Plant Selection and Planting Design Recommendations

Transcription

1 Plant Selection and Planting Design Recommendations This section deals with plant selection, design of planting compositions and meeting the horticultural needs of selected plants for a conceptually authentic, thriving and selfsustaining garden. The OCP and existing LUB with Cove landscape guidelines have been carefully reviewed and considered. This section is designed to be read along with the broader Garden Gateway proposal document. In the spirit of the Garden Gateway concept of creating a strong sense of place and story, we propose to use primarily native plants (native to the pacific west coast region), along with a few heritage garden plants that celebrate the pioneer history aspect of our Bowen story. Design Considerations We have compiled a recommended short list of plants, with photos (see Chart). These plants must be able to cope with challenging roadside conditions in an exposed, sunny area next to car exhaust and hot asphalt. Only some plants from this list of potentials will be chosen depending on the final design of the rockery. A planting area with generous proportions, depth and suitable soil would allow for a diverse, sustainable and aesthetically pleasing garden that would live up to its potential as a significant gateway garden. We envision a vertical/horizontal layering of plants (simulating a more natural ecosystem) that includes grouping taller shrubs, lower bushes and unifying ground cover to provide light shade, smother weeds and act as mulch to prevent erosion and to cool root systems. In shallow dry areas, grasses and perennials add diversity, movement and summer colour and are easily maintained as a mass. The taller shrub compositions provide light shade, structure and pleasant respite for people resting at seating areas. Plantings are designed for all-season interest, in foliage, flower, form and autumn colour. See landscape design drawing by JWT for illustration and conceptual notes. Recommended plants are those now detailed in the finalized plant list included in this document. Most of the plants on the list are considered reliably deer-resistant. The area by the ferry is a very busy one so deer may not be a significant factor. Over the years, they seem to visit the existing planters in the Cove much less frequently than they used to. Deterring deer is more than just choosing an individual plant; it includes a design that groups taller shrubs/small trees that deer might sample, under-planted with lower deerresistant shrubs and/or perennials/ground covers that repel deer. Often making access inconvenient is enough.

2 Some shrubs on the plant list can grow into larger trees in the ground, however, in the constricted space and limited soil capacity of the rockery, they will naturally bonsai and remain smaller and more compact. Landscaping goals of supporting birds, butterflies and beneficial insects would be generously met with the Garden Gateway design. It is similarly supportive of the broader design goals of integrating nature and natural places into the village for people to enjoy. Aesthetically, the Garden Gateway will please not only visitors but also locals alike, across all the seasons. It would vastly improve the experience of arriving in the Cove and provide an inspiring example of street-side naturalizing, if implemented as envisioned. The generous expanse of garden will work to soften hard surfaces and cool the heat retaining characteristics of concrete and asphalt. Educationally, the garden provides visual inspiration for island garden design possibilities incorporating significant native plantings. Individual plants could be labeled, similar to a botanical garden, for reference. It increases environmental awareness and appreciation of our native/culturally similar plants. Attractive garden signage allows opportunity to highlight the concept, landscape design principles, the Community's volunteer and financial supporters, and perhaps to celebrate special events/themes, such as Christmas lighting or Spring bulb festival. Functionally, the Garden Gateway would lightly screen parking areas, provide garden seating for weary visitors and ferry patrons, help cool the surroundings and, not least of all, be beautiful. The garden will be designed to be largely self-sustaining once established, with a minimum of maintenance required. Once ground covers are established, maintenance should be simple cleanup of foliage in the Fall/Spring and some trimming of established ground covers to keep it tidy. Shrubs will require very little in terms of pruning. An application of organic granular fertilizer once a year would be helpful. Emotionally and spiritually, it would lift the mood, remind one of the changing seasons and refresh the mind. Native plant considerations While it is easy to specify the use of native plants in theory, it is a little more challenging in practice. Many of those are forest and meadow plants not normally adapted to human-altered spaces, especially roadside areas with added challenges of direct exhaust, oil/gas pollutants and areas of compacted soils from human activity.

