The lovely La Costa, CA garden of Mel and Bob Buck won their local water district’s WaterSmart Landscape Contest. It's held annually by water agencies throughout San Diego County to showcase attractive, water-efficient landscapes.
In my new video you'll see their street-side and courtyard gardens. Each has a colorful, easy-care mix of succulents and tropicals, and showcases Mel's style and preferences. You'll also see how the couple renovated and combined their home's indoor-outdoor living areas.
Spathodea campanulata (African tulip tree)
The Zone 9 location's mild climate is typical of coastal CA from the Bay Area south. Which means the couple can have a gorgeous African tulip tree, because frost is not a concern (yes, I'm envious!).
And unlike farther inland, the humidity is high enough that air plants (tillandsias) and bromeliads thrive.
Mel's clever idea: Hot-glue tillandsias to palm tree trunks
Originally their front and side yards consisted of large grassy areas and messy pine trees "that dropped pollen and cones everywhere," Mel recalls. Those now are gone, but they did keep statement plants such as a rusty-leafed fig similar to venerable specimens in San Diego's Balboa Park.
Ficus rubiginosa (rusty leaf fig)
Because of its leaves' fuzzy bronze undersides, "people assume it's a magnolia," Mel says. Hanging from the tree's thick limbs are immense stag horn ferns. Wind chimes enhance the feeling of being in a different world.
Street-side garden
The home's street-side garden wraps a corner with a landscaped strip about 20 feet wide between the sidewalk and the courtyard's stucco wall.
Euphorbia abyssinica makes a bold statement in the street-side garden
Due to increased concerns about wildfire here in Southern CA, I asked Mel if creating a firebreak had influenced the garden's design. "Leaves of succulent plants contain such a high percentage of water," she replied, "that I do believe they're fire resistant and could stop a fire from spreading over the wall to the house."
Dasylirion wheeleri in the streetside garden
She added, however, that she “didn't have a specific intent to create a firebreak, but rather a desert scene with a pleasing blend of colors, that contrasts hard and soft, and tolerates full sun."
A topdressing of light-colored decomposed granite blends with the wall and sidewalk, and serves as a neutral backdrop that makes plants stand out. Boulders lend interest and lend a natural look to the flat terrain.
Agave 'Kichi-Jokan' (butterfly agave) and behind it, Agave parryi 'Truncata'
Succulents in the street-side garden have bold, geometric shapes---a smart choice for a landscape seen briefly by passersby. Included are clusters of mid-sized agaves such as A. parryi 'Truncata', A. 'Kichi-Jokan', and A. attenuata. Lending height are tree euphorbias, palms, Beaucarnea recurvata, Myrtillocactus geometrizans, and strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo). Noteworthy midsized succulents include Dasylirion wheeleri, which has a pleasing fountain shape that repeats the gray-blue of the truncatas.
Courtyard garden
A gate alongside the driveway leads to the front door and terraced courtyard beyond.
Entry to house. Courtyard garden is at left.
Sculptural plants such as the cycad Zamia furfuracea and the succulent tree Dracaena draco (dragon tree) stand out against the cream-colored wall, as does giant bird of paradise.
Terraced courtyard garden
In this intimate area, Mel designs with smaller succulents in swaths. Above, red Kalanchoe luciae (paddle plant) grows alongside Haworthia attenuata (zebra plant) and dainty, trailing Sedum palmeri.
Lending drama and texture is a four-foot-wide foxtail fern from the original garden. Its upright leaf clusters are lovely, especially when backlit, but it's a problematical plant. "It was a nightmare trying to get its rhizomes out from under the paddle plants," Mel recalls.
Yucca 'Bright Star' Mel planted in both interior and exterior gardens adds a starburst of yellow leaves striped with green
Mel mentioned she wanted to get rid of straggly carpet roses around the tulip tree, shown above blooming in July. I suggested she replace them with aeoniums. She later sent me this photo of the newly planted area.
Aeonium urbicum cuttings, recently planted
Soil and irrigation
Mel says "the soil is a mix of sand and clay, so I amend it with bagged potting soil or succulent soil." The goal is a well draining mix to which she also adds worm castings and perlite "to promote healthy root growth and prevent root rot."
Irrigation is drip. The system runs twice a week for about an hour during the warmer months---which no doubt impressed the water district, because that's less than half the water used by the original yard. In addition to reduced water bills, maintenance costs also are lower.
Moreover, the plants need minimal tending. Mel and Bob do most of the work themselves.
The new lanai
How the Bucks remodeled their home of 35 years also is worth mentioning.
Below is the front before the remodel. On the left you can see where Bob removed the living room fireplace to open the space to the planned courtyard garden.
Black plastic covered the hole where the fireplace once was
Living room, before fireplace removal
After the remodel, looking out to the garden
The living room now opens onto a large patio with dining and sitting areas, and a free-standing fireplace.
Patio sitting area and fireplace
Mel says most of the succulents and tropicals she selected for the garden's redo came from Rancho Soledad, a large wholesale nursery in San Diego's North County. (Bob is a retired general contractor.)
Regardless, most are easy to come by. See my list of Succulent Nurseries and Destinations which has links and descriptions for the San Diego area and beyond.
Did you enjoy this? Do let us know in the comments, here or on the video!
Gallery of garden plants
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