Under the Oaks

One of the features that makes Gamble Garden in Palo Alto so special is the number of healthy mature coast live oaks throughout the site. Most of the other natives are clustered in a corner of the garden closest to Waverley and Embarcadero, next to the parking lot. If you're just getting to know the natives, you'll appreciate the plant labels.

Much of the native garden area is relatively new, so it includes a much wider variety of plants than I'll mention, though many of them are still small. It's worth a visit if you have oaks and need ideas for understory plants, or you want to see natives in bloom. The garden is free and open to the public during daylight hours, except that main areas of the garden are sometimes closed for special events on weekends.

I was surprised to notice that the clipped evergreen hedge running along Waverley from Embarcadero to Churchill, flourishing in sun and shade, is holly-leaf cherry. This native is usually grown as a small tree or large shrub, but it tolerates pruning well.

A mature buckeye tree is underplanted with sugar bush, which grows along the unforgiving edge of the parking lot but is happiest here where it gets a little more sun.

Native oaks don't live long if their root systems are disturbed with excessive trenching or summer watering, so it's important to plant drought-resistant species under oaks. A rule of thumb (not followed here) is to keep at least 10 feet from the trunk inviolate, letting the fallen oak leaves mulch the area under the canopy. It's interesting to visit public gardens to see what planting risks pay off.

Plants that do well under oaks not only require scant water, but they also have to be able to compete with the tree's root system. Some of the best candidates are featured at Gamble.

• Snowberry, a mounding shrub with delicate rounded leaves and white berries in the winter.
• Douglas iris, a clumping perennial available in a range of colors.
• Hummingbird sage, a spreading perennial with fruitily fragrant leaves and spires of magenta flowers.
• Catalina perfume, a glossy arching evergreen groundcover with apple-scented stems.
• Bush anemone, an upright shrub with subtly scented bouquets of white flowers.
• Western redbud, a small tree with magenta flowers in early spring and heart-shaped leaves.
• Coffeeberry, suburban workhorse shrub par excellence.
• Pink-flowering currant, a medium shrub with cascades of pink flowers in early spring.
• Fuchsia-flowered gooseberry, a spiny shrub with a profusion of jewel-toned flowers in winter.

• Farewell to spring, an aptly named annual with showy white and hot-pink masses of blooms.
• Coyote bush, a light green lush groundcover
• Deergrass, a large clumping grass with upright narrow plumes.
• Cleveland sage, an aromatic shrub with deep purple-blue flowers.
• Matilija poppy, with large crepe-paper-white yellow-centered flowers.
• Hummingbird fuchsias, with red-orange flowers that will continue to bloom through the first frost.
• Fragrant pitcher sage, with lush gray-green fragrant leaves.
• White sage, a majestic plant with tall flower spikes and pungently scented leaves.

© 2008 Tanya Kucak

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