Welcome to Cool Green Gardens - A view from the Left Coast
April 29th, 2009 in blogs
Billy Goodnick, contributor
48 users recommend
This Agave americana / Tradescantia pallida 'Purple Heart' combo replaced the front lawn of one of my favorite clients. It was a silly place for a lawn anyway, so we went very bold.
Photo: Billy Goodnick
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DIGGPlease allow me to introduce myself. Billy Goodnick here. I'm a landscape architect, educator, and writer living in Santa Barbara, CA. That's about 100 north of L.A., right on the coast in the much-coveted Zone 10 (Sunset Zone 24). I'm more than a little thrilled to be here at Fine Gardening, as it gives me a great place from which to write about designing, making, and caring for gardens sustainably.
We're calling this blog Sustainable Landscaping...
[Author's note #1: Sound of screeching brakes. Sorry for this interruption. I only get a few hundred words here and if I try to define "sustainability" now I'll need a chain saw and flame thrower to get out of the thicket. I'll save that for another post. But I digress. I do that a lot.]
For now, let's allow sustainable to mean whatever you think it means. If words like green, natural, drought-tolerant, organic, or the archaic xeriscape arose in your brain, that's great. We're generally on the same wavelength. Think Al Gore meets Mr. Green Jeans. There'll be plenty of time to explore the complexity and nuances of that confounding word in future posts.
I've been involved in plant-related work for about 35 years. Before that, I was a drummer doing studio work in Hollywood and touring around the country. When I was home, I trained bonsai trees and collected house plants. Music is a flakey business so I quit and got a bit of schooling at a junior college. Then I worked in retail nurseries, landscape installation, and maintenance. I went back to school once again, and finally made my way up the food chain to city landscape architect for this lovely beach town.
Here's what I think you'll enjoy about this blog:
[Author's note #2: You will come back and read my words every time I post. You will leave comments. You are getting very, very sleepy. You will obey my every command. When I snap my fingers, you will quack like a duck.]
- I have a lot of fun when I write (see above). People who read me have fun, too. Maybe that's enough to bring you back.
- When I'm not having fun, I can be found ranting and raving about heinous acts perpetrated against good sense and good taste. That's when I have the most fun.
- When I'm not being funny and/or ranting and raving, I can be found dispensing very useful, understandable design advice that you can apply to most landscaping situations. Twenty years of teaching homeowners to design beautiful, functional, sustainable gardens has taught me how to make complex ideas less mysterious.
- I post a lot of pretty pictures. They will stimulate you and offer ideas for your own garden.
- I'm a good listener and I want to learn from you. You will not agree with or like everything I say. That's what the comment box is for at the end of this blog. I'll get it wrong from time to time (or more) and it's your job to straighten me out--I just caution you to keep your comments PG-13 rated. Think of the little children who read Fine Gardening's website.
Full Disclosure:
- I don't garden; I don't even own a garden, unless you count a few square feet of dirt under the fig tree at the back of my driveway. Correction: I have a lot of gardens; they live at the homes of my clients and in Santa Barbara's beautiful parks. But not with me; it's better for all concerned. Therefore, I can't tell you when to deadhead your rare albino, semi-dwarf, pin-striped, Begonia subterraneana. Want to know what's eating your delphinium? I can't blame you, but I can't help you.
- I hate most lawns and will remind you of that fact from time to time. My turf diatribes inflame a lot of readers and generate the most comments from the Loyal Order of Lawnists (LOL). Tune in as Billy gets beat up.
- I have no experience with gardens that disappear under yards of snow or are destroyed by woodchucks. My idyllic oasis is the land of palm trees gently swaying on Pacific breezes to the sounds of The Beach Boys.
I'll close this inaugural post by welcoming you and inviting you to click that orange RSS button on this page (that's how you subscribe), then spam me out to your friends. If you'd feel better doing a background check before we start dating regularly, visit my profile and gallery here at Fine Gardening.
Oh, one more thing. I have to thank Kate Frank, Fine Gardening's web editor, for noticing me at Twitter and offering me this opportunity to play with all you nice people. I think we're all going to get along just fine.
posted in: billy goodnick, sustainable landscaping, Garden Design, santa barbara, west coast
About this column
Enter the world of sustainable gardening with Billy Goodnick's "Cool Green Gardens" blog. Billy lives in Santa Barbara, CA, and delivers a West Coast perspective on landscape design that will translate into your own backyard. Check out CGG for great ideas on reducing your impact on the environment and creating a landscape that is an extension of your home.Billy Goodnick, a landscape architect, educator and writer, shares the wisdom he has gathered from thirty-five years of retail nursery sales, landscaping, designing and teaching. He'll challenge your assumptions while putting a smile on your face with his off-the-wall humor.
Whether you're seeking to fine-tune your existing garden or are starting with a clean slate, Cool Green Gardens is your go-to resource for sustainable ideas, innovation and inspiration.
Comments (40)
Rebecca Hudson
Goleta, CA Posted: 12:08 pm on May 15th
thanks, cheryle Posted: 9:00 pm on May 12th
I look forward to reading everyone's posts and will share my thoughts as well. (My background: Master's degree in sustainable landscape design. Newly minted LEED AP.)
Denise at Dancing Grass Designs
DC area Posted: 3:11 pm on May 7th
This place sounds groovy (cool, neat, rad, awesome, etc. to the younger generation) and seems to be the same way I "garden". I have a few small places that my landlord lets me play in, but my real passion is playing in other's gardens, making the customers feel better about their gardens, and their gardens feel better about my customers...
