All posts by Jan Nelson

I am a landscape designer and consultant in the Santa Cruz mountains in California. I write a weekly gardening column for the Press Banner newspaper. I am also a Calif. Advanced Certified Nursery Professional and managed The Plantworks Nursery in Ben Lomond, Ca. for 20 years.
Design trends

Lessons from the Fire

First year California yerba santa with lupine after the fire.

My house in Bonny Doon burned down on August 19, 2020. I know this because my neighbor sent me a photo the next day after the fire had moved on down the slope. The next spring quite a few of my plants were making a valiant effort to regrow despite being burned to the ground. I saved about 75 plants that I now call “pets” at my new place in Boulder Creek. So this is a story of survival and renewal.

Mother Nature has millennia to recover from a forest fire. Us, not so much. Much of the 86,000 acres burned in the CZU Lightning Complex fire is now covered densely with the pioneer native plants yerba santa and Ceanothus thyrsiflorus that thrive in disturbed soils like after a fire. The land will sort itself out in the decades to come. The ceanothus will feed the soil enabling trees to regrow. But for now it might seem too much of a good thing especially for those rebuilding after the fire. These are some of the things I’ve learned about fire and renewal.

Ceanothus is so beautiful in the spring, forming lovely cluster of blue and white flowers that produce many seeds. Birds and other wildlife love them. The heat from the fire triggered dormant seeds in the soil to germinate in large numbers. The post-fire conditions, with plenty of light and minimal competition, are ideal for the growth of woody shrubs and this dense shrub layer has rapidly grown over your head in many areas, especially Big Basin.

As a native species, ceanothus plays an important role after a fire but it may also increase wildfire risks. It is relatively short lived. Observations after the 2009 Lockheed fire show that the death of ceanothus as the canopy thickens leads to a significant accumulation of dead woody material in the forest understory. Management will be necessary especially around homes, old growth trees and other important natural resources.

If you are interested in monitoring or managing ceanothus on your property you can reach out to Brian Woodward of the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources. He has a blog where I found out this valuable information.

Around my old property in Bonny Doon as well as Boulder Creek, native California yerba santa has taken over. It germinates from seed during the first post year growing season. Seeds that have lain dormant in the soil for decades will germinate following a fire. It’s possible that their hard coated seeds will not germinated except when scarified. So fire may break the seed’s dormancy by burning off the litter layer and exposing the seed to sufficient light to allow germination.

It does provide some forage for our black-tailed deer especially in the winter when more desirable plants are scarce. Deer consumption increases during the first two years following a fire. But now at year 4 after the fire, yerba santa has grown to its full height of 8 feet and is hard to control. Spreading by seed and underground runners it’s taken over many burned properties. The leaves secrete flammable resins and waxes which build up and make the leaf surface gummy. The branches are also glutinous. Older, resinous leaves are dropped during summer producing highly flammable litter.

With shallow roots within the top 8 inches of soil and multi branching rhizomes every 8-10 inches yerba santa is hard to control. It is a diminished survivor and plants gradually die out, however, as the community matures and is displaced in climax communities by chaparral, ceanothus cuneatus, and manzanita.

An interesting fact is that Native Californians used the leaves of yerba santa in the form of a tea to treat respiratory sickness, colds and stomach aches.

Foxglove that self sowed in a Mexican Weeping Bamboo that survived the fire.

Back here in my little garden, my surviving “pets’ are blooming and happy. It took a couple of years for the roots to recover after being burned so badly but the stems eventually re-sprouted. I lost all my maples and other trees as only the redwoods survived but I’m happy that I have flowers for the hummingbirds and what more can you ask for?

Design trends

Grasses in the Garden

Pheasant Tail grass is carefree and long lived.

What was I thinking trying to talk a client out of adding grasses to her former lawn area? I gave her all the reasons she should focus on other low water use, low maintenance, deer resistant plants, but I can’t get the vision of grasses back lit in the evening light and swaying gently in the breeze out of my mind so she’s going to get her wish. There are so many that do well in our area to choose from. Here are just a few that are my favorites.

There’s an ornamental grass for every type of garden. Whether you are striving to create the perfect perennial border or have a hot dry slope, grasses can work in harmony wherever you place them. There are some that are made for the shade, some that are perfect additions to a small water feature and many that are invaluable in container gardening.

Grasses are distinguished from other plant families by their growth habit. They grow upward from the base of a leaf or shoot and can regrow from the crown when cut back. There are other grasslike plants that resemble grasses in their growth habits and are often some of the best companions for interplanting with grasses. These include New Zealand flax, carex family sedges, libertia, chondropetalum, kangaroo paw, lomandra, dianella, cordyline and liriope to name just a few.

Are sections of your garden hot and dry? Grasses are survivors and are good choices for sunny spots that get little irrigation. Good drainage is a must for these plants so amend the soil with plenty of organic matter before planting. Combine drought tolerant grasses like Mendocino Reed Grass (pennisetum foliosa) with companion plants and a few accent rocks to complete your dry theme. If you like blue foliage, try Elijah Blue fescue grass with Amazing Red flax for a show stopping combination.

