Lake Hodges garden is a highlight of a new native plants tourBy MARY JAMES • SPECIAL TO THE U-T
APRIL 19, 2012
Joe Ferguson relaxes in a hammock in his garden.
A stylized fireplace flanked by rocks is a focal point of the garden’s social area.
A cabin in the garden was constructed from a kit.
About the tour“Go Wild!”: San Diego Native Garden Tour inaugural self-guided tour of 25 native gardens, public and private, around San Diego County. Also included are lectures by native plant landscape designers, plant sales, refreshments and the opportunity to win a garden design.
When: April 28-29, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Tickets: $20 (good for both days)
Information and tickets: www.cnpssd.org/tour.
Joe Ferguson and his wife, Laurie, jumped at the chance years ago to purchase the lot across the street from their home overlooking Lake Hodges. That half-acre of land, home to just three scruffy oaks, stood untouched until the couple and their son were joined by twin boys in 1998. “Then Laurie asked for a lawn where the kids could play,” recalls Joe. “I’ve been working on the garden ever since.”
The long oval of turf is still there, a favorite spot for the boys’ soccer and football games. But now they share the garden with their parents and friends who are drawn to its many grown-up charms — a mature native plant landscape and rustic garden rooms ranging from a cozy cedar cabin and shaded hammock to a fanciful fireplace open to the sky and lake breezes. Ferguson’s rock collection and quirky art finds add to the romance that has enticed two wedding parties there.
“I did the original design and called out the plantings,” said landscape designer Greg Rubin of California’s Own Native Landscape Design in Escondido. “But Joe really made it his own and gave it character with all of his creativity.”
On April 28-29, Ferguson’s garden will be among 25 public and private gardens from Chula Vista to Fallbrook open for visits as part of the first San Diego Native Plant Garden Tour — “Go Wild!” Rubin and tour organizers hope this inaugural event, sponsored by the San Diego Chapter of the California Native Plants Society, “will showcase the many possibilities with natives in the landscape.”
“Native plants just feel right,” says Joe, a dairy cow veterinarian who works with the region’s few remaining cattle ranches. But as he brought the garden to life, he admits to a couple of false starts, including flings with hydroseeding and tropicals, and a few daunting setbacks. “I remember picking up the plants Greg had selected — all 700 of them — in a friend’s horse trailer,” Joe says. “I planted them in April; the heat was brutal. Six months later, I had lost 15 percent of them.”
Among the many survivors were two showy bloomers that have become favorites — wild lilac (Ceanothus) and manzanita (Arctostaphylos). In early spring, in the rear of the garden, a hedge of ‘Tassajara Blue’ wild lilac echoes the deep blue lake in the distance, while clusters of dainty pale pink bells on ‘Sunset’ and ‘Howard McMinn’ manzanita scent the air with honey.
Native sages also perfume the garden — and sometimes Joe’s car, when he tucks a piece of ‘Pozo Blue’ Cleveland sage (Salvia clevelandii) inside before heading off on his rounds. It and purple sage (Saliva leucophylla) are planted near the cabin, built from a Canadian-made kit and shaded by an airy ‘Desert Museum’ palo verde.
The gravel patio and wood deck outside the cabin house a few of the boulders and rocks collected by Joe over the years for their colorful striations or anthropomorphic shapes. One that suggests a round Buddha reigns beneath a gazebo built from the limbs of an oak charred in a long-ago wildfire. Guarding it is the garden’s newest denizen, a rusted metal gorilla purchased in Temecula. “Instead of gorillas in the mist, this is gorilla in the manzanita,” Joe says with a laugh.
Rocks and repurposed branches also dress the garden’s social area that includes an outdoor dining room, fireplace and water feature.
An open peaked roof shelters a long table illuminated by a chandelier Joe outfits with candles instead of light bulbs. Water burbles down a rotund fountain he crafted from a sewer pipe and clad in rocks.
More of Joe’s artistry shines in a metal gate he designed with images of the lake, surrounding mountains and the quail that delight him when a covey flits through the garden.
When his kids are grown, Joe expects the lawn will shrink. “What do I have planned?” he asks. “I don’t have one. I never had an idea how the garden would turn out, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised, making do with what I had and making it fun.
“But now, anytime I go into nature, I’m humbled. You can’t beat what you see there.”
Five easy nativesNew to native plants? Try these five, suggests Clayton Tschudy, owner of Tschudy Ecological Designs and one of the organizers of the San Diego Native Garden Tour. All can handle the relatively lush conditions of home gardens.
