Kris Ethington’s San Clemente Garden

CNPS Garden Ambassador:  Kris Ethington

CNPS Orange County Chapter
Garden Location: Front and back yard
Garden Size: 8,000 square feet
Year Planted: December 2017

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I love the responsiveness of gardening with California natives. Nature is there, right in front of you – you just need to take a break and sit for a bit.

Longtime wildlife habitat gardener, Kris Ethington, recently decided to transform her entire landscape into a habitat extravaganza by planting California native plants.  A remodel of the house provided the perfect opportunity to haul away the old, existing landscape, and to let the lawns dominating the front and back yards die away.  Now, this stunning cottage style native garden is home to a variety of pollinators and wildlife.

Kris, who has always loved nature and biology, chose California native plants for her garden because of the multiple benefits they offer – habitat, attracting wildlife to her yard, conservation of resources, beauty, resilience, ease of maintenance, and nature in general.  She has learned from her garden that if you plant it, they will come.  “I love the responsiveness of gardening with California natives.  Nature is there, right in front of you – you just need to take a break and sit for a bit.”

In particular, Kris enjoys the quiet time of mid-morning or the late afternoon. Watching the butterflies sipping nectar in the morning after a night of rest nearby, or lizards and butterflies capturing the last of the day’s warmth in the late afternoon. Or the birds foraging in the plants and soil looking for insects and seeds. All seasons are wonderful, each its own unique pleasure, she says.

Kris especially enjoys sharing her experiences and inspiring others.  Her garden gets a lot of attention from neighbors, and a number of people have taken photos and asked for personal tours.  Immediate neighbors have appreciated it too – they love the Matilija poppy (Romneya coulteri) in full bloom.

In addition, Kris has shared her garden on multiple tours, including the 2018 OC-CNPS Garden Tour and 2018 San Clemente Garden Tour.  Not only that, her garden was the Grand Prize Winner for the Roger’s Gardens California Friendly Garden Contest in 2018!  Kris is planning to share her garden on future tours, so be sure to check the CNPS Calendar of Events for upcoming dates and events to see this beautiful native plant garden in person.

Kris’s favorite California native plants

• Manzanitas (Arctostaphylos ssp.) – I have Refugio manzanita (Arctostaphylos refugioensis), Byrd Hill manzanita (Arctostaphylos manzanita ‘Byrd Hill’), Lester Rowntree manzanita (Arctostaphylos ‘Lester Rowntree’), Austin Griffiths manzanita (Arctostaphylos ‘Austin Griffiths’), and pointleaf manzanita (Arctostaphylos pungens). I love how each has a different structure and beautiful flowers that the birds and bees love.
• Sages (Salvia ssp.) – Just love Santa Rosa Island sage (Salvia brandegeei). It is a pollinator magnet in winter and spring, and an evergreen beauty with structure year-round.
• Mallows – I can’t love just one! Chaparral mallow (Malacothamnus fasciculatus), San Clemente Island bushmallow (Malacothamnus clementinus), desert globemallow (Sphaeralcea ambigua), malva rose (Malva assurgentiflora) – many are utilized hosts for butterflies.

About the garden

Garden Location: Front and back yard

Garden Size:  8,000 square feet

Year Planted:  December 2017

Lawn Removal (method): We had both front and back lawns, but when we remodeled the house, all the existing landscape was removed and hauled away.  Any remaining lawn died on its own during the remodel.

Design and Installation: I provided the concept drawing and a landscape designer created the hardscape conceptual plan in CAD for the hardscape installers to follow. I researched and selected the plants and installed the landscape.

Style Inspiration: My passion for butterfly gardening in general directed my cottage style gardening inspiration with native plants growing close together, at 2 or 3 height levels, and with abundant flowers. I found that plants grow faster when planted near each other and wildlife prefers a bit of wildscaping!

Go-to Native Plant Nurseries:  Tree of Life Nursery, primarily. They are wonderful, have lots of opportunities to attend free and informative lectures, and are located near me. I gained early inspiration and attended educational talks at Roger’s Gardens for their CA Friendly Gardening Program. I’ve also purchased seeds on-line from Theodore Payne Foundation for years.

Irrigation:  I hand water deeply every 3 weeks outside of rain events; however, some plants will require less over time like Manzanitas. I use a rain wand for gentle but high-volume watering and cover the mulched areas in between plantings as well. For the first 3 weeks after planting, I water weekly to insure the nursery root ball doesn’t dry out. During a dry winter, I provide supplemental water.  For our current wet winter (2018-2019), I have suspended supplemental water.

Maintenance:  I am an avid gardener, so I do the maintenance. I prune perennials and shrubs according to their season, primarily in fall or early winter and mostly to keep them in check in size relative to nearby plants or reduce interior woodiness. I try not to plant things that require constant effort other than enjoyable deadheading. I experienced a good number of weeds the first spring following planting during a rainy winter but kept after them with hand pulling – they’ve been minimal since then. I mulch newly planted areas lightly with cedar by the bag and cover in-between spaces to keep the weeds down and help quickly establish plants.

Wildlife Spotted: Yes! We have a fountain for the birds and there are nearby wild canyons. Our native garden supports the wildlife near us. Here’s what we’ve spotted:

• Birds – hummingbirds, warblers, bushtits, scrub jays, phoebes, kingbirds, mockingbirds, towhees, swallows, orioles, finches, Doves, owls and raptors.
• Butterflies – Monarchs, Marine Blue, Gray Hairstreak, Cloudless Sulphur, Gulf Fritillary, California Tortoiseshell, Pale Swallowtail, Giant Swallowtail, Anise Swallowtail, Painted Lady, West Coast Lady.
• Bees – honeybees, native bees including mining, digger, sweat, and bumble bees; and hover flies and wasps.
• Also, ladybugs, beetles, skinks, lizards, rabbits, skunks, and raccoons.

Favorite Element: The passive rainwater harvesting – dry stream with dry well is my favorite planted area. Its focal point is the Austin Griffiths manzanita (Arctostaphylos ‘Austin Griffiths’). The stream appears to jump or run under the small patio and continue to the other side where there is another dry stream and more lush plantings.

Biggest Challenge: Honestly, I haven’t had the typical challenges. I don’t have restrictions where I live, and my neighbors are fine with my ‘cottage’ style. The challenge when we installed the hardscape was to insist that the paver installers keep my native soil on the property. They would have removed it, and I would have had to import soil afterwards. We didn’t amend the soil for planting, so I fussed over keeping my 50-year-old soil for my natives and it worked!

Advice: Plant in the late fall and winter if you can. Also, while I do impulse buy from the nursery occasionally, I generally do a lot of research beforehand too.  If I don’t know a plant I want to buy, I look it up while I’m at the nursery to be sure it won’t be invasive or inappropriate for my location. Read the labels regarding area, soil, climate (coastal for us). While you should allow ample space for your plants to grow, I find it best to include the tall, mid, and lower plants in the plan from the beginning and plant them together. Plants do better when they can quickly establish Mycorrhizae. Be sure to use boulders of various sizes and berms to create the natural feel and varied elevations that go well with an authentic native garden. Mulch your plants at least initially. I use cedar mulch from bags.

California native plants in Kris’s Garden

CNPS Horticulture Team