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April 18, 2006

A Walk in the Arboretum

Up in the hill behind the Dairy Unit at Cal Poly is the Leaning Pine Arboretum. I went up there today after practise and had a little walk around (the gates theoretically get closed at five, so I curtailed my walk, but they were not closed when I did leave at five fifteen, plus I found what appears to be a pedestrian entrance).

Like everything else at Cal Poly, the arboretum is a learning project in progress, which means that there are sections which are looking a trifle experimental as well as mature, evolved designs.

Here's an example: a section of the garden had a swath of this drivable lawn paving material in it. You lay the pavers down and plant grass in the pockets, and it fills in and looks like a lawn while still having the structural integrity to support, say, a firetruck or ambulance in case of an emergency. A nice way to have your emergency access and reduce your overall paved area.

Technorati Tags: california, native plants, plants

One of the things they have done very nicely is frame views down over the campus. I mean, barns full of cows are not exactly the most exciting thing to look at, but with this little vignette, they look romantic, peeking up from the landscape below.

I also like how the bench is in the middle of the flower bed, making the plantings less sacred and bringing you into the garden to sit.

Here's a subtle way to make a transition area: frame it with rocks that are a staircase, and that mentally act like a gateway. I think too often we assume garden structures need to be tall and block views or take up space, but something very subtle can keep space open and still create a feeling of transition.

A nice little planting of Lavandula stoechas 'Alba,' white Spanish lavender. I love how the white version of Lavandula stoechas looks like little plant bunnies.

Here's a flower on Teucrium fruticans 'Azureum.' A nice, salvia-shaped shrub, but the flowers are large and showy. It's a Mediterranean plant, also known as Germander.

The South African area was wild with blooms. Here's a large Leucospermum cordifolium, a red-orange variety, with blooms three inches across on a plant around four feet tall.

Leucospermum cordifolium is commonly called "Pincushion Flower" for obvious reasons. A very dramatic flower. I don't know how it would work in a Californian garden, though, with all our subtle little wildflowers and Mediterranean plants.

Up the hill was this lovely blooming tree, Psoralea pinnata.

The flowers look like pea flowers, and the tree is called "Blue Pea Shrub." It's very pretty, and was completely covered in pollinating insects and birds.

Here's another quiet little sitting area. I like how the hill curves around to hug the space, and the wall is a retaining wall instead of being freestanding. It makes the space feel more protected.

All over the California section of the arboretum there are California Poppies, Eschscholzia californica. This looks like a variety called 'Alba.' I have some 'Alba' planted in front of the house in Alameda.

Posted by ayse on 04/18/06 at 6:28 PM