Cleveland Sage Hybrids (Salvia clevelandii): Of the many sages that grace the state’s dry hills, the easiest, showiest, and sweetest-smelling are Cleveland sage and its hybrids. These versatile plants will thrive in a xeriscape or vegetable garden. In mid-spring, blue flower spikes are magnets for butterflies and native stingless bees. Notable cultivars: ‘Pozo Blue,’ ‘Whirly Blue’ and ‘Allen Chickering.’
California Fuchsias (Zauschneria californica): This group of low spreading perennials flowers in the fall when hummingbirds migrate. Watch them stake the plants out and fight off all competitors. Flame-red blooms provide an explosion of color when most perennials are shut down for the hot season. Notable cultivars: ‘Catalina,’ ‘Uvas Canyon’ and ‘Route 66’ for sunny areas; ‘Mattole River’ for shade.
‘Canyon Prince’ Grass (Leymus condensatus ‘Canyon Prince’): Steel-blue, graceful and easy, this grass is reliably 2 feet tall and wide, but may spread quickly in wet and fertile soils. Its leaves are almost shockingly blue, especially paired with russet fall colors of California buckwheat or New Zealand flax. Water lightly and infrequently for best form and color.
Island Bush Poppy (Dendromecon harfordii): The diversity of California’s poppies is remarkable, ranging from the satin-orange state flower and rambunctious matilija poppy to the elusive fire-following wind poppy and cactus-like prickly poppy. But a standout among them is the canary yellow-flowered island bush poppy, an evergreen, upright, 6-foot shrub that blooms for months with no special care.
California Wild Lilac (Ceanothus): World-famous California wild lilacs can be tricky, but they are worth the effort for their stunning early spring blue flowers. Simply leave them alone and they will thrive; but overwater or plant in poorly drained soils and they will succumb. Notable cultivars: ‘Concha,’ ‘Yankee Point’ and ‘Ray Hartman.’
Available April 1, 2020. 1 bedroom house in Del Dios for rent at northwest corner of Lake Dr and Quince Ln. Lake view. Single person preferred. Quiet
and "low-impact" a must. No pets,no smoking. $2,000 per month + electric. First/last required at move in. Do NOT disturb or bother present resident.
Leave inquiry at 760 480-0560. Joe Ferguson.
APRIL 19, 2012
Joe Ferguson relaxes in a hammock in his garden.
A stylized fireplace flanked by rocks is a focal point of the garden’s social area.
A cabin in the garden was constructed from a kit.
About the tour“Go Wild!”: San Diego Native Garden Tour inaugural self-guided tour of 25 native gardens, public and private, around San Diego County. Also included are lectures by native plant landscape designers, plant sales, refreshments and the opportunity to win a garden design.
When: April 28-29, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Tickets: $20 (good for both days)
Information and tickets: www.cnpssd.org/tour.
Joe Ferguson and his wife, Laurie, jumped at the chance years ago to purchase the lot across the street from their home overlooking Lake Hodges. That half-acre of land, home to just three scruffy oaks, stood untouched until the couple and their son were joined by twin boys in 1998. “Then Laurie asked for a lawn where the kids could play,” recalls Joe. “I’ve been working on the garden ever since.”
The long oval of turf is still there, a favorite spot for the boys’ soccer and football games. But now they share the garden with their parents and friends who are drawn to its many grown-up charms — a mature native plant landscape and rustic garden rooms ranging from a cozy cedar cabin and shaded hammock to a fanciful fireplace open to the sky and lake breezes. Ferguson’s rock collection and quirky art finds add to the romance that has enticed two wedding parties there.
“I did the original design and called out the plantings,” said landscape designer Greg Rubin of California’s Own Native Landscape Design in Escondido. “But Joe really made it his own and gave it character with all of his creativity.”
On April 28-29, Ferguson’s garden will be among 25 public and private gardens from Chula Vista to Fallbrook open for visits as part of the first San Diego Native Plant Garden Tour — “Go Wild!” Rubin and tour organizers hope this inaugural event, sponsored by the San Diego Chapter of the California Native Plants Society, “will showcase the many possibilities with natives in the landscape.”
“Native plants just feel right,” says Joe, a dairy cow veterinarian who works with the region’s few remaining cattle ranches. But as he brought the garden to life, he admits to a couple of false starts, including flings with hydroseeding and tropicals, and a few daunting setbacks. “I remember picking up the plants Greg had selected — all 700 of them — in a friend’s horse trailer,” Joe says. “I planted them in April; the heat was brutal. Six months later, I had lost 15 percent of them.”
