Monthly Archives: March 2010

Ocean Friendly Hike and Learn with the Aoyagis

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Date:  Saturday, March 27, 2010

Time: 10:00 am – 1:00 pm

Location: The Grotto Trail, 2896 Yerba Buena Road, Malibu, CA 90263

Parking:  Circle X Ranch

 

This moderate 3-mile hike winds toward the Grotto, an oceanside cave of house-sized boulders.  See Dudleya emerge from steep rock cliffs, smell sweet broom, and encounter striking number of lady bugs. Along the way, sustainable landscaping experts Cassy and Kirk Aoyagi will help hikers:

  • Identify native plants that thrive on little water
  • Notice which native plants are natural companions, needing the same types of resources
  • Understand how “beneficials” like the lady bugs along the trail can reduce or eliminate the need for herbicides and pesticides
  • See how trees and structures affect the flow of water
For more information:

Lantana vs. Verbena

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SUN LOVING GROUND COVER:  VERBENA LILACINA VS. LANTANA

 
By Cassy Aoyagi: Southern California is full of sun-lovers, two of which are truly pretty in pink. Hybrid Lantanas produce an array of unusual and striking colors, and both Verbena lilacina and Lantana produce flirty pink and lilac flowers as they soak up the sun. While they are both lovely performers, Verbena lilacina is the only true SoCal girl.
 
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Lantana is native to parts of tropical America where ample water naturally occurs. It has adapted somewhat to our dryer climate, however moving to SoCal brings out Lantana’s high maintenance side. To adapt well, Lantana:

  • Needs steadier heat than we have to give. Typicallly, Lantana is unable to withstand the mild to severe freezes that occasionally occur throughout Southern California. In many places, Lantana performs as an annual and, like many visitors, enjoys only our summers. If Lantana survives a SoCal winter, it will need pruning to the ground at early spring to bolster new growth.
  • Flourishes with extra water. A little extra water to accommodate the dryer conditions makes Lantana a long and prolific bloomer, one of the attributes that admirers favor so.
  • Needs an on-call stylist. The extra water Lantana needs to survive tends to bolster excessive growth. Lantana will creep, crawl and climb over and around anything with in its reach, thief not frequently trimmed during growing season.
  • Keeps bad company. Lantana creates conditions ideal for annual weeds, and we often find annual volunteers hanging close to it.
  • Can be a little poisonous. Fruits are poisounous and prolific following a heavy bloom.

 
Verbena lilacina is native to Baja California. A real SoCal charmer, Verbena lilacina adapts well to broader Southern California climates. In sharp contrast to the high-maintenance Lantana, Verbena lilacina:

  • Adapts well. Verbenas are able to thrive inland, an advantage over many coastal natives, let alone Lantana.
  • Performs dependably. While performance will vary based upon specific conditions, you can count on an approximately 3×3 or wider perennial shrub with prolific lilac flowers almost year round.
  • Needs little to produce a show. If it is deadheaded or laced out periodically, Verbena lilacina will stay handsome year round without much cutting back. Ideally a heavier prune would take place in Nov-Jan, but, if producing vibrant blooms, lilacina can get by with a trim. Even amoung Verbenas, lilacina delivers a standout performance, outliving cousin Verbena goodingii.
  • Shares the spotlight. Its light and airy texture matches well with heavier textured foliage like Sulfur buckwheats, Chalk Dudleyas and Blue Fescues.

For more guidance on where to plant big dry ones, see our past Wet-to-Dry Exchange articles.

March 2010 Newsletter

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VALUED CUSTOMERS & FRIENDS+

Garden tour season is just around the corner! Throughout the spring, we will be giving our all to providing Angelinos simple strategies and tips for protecting their health and safety with sustainable landscaping practices and materials. We hope you’ll be able to join us.

This year, Theodore Payne Foundation, an organization dear to our hearts, celebrates its 50th anniversary. We are honored to have three beautiful homes featured on the native garden tour. We owe great thanks to the Ownbys, Rosens and Veloz for opening their lush and lovely outdoor living spaces!

Also, please mark your calendars to see the 8,000 square foot knot garden we’ve designed for this year’s Pasadena Showcase House and the “gardens of the world” demonstration at the La Cañada Public Library. Both illustrate effective strategies for creating safer, healthier outdoor spaces. Likewise, our hike and learn series may be an invaluable tool for those of you interested in learning from our wild spaces.

We hope to see you soon!

