Landscaping

Ornamental kale plants can make a wonderful red, pink, purple, or white show in the cool season garden, with very minimal care. Because the winter of 2018/2019 in Sunnyvale was unusually cool and wet, the ornamental kale we planted in November did great. Only now, in early March, is it flowering. Ornamental kale plants (Brassica oleracea) and their cousin, the …

Red Fountain Grass dazzles with 10-inch bottlebrush plumes emerging burgundy-red in mid-to-late summer. Plumes shift a golden hue in fall and remain in place throughout winter. Flowing, ribbon-like grass blades adds texture and motion. ‘Red Head’ stands apart as one of the earliest-flowering fountain grasses. An excellent cut flower, fresh or dried. Plant in full sun and water sparingly to …

In 2005 our neighbor planted a ginkgo biloba tree in the narrow strip between our driveways. During most of the year the tree is easily overlooked by trees that put on more of a show in springtime. But during the last weeks of November, all the leaves turn yellow and then fall off  like dropping the mic.

The Flowering Plum is the first tree to flower in my Sunnyvale garden (USDA zone 9). In normal years, it flowers mid-February. In 2015, it flowered February 4th. In 2016, it flowered February 5th. Also known as cherry plum or myrobalan plum, flowering plum (Prunus cerasifera) is a small to medium-sized ornamental tree native to Asia. Purple-leaved cultivars, such as …

Weeping Santa Rosa Plum – semi-dwarf. The Weeping Santa Rosa fruit similar to Santa Rosa, but ripens two weeks later. The Weeping Santa Rosa has beautiful weeping habit making this a remarkable landscape specimen. Also good for espalier as height can be kept to 6-8 feet. Low chill, self-fruitful. Estimated Chilling Requirement 200-400 hours below 45°F Note: In drought years, …

Viburnums are one of the most versatile genus of shrubs. They have pretty foliage and growth habits. They also have pretty, and sometimes even fragrant, flowers. The fruits are appealing to birds and other wildlife. Viburnums are a genus of more than 150 evergreen, semi-evergreen and deciduous woody plants from the Adoxaceae family. They are native primarily to Northern temperate …

Juniper is a great plant for filling in space fast, whether as a groundcover, a screen, or vertical punctuation in a border. Its scaly foliage is feathery and graceful, a good contrast to large-leaf plants. For low-water or rock gardens, the low-growing juniper forms a naturalistic mat that often acquires richer color in the winter. Juniper thrives in a full-sun …

The mimosa or silk tree, umbrella mimosa (Albizia julibrissin), is a tough deciduous tree that grows quickly and has and a flat, umbrellalike canopy made up of ferny leaves and fluffy pink blooms that later turn into flat seed pods. I had one in my front yard but got tired with the yard maintenance of dropped flowers, dropped seed pods, …

Italian Cypress, Cupressus sempervirens, was popular when the Bahl patio homes were first built in the 1970s. The cypress can grow in small areas (often in the 2-foot wide trench on the zero-lot-side. The cypress is relatively slow growing. But after 40 years, the trees can be over 30 feet tall. Eventually, I removed my two cypresses because the roots …

The Monkey Puzzle tree is an exotic conifer. You can see a young example at 545 S. Sunnyvale. Araucaria araucana (commonly called the monkey puzzle tree, Chilean pine, or pehuén) is an evergreen tree growing to 40 m (130 ft) tall with a 2-m (7-ft) trunk diameter. The tree is native to central and southern Chile and western Argentina. It …