Good luck, look forward to learning bout zone 10 vs. 5b (central KS).
Peace - Posted: 5:30 pm on May 5th
John Posted: 12:00 am on May 5th
OK, I'm not a humorist but loved reading all the posts. Maybe I'll learn to loosen up. Posted: 4:14 pm on May 4th
Congratulations on a fine opening salvo. And welcome to Fine Gardening. Hope these folks are ready for your trademark radical, rascally, eye-opening, paradigm-shifting, wacky gardening wisdom. Tear it up, my man, tear it up.
FYI, the rare Begonia subterranea that you mention is routinely deadheaded by gophers and needs no further care from the gardener. How sustainable can you get?
Big O. Posted: 4:01 pm on May 4th
Frances Posted: 3:10 pm on May 4th
Helen
Tweet GWConfidence Posted: 11:23 am on May 4th
(I tried to comment earlier but may have screwed up. If this is a dupe, though, just delete. Or double-count my best wishes - that's okay, too. Hugs, S) Posted: 10:50 am on May 4th
BTW, while I'm confessing...I am going to have to steal that planting combination as soon as I have a chance...just as soon as you're not looking. Posted: 2:08 am on May 1st
Have enjoyed reading your tweets, so I'm delighted to now read your blog posts. Used to be a left coaster myself (Ventura) and spent many hours at Santa Barbara Botanical Garden. So, I'll probably get homesick reading what you have to say. But that's a small price to pay for getting good horticultural information.
Congrats, and all the best...
Posted: 7:42 pm on April 30th
Liz: What zone are you gardening in? I can tell you that the Purple Robe is even frost tender here in our coastal Mediterranean climate, so unless you're in a very protected area, it's a long shot. That doesn't mean you can't create a similar effect with another purple-leaf ground cover and light colored spiky plant that are adapted to your climate.
Bees & Chicks: Thanks for the deleted expletive. Shows great maturity and control.
Kate: I don't think this combo will work up there in Saskatchewan (OMG - Google has a lot of spellings for your fair province. Notice I didn't say "state")
Arcadia/Kate: We'll start the anti-lawnist revolution. You're in charge of finding a red beret that will fit my oversized head.
JeanAnn: Punk rock wig! That's a great image. Maybe my next design will go with a Mohawk effect - rows of Chondropetalum tectorum with all the side growth trimmed away. Gotta try that.
MaineGardener: "Rapacious woodchucks" To coin a phrase from my idol, Dave Barry, "Great name for a band."
RedBloom: Over 50 and you get it...watch out handing me those softball straight lines. I'll hit em out of the ballpark. Good to have you here. Y'all come back, now.
Shirley: So good to see you here; I wallow in your praises. Can I come visit your gardens and write about you. Don't know if I can take an L.A. summer, so we'll wait for fall.
Jayme: we'll see if FG has a tolerance for my Motion Sickness Productions video blogs. Perhaps FG can get Dramamine to sponsor my blog?
DoubleD: it's nice to stretch beyond the 140 Twitter limit. Now I can use multisyllabic words (words like "multisyllabic).
Roberta: I snapped my fingers - you can stop quacking now.
Bookish: you left out the part where I rub my hands together in a sinister manner while uttering "MWAH HA HA"
Mike: "Wealth and fame"? Did you find the password for my off-shore account in the Grand Caymans or do you have my winning numbers for the lottery? I thought I was just "comfortably well off."
Later, skaters...gotta bang on my drum all day.
Posted: 5:20 pm on April 30th
DEATH TO THE FRONT LAWN!!!
Roberta Posted: 3:34 pm on April 30th
Liz Posted: 3:24 pm on April 30th
Unreal.
But do like this combo... great work.
I knew 140 characters wouldn't do for you. Much better here! Congrats! Posted: 3:09 pm on April 30th
Peeps, this guy is amazing, I will sit and watch 4 minutes of him driving a stupid nursery cart around. He's that entertaining. He is also a great mentor, although I tease him for being so picky, but that's what makes him great!
Bring it on,
Jayme
Posted: 10:41 am on April 30th
I'm loving this "fine"(gardening) blog already! We are going to have fun reading your blog! Maybe I'll disagree with you sometime just for the hell it will raise!
Your fan,
Shirley Bovshow Posted: 11:15 pm on April 29th
Knowing there is so much more to fill the wilderness in my brain, I for one am excited! Yes, I get you instantly. I'm over 50 too.
Thank You
a red bloom Posted: 7:18 pm on April 29th
Knowing there is so much more to fill the wilderness in my brain, I for one am excited! Yes, I get you instantly. I'm over 50 too.
Thank You
a red bloom Posted: 7:17 pm on April 29th
What I like about your design aesthetic is the notion that the changes we make to our surroundings are even better if they are sustainable. How about if we don't plant any more resource intensive, highly invasive plants like, oh, I don't know, almost all turf grasses?
Anyway, this is your column, so I won't go on and on, but glad to see your voice is on this site! Looking forward to more design goodness! Posted: 5:38 pm on April 29th
I'm so excited about your new blog! Kate Frank/FG has found a gem in you!
As a fellow Gardener/Hort-Head who is also against lawn whenever possible, and into sustainable gardens, I will enjoy following your witty and playful writing style.
I'm not sure what the proper horticultural version is for "break a leg", maybe "break a shovel"?
Have fun, Billy!
The Personal Garden Coach
Christina Salwitz
Renton, Washington Posted: 5:05 pm on April 29th
Posted: 3:01 pm on April 29th
I look forward to what's to come!
Ryan Posted: 2:36 pm on April 29th