Looking for advice on plants for Sunny Osoyoos

HI. I am new to this forum and a fairly new gardener. I live in what I believe to be zone 7b. I'm in need of about 42 linear feet of privacy and plan to build 8 feet tall trellis and plant climbers. Problem is that this will be right beside my pool and so I prefer ever green varieties for leaf control. Flowering preferrably. I'm looking for insight into what plants would work best here. I have full irrigation so water isn't an issue. The soil is mostly sandy I'd say its fair to poor quality. Anyone have any ideas? Much appreciated.

SunniGardener

 

Broad-leaved evergreens often drop leaves and other parts over long periods instead of having one big, convenient dump of leaves in fall - you do not reduce clean-up by choosing evergreen plants.

The main thing with planting near swimming pools is to choose kinds that produce large parts that do not clog pool filter intakes.

And can take proximity to chlorinated water.

If you are in the interior you might like to pick up a copy of The Garden of Joy by James Searles. Try used book sources.

 

Hi Ron. Thanks for that.... I hadn't considered that point.

The pool is salt water not chlorinated but yes, I see that there's more to it than just not having leaves or blossoms dropping off.

I'll check out the book resource, thank you.

Osoyoos isn't quite in the interior so much as its south - my house is 150 feet from the USA border - 2 hours straight north of Spokane.

I'll continue to research and thanks again!

 

hi from Penticton area - what an exciting opportunity you have

... here are a few places to start

1. for sure - everywhere you go in those subdivisions in the OK - you see those cedar hedges - we have a joke in our family (who has been in the valley for over a 100 years) - my uncle calls them cemetery hedges. In other words - NO CEDAR HEDGES.

2. obviously you need a xeriscape (esp in Osoyoos) and local (native) so you can splurge on the swimming pool and some other water luxuries.

3. go up to Trout Creek on Hiway 97 - stop at the Summerland Ornamental Gardens - at the Research Station - take your camera and notebook - get ideas http://summerlandornamentalgardens.org/ - and also on Facebook. There is a specific demonstration garden for xeriscaping - a beautiful combo of hardscape and plantscape.

4. then go to this specialty nursery - also in Trout Creek - and have a look around - they offer design services, as you can see from the Osoyoos testimonial on this web page -
http://www.grasslandsnursery.ca/about-us/

5. take a course at the upcoming annual Meadowlark Festival (May 2015) www.meadowlarkfestival.ca

7. find this old book - by Dr Jurgen Hansen - he was an expert scientist at the Summerland Research Station - also an expert gardener - if you come across a copy - treasure it! http://www.amazon.ca/Gardening-Okanagan-book-local-gardeners/dp/B00B18TSVW

8. one day in Kelowna - you must go and see the gardens at the historic Guisachen House http://www.okheritagesociety.com/guisachan-house/

I admit, there are not a lot of "wow!" inspiring gardens in the Okanagan (most are typical subdivision landscaper gardens) - but I bet if you start looking around - and checking out Grasslands Nursery - you will have some good result.

I know that we keep our lakeview acreage "wild" (that is our main purpose in having an acreage - no vineyard for us) - but in our little low-maintenance and definitely low water (we have a well), I know that we can easily grow those colorful irises (bearded?), hollyhocks like mad in the summer - small daffs in the spring (tete a tete) around a rock outcrop, philadelphus (mock orange) is a spring shrub, small leaves, perfumed white flowers, oregon grape (the tall one), maidens bower (wild clematis - tho it might send puffy bits in to your pool) etc.

hope that helps.

 

in addition to my response above - I meant to add some other plants that we can grow with little care - and also - respectful of water use.

