Valerie Peabody Landscape Design

09/06/2026

Who p**ped on my lemon tree?! 💩🍋🐛

I’ve been checking my lemon tree after seeing other Southern California gardeners finding swallowtail caterpillars on their citrus—and I finally found one!

At first glance, you might not think “future butterfly.” You might think bird p**p.

And that's exactly the point. Young swallowtail caterpillars of several species use this remarkable camouflage to help protect themselves from predators.

Finding this little one also illustrates something I think is important about how we care for our gardens:

Sometimes we work so hard to prevent damage to our plants that we don't realize what else we're preventing.

I don't spray my lemon tree with pesticides. That means I may have to tolerate some chewed leaves—but it also means a caterpillar can show up, eat, grow, and hopefully become a butterfly. 🦋

A thriving garden doesn't always have perfect leaves. Sometimes a few holes are evidence that your landscape is participating in an ecosystem.

I’m happy to share my lemon tree. 💚

I wrote more about my little visitor, why swallowtails use citrus, host plants, and what chewed leaves can tell us about our gardens in my newest blog:

🍋 Who Pooped on My Lemon Tree? Meet the Swallowtail Caterpillar

www.valeriepeabodylandscapedesign.com/blog/a19tp6nijou996rg30mzlzouw9e83v

Would you sacrifice a few perfect leaves for a future butterfly?

🌿 I observe.
📚 I learn.
🤝 I help.

🌿 Helping Southern California homeowners create beautiful, sustainable landscapes that thrive.

08/31/2026

I spent Saturday morning with my hands in the dirt at One Seed Community Garden in Tustin. 🌱

I helped pull weeds, trim plants, and harvest fresh herbs that were being donated to a local church for its Sunday supper, where they provide meals and food to people who need them.

But what I loved most was learning more about how this particular community garden works.

This isn't a garden where individuals rent their own plots. The garden is intended to produce food for the community -- fruits, vegetables, herbs, even flowers. The garden is grown and cared for collectively, with the intention of sharing what it produces.

There is something really special about spending a morning alongside people who are willing to give their time, knowledge, and labor simply to grow food and share it with their neighbors.

I came home tired, hot—we left a little early because of the heat—dirty, and very grateful that places like this exist in our community. 💚

One of the volunteers brought her little daughter. She was shy at first, but eventually found me trimming spent flowers from a marjoram plant and asked what I was doing.

Of course, I told her all about it. 😊

After that, she followed me around the garden until we came to one of my favorite plants: Island Bush Snapdragon.

Snapdragons have a little trick I have loved forever: gently squeeze the sides of the flower and its “mouth” opens and closes. Naturally, I had to make it talk like a puppet for her.

I was too caught up in the moment to take a picture, but I’ll have to show you how it works in another post. 🌸 It's the two red flowers together in one of the photos (by themselves, not as puppets).

Have you ever volunteered at a community garden—or visited one that operates like this?

🌿 I observe.
📚 I learn.
🤝 I help.

🌿 Helping Southern California homeowners create beautiful, sustainable landscapes that thrive.

08/30/2026

With Monarch Fellowship – I just got recognized as one of their top fans! 🎉

08/29/2026

🦋 A little monarch project is taking root at Valerie Peabody Landscape Design!

I’m going to start growing milkweed to share for free with local Orange County gardeners who want to provide habitat for monarch butterflies. 🌱

I'll be working to support Monarch Fellowship!

And I’d like to make the project sustainable in more ways than one. Rather than buying all-new supplies, I’m hoping to reuse gardening materials that are already out there.

If you’re in Orange County and would like to contribute to the project, I’m currently accepting:

🌱 Potting or seed-starting soil
🪴 Empty plastic 6-packs and small nursery pots
🌿 Seed-starting trays
🏡 Small outdoor greenhouses
🦋 Appropriate milkweed seeds

Used is welcome! That’s part of the idea—reuse what we already have, keep usable plastic out of the landfill, grow more habitat, and then give the resulting milkweed plants back to our community for free.

Have something gathering dust in your garage or garden shed? Send me a message or text (949) 296-0767.

And if you’d like free milkweed once the plants are ready, let me know in the comments! I’d love to start getting an idea of how many Orange County gardeners want to participate. 🦋🌿

🌿 I observe.
📚 I learn.
🤝 I help.

🌿 Helping Southern California homeowners create beautiful, sustainable landscapes that thrive.

