Tag: grading

Building a command post

2011-3 Command Post Table 1

Redwood command post table today, 10 years old

Alexander Selkirk was a Scot whose adventures on an uninhabited island were reputed to be the basis for Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe. From ‘Verses Supposed to be Written by Alexander Selkirk’ by poet, William Cowper, are these lines:

“I am monarch of all I survey,
My right there is none to dispute.”

2000-11 Command post table plan

2000-11 Command post table plan

When we first bought the property here in October 2000, I was inspired by a shady, cool area above where the house would be built to make for ourselves a spot. This spot is on a rise above where the house is now. There are three tall Ponderosa pines there and three or four oaks, with a line of small manzanitas in front. The mountain, which inspired us to choose this place to live, rises above all.

For the first five years we had no electricity, no water and it was a few months before we even had a flat place to park our small trailer. We needed a living room,…a spot.…

Planning a large forest garden

Becoming stewards of our forest For some of us, here in the California foothills, especially those who live near the national forest, nature provides the perfect landscaping. Using the existing trees and native plants can help your garden design blend smoothly into the surrounding landscape.  Caring for  a large forest property has its challenges and rewards.…

Three levels, from right, cultivated Mediterranean and native plants, below path, introduced natives and beyond the bench, natural

Creating a long lasting garden

A common word in gardening this decade is ‘sustainable’; sustainable gardening is using the principles of ecological wisdom.  When planting and puttering in my garden, which is two acres planted with CA natives, Mediterranean plants close to the house and natural groomed forest beyond, I think of this. How do I also create a long…