There are two reoccurring themes we encounter in our gardening interactions. One of the themes deals with maintenance inputs and the other has to do with an environmental design aesthetic that property owners, designers and plant people in all categories desire to better understand.

What we present in this Plant for That posting is a planting design answer that hopefully responds to both themes. Here is the space, the circumstances and the two plants selected:

• The Space – A commercial space in an urban setting, with no irrigation. North exposure with good quality light exposure, and reflective heat from the surrounding concrete.
• The Circumstances – A raised planting space, amended soil to improve growing conditions, and decent drainage.
• The Plants – Only two plants chosen for this situation; the trees are Dakota Pinnacle Birch (Betula platyphylla ‘Fargo’) and the ground cover grass is Blue Grama (Bouteloua gracilis).

The Birch is a North Dakota State University introduction, a very adaptable cultivar, does well in urban environments and not overly particular to soil type and/or pH. In addition, it adjusts well to both dry and moist conditions and with its overall vigor, it shows good resistance to Birch Borer. On trees 3 years old or less the bark is grayish orange, on trees 6 years old, the bark changes to orangish white, and on mature trunks – the bark is mostly white and smooth with some limited peeling.

This tree is narrow and spire-like in habit, fitting nicely into limited space. It grows to around 35 ft. tall with a 10 ft. spread. The summer foliage is a very crisp green color, with yellow fall coloration.

The carpet of grass is intentionally gridded to reinforce the rectangular lines of the space and is native to the Great Plains Region. Known as Blue Grama, this graceful plant is care free growing only to 8-15 inches tall in full flower. The seed heads are unique, blooming from late June through September and are suspended horizontally like eyelashes rising up from slender stems. The grass has a bluish gray hue to it during the growing season and in the fall, come frost – cures to a soft vanilla, buff color.

These two plants offer great seasonal interest, have a number of compatible growth characteristics, fit the environmental conditions and make the maintenance inputs very understandable and defined. One of the most revealing aspects of this planting is how the plants respond to limited inputs and rainfall, rather than require more extensive cultivation and care. We look forward to watching this very simple composition grow and develop in the years ahead.

A couple other footnotes:

• The Blue Grama’s botanical genus name of Bouteloua honors two Spanish Botanists who were also brothers: Claudio Bouteloua (1774-1812) and Esteban Bouteloua (1776-1813). Convinced that every plant has a story of some sort behind it, we find it interesting to uncover such nuggets as we work along in our efforts.
• In our last Plant for That Posting we had some requests to identify the yellow flowering beauty that was tucked in and amongst the wall stone of the fire pit space we presented. We apologize for the omission and the delay… the plant is: Aurinia saxatilis or Basket of Gold Alyssum. It is a perennial plant that can bloom for up to 4 weeks in spring time and loves to cascade and sprawl over the wall stones. In fact, Aurinia means “golden” & saxatilis means “to be found among rocks.” Now who said Latin was a dead language?