08/29/2026

Look what just arrived! 🌿

My new door hangers are here! If you live in Orange County and one of these shows up on your door, it means I’m already helping a garden in your neighborhood. 🐝

The idea behind them is pretty simple: your garden should be thriving, and I’m here to help.

I’m currently offering $50 Garden Consultations for homeowners who have struggling plants, bare spots, irrigation questions, design challenges, or just a garden that isn’t looking quite as good as they’d like.

We’ll walk the garden together, troubleshoot what’s happening, talk through practical improvements, and figure out the next steps.

🌱 And right now, I’m including a complimentary soil & plant health treatment with the consultation.

I also offer landscape design, planting plans, Thoughtful Landscape Care, and educational garden workshops.

Not sure what you need? Free phone consultations are always available. Call or text (949) 296-0767.

What’s the one part of your garden you wish looked better right now?

🌿 I observe.
📚 I learn.
🤝 I help.

🌿 Helping Southern California homeowners create beautiful, sustainable landscapes that thrive.

08/14/2026

Day 2 of getting to know this garden. 🌿

The changes might look subtle—and that's intentional.

When I start caring for a new garden, I don't think the first step should be making drastic changes. I want to spend some time observing it first. See how the plants are growing, what seems happy, what needs attention, and how the homeowner actually uses the space.

So today I started small.

I trimmed away some dead material, selectively pruned plants that were encroaching on pathways, pulled weeds here and there (filled up the green bin), and finished by tidying the concrete and flagstone paths.

Yesterday, on my first visit, I gave the garden its first application of freshly brewed compost tea.

Maybe I'm imagining things, but I swear some of the plants looked a little happier this morning. 😊🌱

And because I'm me, I stopped along the way to appreciate what was already happening—a beautiful hibiscus bloom, flowers on the palo verde and salvia, and a very healthy-looking grasshopper enjoying the garden too. There's life here, and it's my job to help it thrive.

There's plenty more to do here, and some mysteries to solve, but there's no reason to do it all at once. I don't want to shock any of the plants by pruning too hard at this time of year, and as the saying goes, "Nature never rushes, yet all things are accomplished."

Good garden care starts with getting to know the garden.

🌿 I observe.
📚 I learn.
🤝 I help.

When you work in your own garden, are you someone who makes changes gradually—or do you like to tackle everything at once?

🌿 Helping Southern California homeowners create beautiful, sustainable landscapes that thrive.

08/13/2026

08/13/2026

Three years later, this garden is telling me exactly what works—and what doesn't. 🌿

I'm back visiting my garden in Pacheco, and one of my favorite things about returning is seeing how the landscape has evolved while I've been away.

Some plants have absolutely taken off. The low-growing 'Bee's Bliss' salvia has spread beautifully, my avocado is fruiting in its third year, the western redbud is thriving, and two varieties of milkweed I thought I'd lost last year have returned.

The California fuchsia looks dry right now, but that's part of its seasonal cycle—and it's been busy reseeding. I originally planted six. Now I have California fuchsia popping up throughout an entire bed.

And then there's the dead rose right in front. 😂

Several of the higher-maintenance, higher-water plants have struggled or failed altogether, while many of the drought-tolerant plants have steadily expanded and made themselves at home.

That's useful information.

A garden isn't static, and not every plant choice works. Sometimes the landscape itself shows you what belongs there better than any plan can.

The goal isn't to keep forcing a plant to succeed in the wrong place. It's to observe what's happening, understand why, and let what you learn inform what comes next.

🌿 Helping Southern California homeowners create beautiful, sustainable landscapes that thrive.

08/13/2026

Another day of QWEL training at the Sterling Natural Resource Center! 🌿💧

One of the things I appreciate about taking the Qualified Water Efficient Landscaper training here is that the facility itself gives us plenty to learn from.

Yesterday we got hands-on with irrigation components—valves, flow meters, pressure regulation, and the pieces that make an irrigation system actually work efficiently. And between class sessions, I had another chance to explore the grounds.

The Sterling Natural Resource Center is a beautiful example of how water, plants, infrastructure, and thoughtful design can work together. Even the building has a story—the photos inside show its construction and development as a LEED-certified facility.

And, naturally, I couldn't walk past the landscaping without stopping for a few plant and pollinator photos. 🐝🌺

I love being able to learn something in class and then walk outside and see many of those same ideas at work in the landscape around me.

📚 The more I learn about irrigation, water efficiency, plants, and soil, the more tools I have to help homeowners understand what's happening in their own landscapes.

🌿 Helping Southern California homeowners create beautiful, sustainable landscapes that thrive.