Lotusland, Santa Barbara Botanical Garden and Casa Nueva

Day Two of the Pacific Horticulture Symposium, Gardening Under Mediterranean Skies VII: Lessons in Sustainable Gardening.

The day started with two really interesting, challenging and though provoking lectures on sustainability. Pamela Berstler was a lively speaker who asked us to push the envelope in our thinking about landscaping. She challenged the magazine ideal of a perfect back yard, and showed pictures of her own work that she felt "disappointed in" because of its lack of sustainability. Bernard Trainor's lecture was entitled 'Ecological Design - Connecting with the Place' and he showed pictures of his work that were truly stunning. He talked about the time taken to really get a sense of the natural place of a site, using a range of tools including satellite images to see the natural geography. His projects were larger and at 'drop dead' locations, but he showed how native vegetation and the use of native stone can really make a landscape blend into the natural landscape.

I have long wanted to see Ganna Walska Lotusland, and what a wonderful place it is. We were able to have lunch there and spend time on a docent lead tour visiting several areas of the garden. We got to hear the colorful history of Madam Walska's life and loves, and we were given an overview of the garden's sustainable practices including the use of on-site composting, compost tea, the encouragement of beneficial insects and nontoxic pest management.

Our next stop was to an award winning new building and garden commissioned by the Air Pollution Control District, Casa Nueva. The building was built around the garden and in so doing it created a 'garden to work in'. The building uses passive solar cooling with the use of deciduous vines such as wisteria and grape. There is also a bio-swale in the garden to collect water on site and purify it before releasing it into the sewer system.

Our last stop was the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden which has been badly hit by the fire. Our docent pointed out the burn areas and told us that about 50% of the garden had been affected. The fire crews protected the buildings, but many of the trees showed signs of damage. Having said that, nature is very resilient and already there are healthy signs of regrowth among the trees.

I had a wonderful day, seeing beautiful gardens and thinking hard about how we can use sustainable practices in our landscape design and installation work.

Catch up with The Yard Fairy: Read about Day 1 and Day 3 of Pacific Horticulture Gardening Under Mediterranean Skies VII.

Click to view photos of the tour on PicasaWeb!

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