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12 | THE COLONY NEWS | NOVEMBER 2022 | Hello, neighbors! When I came to Murrieta, I thought like a "gardener." Since joining the Landscape Advisory Committee, I have had to change to think like a "landscaper." What's the difference? First of all, there is a whole new vocabulary. "Mulch" to a landscaper means ground covering… could be stone, rubber, compost, shredded trees, bark, etc. To a gardener, it usually means compost or biodegradable material. Then there is what we plant where. "Drive by at 55" to a landscaper means "what you see as you drive by at that speed," i.e., larger groupings of the same plant, such as you see along highways. At The Colony, nobody will be driving that fast past anything, so we don't use that phrase, but we do try to use larger groupings of plants along Colony Drive and at the Gates. In the walkways where folks would be inspecting closer, we try to use smaller groups of the same plant and more individual plants which inspire stopping and enjoying, i.e., "moseying by" groupings. A gardener is constantly inspecting, weeding, pruning, removing, replacing, rearranging. A landscaper dealing with 80 football fields such as The Colony has to use a rotating schedule to deal with these things. Sometimes the "issue" needs to wait until that section's turn comes up. We learn patience. As a gardener, one usually knows the threats to our plot of ground, i.e., freeze zones, hot spots, shady areas, rabbits, gophers, no irrigation, etc. And sometimes it takes years for a gardener to figure solutions to all these problems. A landscaper has to deal with a HUGE amount of data on these items throughout The Colony. For instance, topography plays a big part in freezes. The Colony has many, many microclimates. We've learned that since cold "sinks," we should be planting frost-sensitive plants up on top of the "hills." Yet even a degree or two different from last year's temperature could spell death to a plant this year. Here, rabbits attack newly planted plants, so we may circle them with wire cages until the plants have grown some. There are no plants which are rabbit-proof, gopher-proof, drought-proof, freeze-proof, and are evergreen and bloom year-round! Those plants would be plastic (subject to fading). We have been incorporating more evergreens, some of which do have flowers for part of the year, but the big bloomers (bougainvillea, lantana, Mexican Bird of Paradise) are not among them. And we try to have something blooming in an area at all times. Sometimes we have been asked why we don't use more California native plants. We have found that generally these are not available in the quantity required here. They are more expensive, because often they are very slow growers and are not harvested in the wild. Very few would be considered handsome plants or prolific bloomers, which Colonists prefer. Trying to hit a happy medium, we have stuck to VanDyke Landscape Architect's palette of Mediterranean plants to give a lush look, do well in this climate, and be drought tolerant. We will be working on a palette of smaller plants for use in front yards should it ever come to that. As a gardener, it's easier to spot a plant's need for more water and readily apply it. Similarly, but on a larger scale, a landscaper plans for water according to the needs of the plants in the area. At The Colony we have an irrigation system of automated controllers. Our water districts provide a daily "number" that represents how much water we need to use to replenish the water our plants have lost due to evaporation or transpiration. This is called an evapotranspiration rate or ET. Simply put, the number represents inches of water that need to be replaced, more in summer, less in winter. This information is also gathered by our own weather stations. These stations look like TV antennas stuck in the ground around The Colony. Assuming the computer system holds up, irrigating to a percentage of ET works well and delivers the proper amount of water to where it is needed when it is needed, unless we are in a severe drought. At that point, we may have to modify this according to the water districts' mandates. NOTE: Reseeding front lawns and replacing dead plants will be taking place during cooler weather and may have already begun by the time you read this article. LANDSCAPE ADVISORY By Jan Foster, 951-698-0170

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