Garden Visit: Native Flowers and Cor-ten Steel in a Santa Barbara Landscape Designed by Kathleen Ferguson – Gardenista

“I’m a huge nature lover,” says Los Angeles-based landscape designer Kathleen Ferguson. “I always have been.” For more than two decades, she has been cultivating this passion by creating climate-appropriate gardens in southern California. She starts each project by studying the site conditions, contemplating the architecture of the house, and spending time talking with her clients. She also thinks carefully about the environment—avoiding any pesticides and chemical fertilizers and selecting varieties for wildlife as much as for people. “More and more, I’m planting for the birds,” she says with a laugh.

For this garden situated at the base of the of Los Padres National Forest in Santa Barbara, Ferguson played off the rugged, arid natural landscape. Dotted with ochre boulders and shrubby chaparrals, the site also features breathtaking views of the ocean. “It’s a huge contrast,” she says. The modern house, designed by Linda Taalman and Alan Koch (formerly Taalman Koch Architecture,) is constructed from glass, concrete, aluminum with Cor-ten accents. “There’s always a push and pull,” she says of her design. Here are some of the standout elements of her design.

Photography by Trevor Tondro, courtesy of Trevor Tondro/OTTO, unless otherwise noted.

The Right Plants, Right Place, Right Conditions

Ferguson, an arborist who has a degree in horticulture, sticks to a drought-tolerant, climate appropriate plant palette, using as many natives as possible in her projects. Here, hot pink penstemons (Penstemon clevelandii and P. pseudospectabilis) and purple sages (Salvia ’Dara’s Choice’, S. clevelandii, S. ‘Pozo Blue’, S. ‘Point Sal’) provide color and a feast for pollinators like hummingbirds, butterflies, and bees. Mature oak and manzanita trees anchor the space bringing shade and a sense of history. Native shrubs, like Ceanothus ‘Concha’ and C. ‘Joyce Coulter’, buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum), and coffeeberry (Rhamnus californica) offer texture and habitats for wildlife.