Plant idea needed...help me out ya'll

MattyB

MattyB

Moderator
I'd like to pick your brains a bit. I've got a long switchback road/trail that goes down my property and I'd like to line it with some sort of plant or plants. Here's the catch and requirements. It's gotta be able to take full sun, use no water once established (we get about 10" annually here), and I need to be able to easily propagate it so that I don't have to buy a thousand plants to line the road I can just continue to propagate it over the years. Think along the lines of Geraniums. These grow with no water even on my rocky hill and I can just cut them and plop them in and they'll take anywhere. Got any bright ideas? I've got a white shrub that's sorta like a Desert Marigold but it's got a super white glaucous covering all over it. It survives with no water right in the rocks but I don't know about propagation. What are you thinking?
 

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ScotTi

ScotTi

Esteemed Member
Matt, How about Blue Agaves, I saw a picture some time ago outlining a drive and it looked great. Scott
 
K

Kim

Active Member
What kind of a look do you want? Height, density, spread?

Caesalpinia pulcherrimia will take the heat and has gorgeous tropicalesque flowers, easy to grow from seed, but you'll probably have to trim it once a year. Echium candicans has nice purple spikes, but won't last forever -- they can get a bit rangy looking after several years. Many ceanothus would work, for example, ceanothus concha grows about 4 ft. tall, nice blue flowers in spring, kind of a woody shrub. Or there is the Gunther Swartz driveway example:
GuntherSchwarzgardenSantaBarbara006.jpg


GuntherSchwarzgardenSantaBarbara005.jpg


This is a mix of aloes, euporbia, and other succulents growing along the 1/4 mile driveway in Santa Barbara, and I doubt it gets irrigated, and super-easy to propagate.

Check the Las Pilitas Nursery website, they specialize in native, drought-tolerant plants, you might get some ideas there.
 
MattyB

MattyB

Moderator
Oh, man that's some cool plantage Kim! I like the Blue Agave idea too Scott, I'll definitely do that. Those pics make we wonder why I'd want to stick to one species lining the road? I'll just find everything that fits the requirements as stated above and plant them in natural looking groups all along the trail. Yeah, much better.
 
MattyB

MattyB

Moderator
Ahhh! I missed that thread entirely. Yeah, I can tell you a lot about ti plants damping of!:( I'll go take some pics and report back captain!:eek:
 
P

Peter

Member
I'm sure Ron will hook you up Matty. I'd throw in a few Euphorbia lambeii's for some height(visible in the upper right corner of Kim's photo #2).
 
P

Peter

Member
Actually, now that I think about it, they might need a bit of water, or at least, they look better with water. I think Ron has had some problems with his not getting enough water, so I might have given you a bum steer. Sorry man.
 
E

epicure3

Active Member
I was just going to suggest some agapanthus. They are in bloom around here right now. I didn't use to like them, but they are starting to grow on me. Not literally, of course. I would also go with the agaves, euphorbias and succulents someone else mentioned.
 
MattyB

MattyB

Moderator
Palmsforfun!!!!!!!! Colin, you sold out man!!!! That's ok, at least you're still using your palms for something. :)
 
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