Flanked by trees, shrubs, and ornamental grasses, a flagstone path leads to a seating area shaded by a wisteria-draped pergola.
Extravagant vegetation greets you in Barney Cohen’s Santa Fe garden. Yet most of the plants have only modest water needs and are irrigated just once a week. “That’s the normal schedule for a drought-tolerant garden in this area,” says Azul Nancy Cobb of Carlotta From Paradise, the landscape design firm that created the planting.
To create a lush but lean garden in the arid Southwest, begin with ample soil preparation, Cobb advises. “We removed 1½ feet of heavy, alkaline soil and replaced it with much-improved topsoil.” To protect and nourish the soil, she covered it with several inches of organic mulch. Cobb favors a blend of equal parts aged steer manure, compost, cotton burr, and aged ground wood chips.
Appropriate plants are also key. Most in the Cohen garden are quite xeric, including yellow-flowered ‘Moonshine’ yarrow, blue-flowered Russian sage (Perovskia), chaste tree (Vitex), and the Chinese wisteria covering the pergola. A few, such as yellow ‘Stella de Oro’ daylilies, require more water initially, says Cobb, but thanks to soil preparation and mulch, they soon adapt to once-a-week irrigation.
The final secret for achieving a lush look? Dense planting. “We averaged one plant for every 2¼ square feet,” says Cobb. When the ground is shaded by vegetation, soil stays cooler and moister.
DESIGN: Azul Nancy Cobb and Monika Hellwegen, Carlotta From Paradise, Santa Fe (505/983-1109)