Lemon Espalier

Nearly every garden I design has some of citrus tree in it and for good reason. Not only is the fruit wonderful, easy and tasty but citrus trees are evergreen, so they look great in the landscape all year round.

Many of the varieties are available in two different root stocks: dwarf (grows 8-10 feet tall) and regular (grows 20+ feet tall). Also, for the patient gardener, you can train your citrus into an espalier or have a professional, high-end gardener do this for you.

All citrus does well in full sun but here are some of our favorite varieties for Santa Clara, San Mateo and Alameda Counties:

Orange Trees

Cara Cara- Pink flesh, sweet and seedless

Navel Washington- Sweet, seedless winter ripening variety

Valencia- Harvested in June so they are very sweet, great for juicing

Moro Blood- Deep red coloration, almost purple-red. Very productive, early maturity, distinctive aroma, exotic berry-like flavor. Needs lots of heat

 Mandarin Trees

Satsuma ‘Owari- Hardiest tree of all mandarins. Fruit Ripens in November, December and is usually picked before the first frost. Seedless fruit peels easily

Golden Nugget- Seedless. The taste is extremely sweet when mature (March-May) with a very rich flavor, considered by professional taste panels to be one of the very best flavored citrus in the world.

Algerian Clementine- Ripens about a month after Satsuma, classic sweet/tart mandarin flavor. Few seeds.

 Lemon Trees

Eureka- A true lemon (not a hybrid like Meyer) has larger fruit bearing multiple crops per year, but the main season is late winter, spring, and early summer. Thornless.

Improved Meyer- Bears fruit year round and cold hardy. Can handle partial shade. Great for lemonade and cocktails

Variegated Pink – a mutation of ‘Eureka’ that has variegated (green-and-white striped) leaves and immature fruit striped green and cream, mature flesh is light pink plus the tree itself is smaller making it very garden-friendly.

 Lime Trees

Bearss- A tried and true lime that is great for cooking, drinks and cocktails

Mexican- If you like key lime pie, this is your tree

Palestine Sweet- Juicy yellow fruit with less sugar and acid than the Bearss Lime. With its mild flavor and few seeds, it makes a refreshing, cooling drink.

Kieffer- Their leaves, zest, and juice are used in Thai, Cambodian, and Indonesian cooking

Grapefruit Trees

Oroblanco- Sweet seedless fruit even in areas of low summer heat. Huge, intensely fragrant flowers and attractive glossy foliage.

Rio Red- Red-fleshed fruit that ripens in winter.  Wonderful for juice or eating fresh

Chandler pummel- Pink-fleshed fruit which are somewhat larger than standard grapefruit. Heavy producing in the right location, provided sufficient summer heat and frost protection

 Exotic Citrus Trees

Buddha Hand Lemon

Nagami Kumquat- The most widely available kumquat in North America. Olive size and shape, bright orange fruit.

Calamondin- Prolific fruit production. Zesty acid juice. Handsome compact habit making it great for containers

Buddha Hand Citron- Fruit forms finger-like sections resembling a human hand. It is much esteemed for its delicate lemon fragrance in China and Japan. Fruit has virtually no pulp, but can be sliced and candied in syrup. Not frost tolerant

Clients John and Nancy, a retired couple in Mountain View, enjoy traveling, spending time with their family and growing their own vegetables. They came to me with a request that many people have these days, “Design us a private sanctuary that is fun and safe for my grandchildren and the dog, but also make it easy to maintain.”

No problem! We began with a site analysis of their corner lot property noting the strengths and challenges of each area. Since they had a full sun side yard, it was obvious where the new edible garden would reside. We said goodbye to the circa 1970’s pittosporum hedges and designed multiple raised planter beds, wire trellises for grape vines and a cut flower area. A single post arbor frames the guest bedroom window while still allowing in sunlight and begins the wire trellis vine support.

The backyard had an existing pool, hot tub and nice shade canopy that made growing a traditional lawn impossible. By extending the fence line out towards the veggie area, we reclaimed some much needed space for a covered sand pit for the grandchildren to play in and a larger turf area for their elderly golden retriever to nap on. We reworked the circulation pathways and got rid of the tripping hazards from the mossy flagstone and the awkward entry to the hot tub.

With our motto of more fun with less work, we made two major decisions. Keep most of the shade canopy intact and install realistic (artificial) turf that will save the homeowners time and money from mowing, fertilizing and dog urine burn spots.