If you are trying to create a focal point or destination in your garden and think the texture. light and movement of a grass would be perfect, look to the taller varieties. A personal favorite is Stipa gigantea or Giant Feather Grass. They take drought conditions once established but also will grow with regular garden watering. The beautiful flower spikes are good in dried arrangements. Giant Feather grass looks great with the purple flowers of penstemon ‘Midnight’.

There’s a reason old favorites like Karl Foerster Feather Reed Grass is so popular in landscapes. It doesn’t get too tall or overpowering in the smaller garden and its upright habit is neat and tidy. Outside my front door are several Overdam Feather Reed Grasses that are spectacular when backlit by late afternoon sun. What’s not to love about a stunning variegated grass with white and green stripes? Now in the summer, pink flower plumes sway above the foliage. iI the fall, the buff-colored flowers spikes will remain until I cut everything back to 6 inches just before new growth starts in winter.

Pheasant Tail grass is another popular grass that is carefree and long-lived. It grows to only 3 by 3 feet, is not fussy about soil and looks good anywhere you plant it. It combines beautifully with the sky blue flowers of Russian sage and is extremely drought tolerant once established.

Hakonechloa ‘All Gold’

Caring for grasses is easy. As a rule of thumb, if it browns in winter then cut it back before new growth starts. If it’s evergreen by nature just clean up outside leaves. Most like well drained soil and are tolerant of a wide range of garden conditions. You shouldn’t fertilize heavily because an excess of nitrogen can lead to lush, soft growth that tends to flop. Mulching with 2 inches of compost yearly will keep the soil and your plants in good shape. Water grasses regularly during their first year to help get a good root system established. Even grasses that are normally touted as drought-tolerant require a season or two to become fully established.

These are just a few of the places where grasses can enhance and add beauty to your garden.

Design trends

Ceanothus- The Most Valuable Plant

Ceanothus ‘Heart’s Desire

When the huge numbers of California Tortoiseshell butterflies showed up around here on June 10th, I learned a lot about the different species of ceanothus and how dependent we are on this plant. Because most of us live near or in a Wildland Urban interface we are aware of the benefits of ceanothus and other native plants. From erosion control to habitat, to seed and nectar for pollinators, birds and butterflies, ceanothus is a most valuable plant. A visit to any local nursery will tempt you to get one of each for your own garden. But are cultivars or “nativars” of ceanothus as valuable as native ceanothus?

Research is ongoing but there are only a few studies comparing the nutritional value of straight native species to culivars or nativars. Many may have as high en ecological value as native species but this is not absolute. Dark foliage, for instance, does not provided the nutritional value for leaf-eating larvae. There is so much that we need to study.

A cultivar of Carmel Creeper groundcover, Diamond Heights is good for erosion control.

The groundcover varieties I have used in landscape include Anchor Bay, Carmel Creeper, Heart’s Desire, Centennial and Diamond Heights. If deer frequent your landscape you should stick with Anchor Bay, Heart’s Desire and Centennial but the others are great in protected areas.

One of the upright types growing everywhere in the Santa Cruz Mountain is ceanothus thysiflorus. It’s one of the earliest native shrubs to bloom in our area. It grows along a narrow band close to the coast from Monterey to southern Oregon. There are many nativars of this variety. I like Julia Phelps with those electric blue flowers. It’s a hybrid of Wartleaf Ceanothus and Santa Barbara Ceanothus It’s similar in appliance to another popular nativar called ‘Dark Star’.

A great variety I often use when designing a garden is Ceanothus ‘Concha’ because it will accept summer water more forgivingly than most and tolerates clay soil more than other species. Joyce Coulter ceanothus also tolerates clay, summer irrigation and shearing better than other cultivars. It’s a good bloomer, drought tolerant and is covered in spring with wildly fragrant blue three-inch flower spikes.

Ceanothus is often said to be short lived. Most varieties need good drainage, little summer water and don’t need soil amendments. In their wild conditions ceanothus plants have a natural life cycle of 10-15 years although some live longer.

Several members of the ceanothus family can form a symbiotic relationship with soil micro-organisms and fungi, forming root nodules which fix nitrogen. This is a reason why fertilizing is not normally recommended. Adding fertilizer might kill off the good micro-organisms. Ceanothus are better left fending for themselves.

Carmel Creeper

Ceanothus provide excellent habitat for birds and insects. They are good for attracting bee and pollinators and are the larval host plants for the beautiful ceanothus silkmoth. Ceanothus seed is readily eaten by many local birds. Planting a ceanothus is an important step to attracting more birds and wildlife to your garden.

Early California Indians used the fresh or dried flowers of some varieties for washing, lathered into a soap. it has been said to relieve poison oak, eczema and rash.