Shady Ideas

The Ruth Bancroft Garden in Walnut Creek implements an extensive arbor (or pergola) to incorporate shade into the garden design. Planted under the arbor is a succulent border, reminiscent of an English border garden, but with the water conserving plants of desert and Mediterranean climates. Besides providing shade for the plants, the structure seems to cool the air in close proximity, and capture any passing breeze.

The arbor provides shade for the succulant border.

The arbor is a simple wood frame, covered with shade cloth, which is available at garden supply and hardware stores, and on the web (for example, Coolaroo sells shade cloth by the yard: http://www.coolaroousa.com/).

The arbor is constructed of a wooden frame and shade cloth.

This is a wonderful, practical idea for gardens in hot, dry climates, and could easily be adapted on a smaller scale for the home garden. This is also a great example of adapting a garden style, in this case the English border garden, to the local climate or microclimate.

The Ruth Bancroft Garden

Admittedly, visiting a dry, prickly garden in Walnut Creek in the heat of day at the height of summer does not sound that appealing. But I love the desert ecosystem and went anyway. I’m glad I did. The Ruth Bancroft Garden is well established with the perfect combination of trees for shade, a water treatment, and artful beds of succulents, cacti, and Mediterranean plants from all over the world. On the afternoon I visited, there was a continual breeze, lots of shade, and very pleasant. I was surprised to see some plants in bloom, including agave, cacti, and several varieties of trees and bushes. The air hummed with the activities of bees, butterflies, and birds.

Ruth's Folley - houses small store and greenhouse.

Ruth Bancroft started collecting succulents in the 1950s; in 1972 she worked with Lester Hawkins of Western Hills Nursery in Occidental, CA to design the dry garden in Walnut Creek. The three-acre parcel was originally part of the 400 acres of native oak trees that Hubert Howe Bancroft cleared in the 1880s for a fruit and walnut orchard. The garden design is a series of paths and garden beds planted with Ruth’s collection.

The pond forms a focal point for the garden.

The garden has a primitive, primal feel to it – I almost expected a dinosaur to appear around a bed of wild looking plants, or to come swooping in from an opening in the tree canopy. This amused me, but I think it expresses the feeling the garden conveys. Many of the plants are monocots – ancient plants, with simple (but amazing) strategies for conserving water and reproducing. I enjoyed my self-guided tour, but plan to return for a docent-guided tour to learn more about the plants, and the garden design. To learn more: http://www.ruthbancroftgarden.org/.

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Sonoma Land Trust

In 1984, Otto and Anne Teller, owners of Oak Hill Farm, donated a conservation easement to the Sonoma Land Trust, of which they were founding members. A conservation easement is a voluntary legal agreement between a private landowner and the Land Trust to “preserve in perpetuity the conservation values of the specific land they cover.” In this case, the conservation easement protects the productive agricultural land of Oak Hill Farm, as well as the oak and manzanita woodland. The 700-acre Oak Hill farm property will remain as it is for generations to come.

The Sonoma Land Trust was formed in 1976, to preserve open land in Sonoma County, before it was completely developed for housing and business. The Land Trust provides stewardship for other agricultural properties, such as Glen Oaks Ranch, as well as open spaces and wild life corridors, such as the Jenner Headlands and Secret Pastures.

Oak Hill Farm and the forested hill beyond are protected

I appreciate this vision of preserving farms and open land, and providing stewardship. Open land provides a psychological reprieve from the congestion and demands of our busy, over-crowded lives. It also helps ensure some space for wild life, natural systems, and hope for the future. Surely we have enough strip malls and cement sprawl in place, so that we can preserve some open and wild land for all to enjoy.