The Dry Garden: ‘Sustainable Landscaping for Dummies’

Posted on | December 4, 2009 | No Comments

The sustainable gardener's lair: Entrance to the Santa Barbara garden of landscape architect Owen Dell. Photo: Emily Green

The idea that suburban gardens might be “sustainable” came late to Southern California. Modern Los Angeles was sold on the promise that anything grows. Exotic plants were status symbols. Sunshine was constant, and the only worry about water was finding plants best suited to go next to the swimming pool. More than a century later, the fantasy style is out. Sustainable is in. There’s only one problem. What does sustainable mean?

Landscape architect Owen Dell has cut through the eco-babble to offer not just a definition, but also a how-to book. The Santa Barbara-based author of “Sustainable Landscaping for Dummies,” published by Wiley this year, begins by defining sustainability.

Click here to keep reading this week’s Dry Garden column in the Los Angeles Times.

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