Additional seating was added to allow them different points to relax in the garden. Probably the most relaxing and most requested place to sit in the garden is in the “air chair” swing! Another relaxing place is under the single post arbor flanked by ceramic glazed pots which gives a great view of the new water feature.

With the fun of the vegetables, cut flowers, sand pit, and swing with the relaxing elements of the water feature, no-mow lawn and hot tub, what’s not to love?

Landscape construction provided by SouthBay Landscaping.

Click here for the before images and to see their landscape design plan.

What vegetables can I plant in my garden this fall? Here are some edibles to plant September through November. They not only taste great but their beautiful foliage and colors will look wonderful in your garden too.

Cabbage comes in many different varieties. There are red-leafed ones, miniature types for small spaces and multicolored flowering types. Savoy varieties have wonderful crinkly leaves and are the most frost hardy. Plant cabbage in full sun or light shade for hot inland areas. If you get an infestation of cabbage worms, Baccillus thuringiensis is an eco safe product. Or for a non pesticide approach, hand removing eggs on the underside of leaves every few days works well.

Endive comes in smooth leaf and lettuce-like varieties. Fine fringed varieties, called Escarole, contrast beautifully with the smooth leaved edibles in your garden. Plant endive in full sun or light shade for hot inland areas.

Lettuce can be grown almost year-round and comes in a wide variety of shapes: round, rosette shaped, upright and crinkled. Try to mix and match different forms for a dramatic effect. All types make a welcome addition around the edges of flower borders. If you plant leafy lettuce you’ll enjoy the added benefit of only needing to harvest the outer leaves (instead of beheading the whole plant) which avoids the look of gaps in your garden. Lettuce grows well in shade in rich loam, slightly alkaline soil. Add fish emulsion fertilizer to keep lettuce heads productive. Young lettuce leaves are attractive to snails, so protect young seedlings.

Other wonderful edibles to try this fall include:

Beets

Broccoli

Carrots

Cauliflower

Celery

Kohlrabi

Mustard

Onions

Parsley

Peas

Radishes

Rutabaga

Spinach

Sugar Peas

Swiss Chard

Turnips

*All highlighted edibles mentioned can be easily started by seed or starts which are readily available at nurseries or mail order.

Common Ground Nursery put on another wonderful tour this year. It was enjoyable to spend time in these mouth-watering gardens and see the creativity that both the designers and homeowners put into their spaces. Some of the highlights included:

• Vertical landscaping towers. I loved the succulents but you could also plant with strawberries
• Art and water features.  What a great idea to repurpose an old box spring that acts as both a trellis and an eclectic art piece
• Raised planter beds made from materials such as wood, stone and urbanite
• Edibles surrounding pathways provide an element of surprise along the hardscape
• Rainwater harvesting barrels to irrigate the  edible bounty
• Pergolas and arbors that support peas, runner beans and tomatoes
• Safe and effective ways to keep birds from pecking at your fruit

To see all the pictures from the tour, click here.

I received a great brochure at my last CLCA meeting called ‘Building Neighborhood Foodsheds’ by Owen Dell. Dell is a well-respected author in the landscape community and he has just finished his latest book called “Sustainability for Dummies.” Here is an except from the Dell:

Most of us live in the suburbs, in single-family homes surrounded by a little bit of land. Most suburbs are located on the finest agricultural land on earth, and yet very little food is actually grown there. Most of our food is produced on distant, impersonal mega-farms and delivered to us using large amounts of fossil fuels. Many people are concerned that this fragile and unsustainable system does a lot of environmental damage and could easily collapse for any number of reasons. We have a wonderful opportunity to bring food production back home, literally, by cooperating with our neighbors to grow our own food on our own land. This is especially easy here in Santa Barbara where our growing season is year-round and the climate is suitable for a wide range of crops. Think of your neighborhood as a potential “noshosphere,” a place to create yummy abundance from the ground up.

What’s a foodshed?
The Wisconsin Foodshed Project says, “The term ‘foodshed,’ borrowed from the concept of a watershed, was coined as early as 1929 to describe the flow of food from the area where it is grown into the place where it is consumed. Recently, the term has been revived as a way of looking at and thinking about local, sustainable food systems.”

A “neighborhood foodshed” is a very local food production and distribution system, set up among immediate neighbors, and is intended to produce healthful abundant food without the use of fossil fuels or the exchange of money, and to foster the development of community as well as nutrition.

A neighborhood foodshed begins by defining geographical boundaries. The area should be small enough that one can easily walk from one end to the other with a load of produce, but large enough to grow most elements of a complete diet for the residents. It should include around 100 to 150 people. A good size is 8 city blocks or the equivalent.

