- \n
![\"Espaliered](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ongardening.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Espallieres1.jpg?resize=150%2C150\" "\\"Espaliered")
<\/a>A cluster of sixteen raised beds of Corten steel, each about five by ten feet, with four-foot aisles. Major commitment to growing edibles and ornamentals.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n- \n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ongardening.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Raised-Beds-Corten2.jpg?resize=150%2C150\" "\\"Raised")
<\/a>An outdoor dining room with seating for twenty-four, on a brick patio under an arbor of pollarded plane trees (Platanus \u00d7 acerifolia). Nice<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n- \n
![\"Dining](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ongardening.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Patio-Dining-Room1.jpg?resize=150%2C150\" "\\"Patio")
<\/a>A twenty-foot tall weeping Atlas Cedar (Cedrus atlantica ‘Glauca ‘Pendula’) next to a koi pond. (I must remove the five-foot specimen that eventually will outgrow its space in my garden.)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n- \n
![\"Weeping](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ongardening.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Weeping-Atlas-Cedar1.jpg?resize=150%2C150\" "\\"Weeping")
<\/a>A sharply sloped area at the back of the property with a twenty by forty foot children\u2019s play yard on stilts, a zip line and a newly planted vineyard. Good use of a difficult part of the landscape.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ongardening.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Play-Yard-on-Slope2.jpg?resize=150%2C150\" "\\"Play")
<\/a>Many visitors focused on individual plants, particularly those in current fashion, e.g., Rosa \u2018Sally Holmes\u2019 and R. \u2018Spice so Nice\u2019 growing on a fence, several Oakleaf Hydrangeas (Hydrangea quericifolia), a large Matilija poppy (Romney coulteri), and a great number of ornamental grasses.<\/p>\nThe benefits of touring private gardens also include seeing combinations and swaths of selected plants, examining the design of ornamental borders and studying the overall layout of the landscape, including hardscape features and garden art. There is much to learn from other people\u2019s gardens.<\/p>\n
For info on future Open Days, visit www.gardenconservancy<\/strong>.org\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Recently, I wrote about the Garden Conservancy\u2019s Open Days Program, which provides tours of exceptional private gardens. Since then, I visited two clusters of four private gardens south of the San Francisco Bay area. Some gardens were the product of … Continue reading
![\"Espaliered](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ongardening.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Espallieres1.jpg\" "\\"Espaliered")
<\/a>A cluster of sixteen raised beds of Corten steel, each about five by ten feet, with four-foot aisles. Major commitment to growing edibles and ornamentals.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n