Santa Barbara Plant Guide and Gardening Tips
Tip #1: Educate Yourself About Plant Material
There’s nothing worse than discovering and falling in love with a really cool plant, be it tree, shrub, flower, grass, or herb only to discover it doesn’t thrive where you planted it or it requires a lot more upkeep than you thought or worst of all, it overtakes the garden in one short season.
Tip #2: Check for Adequate Sunlight
Unless they are shade loving foliage groundcovers, most plants require at least 6 hours of full sunlight to achieve optimal growth–including flowering and fruiting. Avoid disappointment by checking the amount of sunlight before you plant.
Tip #3: Know your Limitations and Ask for Help
The key word here is “help”. The exception of course is the avid do it yourselfer. Yes, most of us may do just fine in the digging, planting, and plant selection process, but adding lights along the garden path, installing sprinklers, stone wall work, or installing a fountain or pond often require some professional assistance. We are here to help.
Our Santa Barbara Planting Guide –
To further assist you in designing your dream landscape, we’ve decided to share with you our favorite and best performing plant material for Santa Barbara landscapes. We have divided them into 7 categories. We hope you find this useful.
1. Aroma/Fragrant Plants:
- Sweet Olive
- Honeysuckle
- Jasmine
- Citrus
- Herbs
- Roses
- Elephant Ear
- Lavender
- Sage
- Scented Geraniums
2. Best Plants for Color:
- Roses
- Bougainvillea
- Hibiscus
- Cameliias
- Azalaeas
- Lavender
- Sage
- Day Lillies
- Iris
- Geraniums
3. Plants to encourage birds, bees and hummingbirds:
- Lavender
- Sage
- Honeysuckle
- Citrus
- Rosemary
- Privet
- Stone fruit trees
- Roses
- Fuschia
- Gardena
4. Plants to discourage deer and other wildlife:
- Cactus
- Palms
- gopher plant
- Oleander
- Skunk Plant
- Agapanthus
5. Tropical Garden Plants:
- Palms
- Ferns
- Philodendrons
- Clivia
- Hibiscus
- Papryus Grass
- Ginger
- Elephant Ear
- Taro
- Banana
6. Drought Tolerant Plants:
- Sage
- Lavender
- Succulents
- Cactus
- Rhaphiolepsis
- Oleander
- Olive tree
- Calif. Native Oak
- Santolina
- Chamise
7. Native Santa Barbara Plants:
- California Holly
- California Coffee berry
- Manzanita
- Coyote bush
- Sugar Bush
- Chamise
- Calif. Bay
- Ceanothus
- California wild gooseberry
- California wild rose
Creating healthy and beautiful landscapes is our top priority. We promise you that we’ll create a gorgeous outdoor living space where you’ll be proud to entertain friends or just relax with family.
And you can have the peace of mind knowing that we’re bonded, licensed and insured to protect the safety of our staff and clients.
Down to Earth Landscapes Inc. is located in Santa Barbara, Ca 93101 and for over 30 years a earned a fine reputation for installing and maintaining commercial and residential landscapes. We pride ourselves on creating unique outdoor living environments. Our clients are in Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties and the communities of Montecito, Santa Ynez, Ojai and Oxnard.