The next step is to assess the current food production capabilities of the foodshed. How many pounds of avocados are produced? How many eggs? How many peaches? And so forth.

Then the neighborhood is “tuned” for a balanced diet, adding in the missing elements. One household can grow annual crops like broccoli, beans or tomatoes. Another can plant some peach trees. Someone can raise fish in their pond. Each person makes a commitment to producing one element in the neighborhood diet. Those who are unable or unwilling to do the physical work can make their land available for others to grow on. Food is grown using permaculture and organic methods.

There could be workdays at which neighbors would help one another with gardening tasks. Experienced permaculturists and other food-growing experts from the neighborhood or outside would be available to offer technical advice. Eventually there would be a city-wide resource for advice and training. And members of a working foodshed could help other neighborhoods to set up their own systems.

Each weekend the food is freely shared at a neighborhood farmer’s market, held in someone’s driveway or in a public location. No money changes hands. This can also be a time for potluck, socializing, etc.

Crops that can only be grown in particular microclimates could be traded out to other foodsheds in the city. Surplus foods could be donated to organizations that feed the hungry and homeless, or sold to local restaurants.

Neighborhood foodsheds are fun, healthful and environmentally beneficial. Oh, and food-bearing plants can make a beautiful landscape!

To contact Owen Dell please email him at odell@silcom.com

girl with fava beans

Back in the late 90′s during my first environmental studies class, Frank Schiavo became my hero. His teachings were clear and effective: we all had had the power through our choices to make a positive difference while we live on this planet.

After ten years, I had the opportunity to meet up with Frank again and visit his home. Although he has retired from teaching at San Jose State, he remains active in the environmental community by offering home consultations and tours of his our energy efficient home.

Here’s a brief excerpt from his most recent article (3/13/09) found in San Jose Mercury News (click here to read the entire article)

Surprise — the biggest energy user in your house is in your garage.

If you drive a gas-powered car it typically uses more energy in BTUs (or energy units) per month — any month— than your monthly PG&E energy use in BTUs. So you can realize significant energy savings simply by changing your personal behavior when it comes to your car:

Combine your trips for shopping and errands into a single loop instead of many singles;

Use VTA buses, light rail, and or/Caltrain for work commutes and other trips;

Carpool, bike, or walk if public transportation won’t work for you.

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To make other changes at home, it helps to know where your energy — and energy dollars — are going: Heating and cooling account for 44 percent of energy consumed annually; lighting and appliances account for 33 percent; Water heating is 14 percent; and the refrigerator is 9 percent.

To be smart about energy savings, start with the most cost-effective methods and work your way down a list to more expensive ones.

Heating and cooling tips:

Set thermostat to 67 degrees

Dress warmly in cold weather

Install a programmable thermostat for your furnace

Change filters at the start of winter and again three months later

Weather-strip doors and windows

Install a high-efficiency furnace (80 to 90-plus percent efficiency); and insulate the house (R30 attic, R19 in walls and under floors — R in insulation refers to thermal resistance when heat travels through it).

Install thermal curtains

Replace single-pane windows with double-panes

Add a passive sun room along the south-facing walls of your home

Other ideas for keeping your home comfortable:

Open south- and west-facing window curtains during winter days for warming; close them at night.

Close south- and west-facing windows and window curtains during summer days

Open all windows on summer nights for cooling

If you have an air-conditioner outside, build a small shed over it to shade it; it will operate more efficiently and save you money.

Plant deciduous trees near south- and west-facing windows; they will provide shade in the summer and warmth from sunlight in the winter.

Paint your roof white with an elastomeric paint. This “cool roof”‘ will cool your attic and house in the summer.

Other ways to change your lifestyle:

Grow a garden and buy organic foods. You save energy, water, gasoline and won’t be consuming pesticides.

Compost food scraps and leaves.

Refuse to buy foods that are packaged in stuff that can’t be re-used or recycled.

Prepare your own meals — stop driving to fast-food place and eliminate fast food from your diet.

Turn off the TV more. It will reduce how frequently you hear about stuff you should buy, but really don’t need.

Frank Schiavo is an environmental home consultant. Although he passed away in the beginning of 2010, we honor his memory and will keep the spirit of his philosophies alive.

Homophones are words that sound the same but have different meanings. Can you find the homophone for this sentence:

A waterless vegetable

Answer: LEAK and LEEK

Looks so easy when you see the anwer, right?