NB - I also wanted to add - before planting - you should check your local bylaws about fence and hedge heights. Your local government town hall (are you part of the town or in the RDOS?) will have that info.

also - make sure you know what you are prohibited from planting in a private landscape residential garden - reason is - potential disease spread to commercial agriculture crops in the Interior. (yes, Osoyoos is considered The Interior, directly north of Wenatchee, WA on Hwy 97)

OK - some more plants we can do well
1. red twig dogwood - nice leaves in summer - beautiful red twigs in winter - hardy - moderate height - easy to maintain
2. hardy roses (rugosa cousins) - look for the "Explorer" series - they were developed by the fed gov't Ag Canada at Morden Manitoba research station. Nice read hips in the winter for the birds.
3. douglas maple (a native maple - tho you might be a bit too hot for them)
4. blue fescue makes a nice texture accent -
5. obviously a grape vine makes nice shade over a pergola in summer - tho pick the fruit early / promptly so as not to attract wildlife in to your area - and get mushy purple grape stains on your patio!
6. lilacs! they are often all that remains of an old farmstead in the valley - or up on the KVR rail trail - at the "section houses" from almost a century ago - note that today there are many nice colors other than the faded purple classic color

in addition to xeriscape - you may also want to look in to firewise landscaping too - esp if you are that far out of town (ie away from the firehall and close to the border) https://www.firesmartcanada.ca/images/uploads/resources/FireSmart-Guide-to-Lanscaping.pdf

another great resource - catering to WESTERN North American gardening - with a great list of "pool friendly" landscape plants for all zones (note that Sunset has a special zone system - more accurate than the nationwide one we use in Canada I think) http://www.sunset.com/garden/new-sunset-western-garden-book

 

WOW! Thank you! That is a tonne of information and I can't wait to start to work thru your two emails step by step to check things out!

Very much appreciate the detailed replies.

 

you are welcome - obviously you have a better idea of your garden situation - but those are definitely some ways to start finding inspiration (also - look up some magazines (especially Sunset) and make a scrap book of your dream garden (hardscape and plantscape) - so you can show your designer/landscaper/nursery.

Linden Gardens in Kaleden is another beautiful garden to visit - now granted, they don't really have a "xeriscape" but it is really pretty! very much an "indoor - outdoor" design --- make a point of going there one day. http://www.lindengardens.ca/index.php/contact

i should have included "lavender" on the plant idea list. It really likes the chalky-clay type soil on the big wide benches above the famous cliffs along south Okanagan Lake (near Penticton) - there are a couple of lavender farms out in Naramata (Forest Green Man is one - he sells great garlic and tree fruits too http://forestgreenman.com/Home.html )

 

good morning - I've been thinking about this further - and I remember a really nice "hedgerow" type installation of approx 100 feet in length along a lot line in Trout Creek - it was between the house and the street - for privacy and nature attraction, and pleasing design too.

how much distance do you have between your lot line and your pool deck?

the point is to have "layers" and "textures" in your design - and make it 4 season pleasing.

so if your lot line is 100 feet - and your pool is 40 feet of that - then you can have a taller tree away from the pool (shade, leaves, etc) -

here is a good article (tho not really a plant list for Osoyoos except for Red Twig Dogwood) that describes a hedgerow - http://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/suburban-hedgerows-zmaz07djzgoe.aspx?PageId=5

also - make sure whatever you plant does not interfere with your
1. pool plumbing (the underground pipes, etc)
2. septic system, including drain field (which I assume you have so far out of town there)

seems like another hot day starting!

 

Hi there Georgia Strait...

it is shaping up to be a hot day, you're right... always a bit hotter here than in Penticton as well. LOVE IT.

The space between the pool deck and the neighbor's fence is about 10 feet and only about 3 feet of that is plantable. That is why the plan to go with the trellis on our property that will be slightly higher than his fence (his elevation is higher than ours).... so we will have 3 trellis - 8x8 8x16 and 8x24.... in between we have long established trees Japanese Maple, Magnolia, Curly Bark, Something with really red tiny flowers we have no idea what it is.... so the trellis we go between each of these.... its why I am looking for climbers specifically as only have about 3 feet in which to plant and need the height for privacy. I've learned since my initial post that the evergreen idea is likely a poor one - if the leaves come off in fall all at once its likely the pool cover will be on. So better to have one dump of leaves than losing a few at a time, all the time. I am no longer interested in anything except something that will climb a trellis rather quickly and be good privacy from early summer to late fall (so here in Osoyoos, from about late May till mid Sept). We are thinking maybe doing some grasses around the pool itself to separate it from the wide expanse of lawn elsewhere in the yard but really want to plant something up on the retaining wall for privacy.... Anyway - your ideas are all amazing and I'll consider them for the entirety of the property. Your link to Linden Garden is a blessing... Cannot wait to take my next visitors there ... love Kaleden and did not know about the gardens there.