Sincerely,
Cassy and Kirk Aoyagi

LATEST NEWS+

Preview the Theodore Payne Tour
Hear Slope Retention Tips
Win prolific colorful flowers!
Visit the Loire Valley…in Pasadena

UPCOMING EVENTS+

Hike and Learn with the Aoyagis
TPF Native Garden Tour
Pasadena Showcase House
Pruning and Plant Disease for Professionals
La Cañada Valley Beautiful Event

WHAT TO EXPECT+

TEAM UPDATE+

Cassy Aoyagi at JPL
Pasadena Bike Marathon
Dara in the Garden

UPCOMING EVENTS+

The FormLA team would enjoy seeing you:

March 27, 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM: Ocean-Friendly Hike and Learn with the Aoyagis. Get details

April 10-11, 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM: Theodore Payne Garden Tour.
Get details

April 18 – May 16: Pasadena Showcase House of Design.
Get details

May 6: Pruning and Plant Disease for Professionals (Bi-Lingual) with FormLA Maintenance Care Supervisor Noe Grandoes, sponsored by the City of Santa Monica

May 15, 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM:
La Cañada Public Library Gardens of the World Tour with Cassy Aoyagi, sponsored by La Cañada Valley Beautiful.

Contact us to request a sustainable landscaping presentation for your green organization.

TEAM UPDATE+

Kirk and Dara Aoyagi

FormLA Mascot Dara Aoyagi teaching the team new sustainable mowing techniques.

Cassy Aoyagi discussed sustainable gardening strategies and techniques with the Green Team at Jet Propulsion Labs (JPL) in La Cañada. View presentation

Noe Granados earned rave reviews from attendees and the City of Santa Monica for his teaching of Sustainable Landscape Maintenance for professionals. Congratulations Noe!

In lieu of participating in the LA bike marathon rescheduled for July, the install and maintenance teams biked every inch of Pasadena for the Pasadena Bike Marathon. They smiled and waved when passing clients’ beautiful native gardens!

CONTACT FORMLA+

Cassy and Kirk Aoyagi, Principals: Cassy@formlainc.com

Mark Britten, Production Manager: Mark@formlainc.com

John Avakian, Bookkeeping: John@formlainc.com

Noe Granados, Maintenance Care Supervisor: Noe@formlainc.com

Cara Barnard, Horticultural Care Technician: Cara@formlainc.com

USGBC FormLA on Facebook

 

 

LATEST NEWS+

Preview Three TPF Tour Gardens

Preview Three TPF Tour GardensClient Story: FormLA Landscaping has three lovely homes on the Theodore Payne Foundation 50th Anniversary Native Garden Tour: The Ownby home in La Crescenta, the Rosen home in Brentwood, and the Veloz home in Glendale. Water-wise native plants and sustainable landscaping techniques make these lush and lovely landscapes cleaner, safer and healthier for the kids, pets, and guests who enjoy them. More

Visit the Loire Valley… In Pasadena

Tame Your Uphill BattleFor the 6th year, FormLA Landscaping will participate in one of the oldest and most successful home and garden toursa in the nation. The 8,000 square foot strolling garden at the historic Craven estate will transport visitors to France’s Loire Valley, circa 1930. Throughout the garden, vintage pieces donated by the charming owner of Charme d’Antan, will raise the eye from the garden’s delights to encourage a full view of the remarkable property. More

Tame Your Uphill Battle

Tame Your Uphill BattleCassy and Kirk Aoyagi’s interview with Cindy Dole of KFWB Talk 980s “HomeWizards” covers the ins and outs of sustainable slope retention and drought-tolerant planting. Listen

Win prolific colorful flowers!

Win prolific colorful flowers!Both digitalis and penstemmon produce prolific flowers ideal for sunny walkway borders… Determine the option that can produce a show in dry soil and win a chance to plant a big dry one anywhere you please!

Congratulations to Deborah Barry, Gary Trethaway, Masami Fukuhara, and Michele Markota who correctly identified Verbena lilacaena as the sustainable sun-loving groundcover. Learn about the trade-offs between Verbena lilacaena and the more popular but thirsty Lantana camera, or just enter-to-win this issue’s Wet-to-Dry Exchange. Win!

WHAT TO EXPECT+

Expect FormLA teams…

  • Finishing up with heavy rejuvenation pruning of Mediterraneans, ie. Lions Tails, Tea Trees, Butterfly Bushes, Yarrows and more
  • Replenishing mulch to conserve water and increase organic matter
  • Planning your spring vegetable garden…tell us what you want and we can have it grown organically by the wonderful Bountiful Gardens
  • Increasing our mower heights to reduce evaporation from lawns
  • Looking for lady bugs and lacewings to come to the rescue and feed on the little pests as new growth attracts aphids
  • Helping you identify cut flowers and foliage that you can take from the garden and use in your home – let us know if you want a free consultation to help you decipher the goodies in your garden
  • Changing batteries on irrigation timers
  • Pushing the clocks forward on your irrigation and lighting timers
  • Adjusting start and stop times on your lighting for April to turn on at 7:00-7:15 pm. If you need lighting, let us know, we can create a beautiful outdoor space lit up beautifully for your spring and summer events
  • Managing your water usage: as weather warms, we will be checking all irrigation like a hawk to reduce waste and increase efficiencies…for a more thorough diagnostic or retrofit to subsurface, give us a call and we can help you save water!
info@formlainc.com • PO Box 441 Tujunga, CA 91043
phone 818.353.7030 • 310.979.9002 • fax 818.353.6837 • www.formlainc.com
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