While Darke lives in Pennsylvania, he photographed a number of the more than 1,000 images in his book on the Central Coast, including the Leaning Pine Arboretum, Santa Barbara Botanic Garden and private gardens designed by Dave Fross, owner of Native Sons Wholesale Nursery in Arroyo Grande.

For more information, visit www.rickdarke.com or www.timberpress.com.

Seeds of Wisdom

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"It's all about some little cue. 'I'm here, it's California and I'm proud of it.'"

---Rick Darke, author of "The Encyclopedia of Grasses for Livable Landscapes."