If you have ANY ideas of what specifically I could plant to climb my trellis walls that would be much appreciated. Have a great SUNNY day here in the south OK. Supposed to rain tomorrow.

 

Here is an old thread from this forum (Kamloops area) that may offer some info about hedgerow idea ---- http://www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/forums/showthread.php?t=12550

this old thread reminded me that potentillia is a nice plant for your area, too - I think there are several of these easy-care, compact shrubs, waterwise too - in the landscaping outside of the intersection of the Channel Bypass (Hwy 97) and Okanagan College in Penticton - tiny leaves - and flowers in either pink, white and most commonly yellow.

http://okanaganxeriscape.org/db/plant/220

the popular blue sage flower would look nice in summer too - it's often in the city gardens in Penticton http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perovskia_atriplicifolia

Wow! The Okanagan Xeriscape group really has lots of info on their website - http://okanaganxeriscape.org/ (classes and plant sales, too)

 

hmm, let me think about what I've seen around -
wisteria would take a long time
we don't want ivy that is for sure
clematis are fussy

I think people put virginia creeper on some of the old farm houses along Naramata Road - there is that big old mansion (kind of a box) to the lake side as you proceed NORTH on Naramata Road just where you take the turn-off to go to the Penticton City Landfill (best view in the city!) ---- I am pretty sure it's covered in Virginia Creeper.

that said - I do not know about how much it can damage concrete (if at all) or other bad habits.

it is the vine that has reddish burgundy leaves

ah here we go - the Xeriscape group says it is "invasive" http://okanaganxeriscape.org/db/plant/260

here are some other vines in their database ---- the one i do well with is the "native white clematis" in their list - click on the 2nd photo and you'll see its "habit" - yes, it looks kind of crazy - but it works! (again, the fluffy bits might get in your pool - depends on your prevailing wind)

http://okanaganxeriscape.org/db/?pq=vine

 

maybe this brings us back to grape vine - grows fast - nice and leafy - just make sure you harvest the fruit asap (even if it isn't ripe) so it doesn't drop on to your patio and make a mess - or - that you find a bear up in your trellis one day!

I wonder what grape vine type all the restaurants and so forth use to cover their summer patios?

ps - for another place to take guests - have you ever been to the model train layout in Osoyoos - amazing - so you take your girlfriends to the Linden Garden and back around Skaha on the east side road (Matheson Farm is a genuine straw bale fruit stand) - ice cream at Tickleberries in OK Falls, back to Osoyoos ----- and the guys go and see the model railroad! (actually we girls like going there too - it is amazing) http://www.osoyoosrailroad.com/contact-us.html

 

Hello - I am learning a lot from your initial question - I found this plant list from the City of Penticton - it relates to a garden bed near the Art Gallery at the north end of Penticton (near the old Delta Hotel (the casino hotel)) - there is always lots of parking and ALWAYS a lovely view of Okanagan Lake - so this is worth a stop - there is a Japanese style garden there too that is interesting. (and in autumn season, the kokanee swim by to spawn upstream= if you quietly walk over the old railroad bridge near the art gallery you may see some)

http://www.penticton.ca/assets/Community/Documents/XeriscapeGarden.pdf

 

good morning - i was looking at the Bylands Nursery website (they are up in Westbank - aka West Kelowna - a longtime well-known plant nursery business) - and they show several vines that may do well in your garden.

Hops?
Honeysuckle?
they do sell virginia creeper - so it would be worth asking them about that and how invasive it is.

in my experience, the staff are knowledgeable - the old story I've heard about this place has always been how "expensive" Bylands is - well - if you're getting great products (that will grow and flourish), plus selection - plus service - plus knowledge - I don't mind paying more than what you might find at the seasonal "garden center" at the big box store.

start here -
http://www.bylands.com/our-products/search/results/vines

 

hello in Osoyoos - did you see this recent article on Castanet (the OK Valley news website) - about plants suited to Okanagan -

start here
http://www.castanet.net/news/West-Kelowna/139404/Brown-is-the-new-green#comments

and then go here -
http://www.makewaterwork.ca/