Among the many survivors were two showy bloomers that have become favorites — wild lilac (Ceanothus) and manzanita (Arctostaphylos). In early spring, in the rear of the garden, a hedge of ‘Tassajara Blue’ wild lilac echoes the deep blue lake in the distance, while clusters of dainty pale pink bells on ‘Sunset’ and ‘Howard McMinn’ manzanita scent the air with honey.
Native sages also perfume the garden — and sometimes Joe’s car, when he tucks a piece of ‘Pozo Blue’ Cleveland sage (Salvia clevelandii) inside before heading off on his rounds. It and purple sage (Saliva leucophylla) are planted near the cabin, built from a Canadian-made kit and shaded by an airy ‘Desert Museum’ palo verde.
The gravel patio and wood deck outside the cabin house a few of the boulders and rocks collected by Joe over the years for their colorful striations or anthropomorphic shapes. One that suggests a round Buddha reigns beneath a gazebo built from the limbs of an oak charred in a long-ago wildfire. Guarding it is the garden’s newest denizen, a rusted metal gorilla purchased in Temecula. “Instead of gorillas in the mist, this is gorilla in the manzanita,” Joe says with a laugh.
Rocks and repurposed branches also dress the garden’s social area that includes an outdoor dining room, fireplace and water feature.
An open peaked roof shelters a long table illuminated by a chandelier Joe outfits with candles instead of light bulbs. Water burbles down a rotund fountain he crafted from a sewer pipe and clad in rocks.
More of Joe’s artistry shines in a metal gate he designed with images of the lake, surrounding mountains and the quail that delight him when a covey flits through the garden.
When his kids are grown, Joe expects the lawn will shrink. “What do I have planned?” he asks. “I don’t have one. I never had an idea how the garden would turn out, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised, making do with what I had and making it fun.
“But now, anytime I go into nature, I’m humbled. You can’t beat what you see there.”
Five easy nativesNew to native plants? Try these five, suggests Clayton Tschudy, owner of Tschudy Ecological Designs and one of the organizers of the San Diego Native Garden Tour. All can handle the relatively lush conditions of home gardens.
Cleveland Sage Hybrids (Salvia clevelandii): Of the many sages that grace the state’s dry hills, the easiest, showiest, and sweetest-smelling are Cleveland sage and its hybrids. These versatile plants will thrive in a xeriscape or vegetable garden. In mid-spring, blue flower spikes are magnets for butterflies and native stingless bees. Notable cultivars: ‘Pozo Blue,’ ‘Whirly Blue’ and ‘Allen Chickering.’
California Fuchsias (Zauschneria californica): This group of low spreading perennials flowers in the fall when hummingbirds migrate. Watch them stake the plants out and fight off all competitors. Flame-red blooms provide an explosion of color when most perennials are shut down for the hot season. Notable cultivars: ‘Catalina,’ ‘Uvas Canyon’ and ‘Route 66’ for sunny areas; ‘Mattole River’ for shade.
‘Canyon Prince’ Grass (Leymus condensatus ‘Canyon Prince’): Steel-blue, graceful and easy, this grass is reliably 2 feet tall and wide, but may spread quickly in wet and fertile soils. Its leaves are almost shockingly blue, especially paired with russet fall colors of California buckwheat or New Zealand flax. Water lightly and infrequently for best form and color.
Island Bush Poppy (Dendromecon harfordii): The diversity of California’s poppies is remarkable, ranging from the satin-orange state flower and rambunctious matilija poppy to the elusive fire-following wind poppy and cactus-like prickly poppy. But a standout among them is the canary yellow-flowered island bush poppy, an evergreen, upright, 6-foot shrub that blooms for months with no special care.
California Wild Lilac (Ceanothus): World-famous California wild lilacs can be tricky, but they are worth the effort for their stunning early spring blue flowers. Simply leave them alone and they will thrive; but overwater or plant in poorly drained soils and they will succumb. Notable cultivars: ‘Concha,’ ‘Yankee Point’ and ‘Ray Hartman.’
Available April 1, 2020. 1 bedroom house in Del Dios for rent at northwest corner of Lake Dr and Quince Ln. Lake view. Single person preferred. Quiet
and "low-impact" a must. No pets,no smoking. $2,000 per month + electric. First/last required at move in. Do NOT disturb or bother present resident.
Leave inquiry at 760 480-0560. Joe Ferguson.