3 many of our best and most popular native plants prefer shady, moist, humid conditions as understory plants in forest settings or at the edge of open meadows deer are happy to eat them (it's what they ate before we came along) native plants, in particular, look stressed and unhappy in unfavourable conditions and often will go into a long, slow decline there is a very limited palette of tough native plants that thrive/look good as roadside plantings The fact is that many introduced exotic plants do much better in our developed areas. It is possible to create acceptable conditions for native plantings, provided they are carefully combined in generous compositions that provide a bit of shade, an adequate depth of suitable soil and mulch, or living mulch in the form of non-competing ground covers. The non-native plants in our list are included because they are culturally compatible with characteristics that would enhance the impact or concept of the garden. Some of these are those identified as heritage plants (Code H). Others, with seasonal flower/fall colour would add vibrancy, long flowering or seasonality to the garden. Our wish is to create a natural looking, culturally harmonious, ecologically functional and self-sustaining garden. Our proposed design for the garden gateway would allow for the right conditions for the recommended native plants to thrive. Note: The related plant/photo list highlights a variety of plants that would be suitable for this project. Selection of which plants to use will depend on the final design of the garden gateway rockery and any feedback or preferences we receive.

4 (N) na ve, (NN) non-na ve; (T,S,P,GC,G,B) tree, shrub, perennial, groundcover, grass, bulb); DR (deer resistant; (E) evergreen; (D) deciduous; (WP) wildlife/pollinator; (LW) low water; ((FC) Fall colour; (H) heritage Amelanchier alnifolia N,T,DR,WP,LW,FC Penstemon serrulatus N, P, DR, WP, LW Lilac syringia vulgaris (common lilac) NN, S, DR, WP, LW, H Oregon Sunshine: eriophyllum lanatum Thri : Armeria mari me N, P, DR, EG, WP, LW Vine maple: Acer circinatum N, S, DR, D, WP, LW, FC Mahonia nervosa: N, GC, DR, EG, WP, LW, FC Iris douglasii N, P, DR, DC, Coastal Pine: Pinus sylvestris N, T, DR, EG, LW Panicum northwind N, G, DR, EG, LW, FC P. Geranium macrorrhizum N, P, DR, EG, WP, LW Mock Orange: DPhiladelphus lewisii N, S, DR, D, WP, LW Flowering Current: Ribes N, S, DR, EG, WP, LW Epidemium grandiflorum N, P, DR, EG, WP, LW, FC Mugo Pine: Pinus mugo N, S, DR, EG, LW Kinnickinnick: arcstaphylos: N, GC, DR, EG, WP, LW, FC Black-eyed-susan: rudbeckia goldsturm N, P DR, DC, WP, LW, FC, H Cotoneaster dammeri NN, GC, DR, EG, WP, LW, FC Deschampsia cespitosa NN, G, DR, EG, LW, FC Snowdrops:: galanthus NN, B, DR, D, LW, H Sword Fern: Polys chum munitum N, P, DR, EG, LW Calamagros s Karl Forester NN, G, DR, D, LW, FC Cone flower: Echinacea N, DR, D, WP, LW Erica (winter flowering heath) NN, GC, DR, E, WP, LW Salvia nemerosa NN, P, DR, D, WP Aronia N, S, D, WP, LW, FC Erodium cicutarium N, P, DR, E, WP, LW Waldstenia lobate; N, DR, E, WP, LW Yarrow Achillea millefolium (colourful hybrids available)

5 (N) na ve, (NN) non-na ve; (T,S,P,GC,G,B) tree, shrub, perennial, groundcover, grass, bulb); DR (deer resistant; (E) evergreen; (D) deciduous; (WP) wildlife/pollinator; (LW) low water; ((FC) Fall colour; (H) heritage Poten lla fru cosa or thurben NN, S, DR, D, WP, LW Phlomis fru cosa N, H (also pink form) Peony (simple form) N, H Crocosmia: NN, P, DR, WP, LW, FC, H Foxglove: digitalis N, H Scilla N, B, DR, D, WP, LN, H Allium cernuum Jonquil NN, B, DR, D, WP, LW, H Heritage narcissus NN, B, DR, D, WP, LW, H Indian Plum: Oemleria cerasiformis N, S, DR, D, LW, FC