Below are a series of photos from my day at the zoo.
I am a senior in the Landscape Architecture department at the State University of New York - Environmental Science and Forestry interested in landscape + urbanism.
Showing posts with label Santa Barbara. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Santa Barbara. Show all posts
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Santa Barbara Zoo
While in Santa Barbara I visited the Santa Barbara Zoo. It was a small but very nice zoo. The zoo was on only 30 acres but had over 500 animals. Also the grounds were very well maintained and made each exhibit feel separate from the rest of the zoo.
Below are a series of photos from my day at the zoo.
Below are a series of photos from my day at the zoo.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Santa Barbara Botanical Gardens
One of my stops while on vacation last week was the Santa Barbara Botanical Gardens. The 65 acre botanical gardens are located in Mission Canyon and features over a 1000 species. The video below explains more about the gardens.
The gardens were organized by different native habitats of California. The map below shows the layout and sequence of the garden.
The first garden upon entering was the meadow section. The meadow section was contained by a looping path. I was impressed by the diversity of native shrubs and grasses in the meadow section. In particular I liked the contrast of the grey shrubs against the greens and browns of the other meadow species.
The gardens were organized by different native habitats of California. The map below shows the layout and sequence of the garden.
Trail Map (source)
The first garden upon entering was the meadow section. The meadow section was contained by a looping path. I was impressed by the diversity of native shrubs and grasses in the meadow section. In particular I liked the contrast of the grey shrubs against the greens and browns of the other meadow species.
Meadow Path
Native Shrubs and Grasses
The trail from the meadow section led us down a steep ravine into a shady canyon full of large redwoods. The large trees managed to block out most of sun but where the sun did break through it made beautiful shadows on the ferns and clover that covered the canyon floor. The clover had some sort of symbiotic relationship with the redwood trees. We flowed rocky stream along the right side of the garden path to the next garden feature.
The Understory
Redwood Trail
The next feature of the botanical gardens was the historic aqueduct. it served as the main water source for the Santa Barbara Mission. The aqueduct provided great views down the canyon.
Historic Aqueduct
My favorite section of the botanical gardens was oaks section. I was amazed by canopy created by the Californian Live Oaks. The distorted trunks were unlike any trees I have seen before on the east coast.
Oak Canopy
There were several other great sections of the garden including a section on the plants of the channel islands and a desert section.
Desert Section
California Trip
Here are some pictures of various places during my vacation in California.
The Langham in Pasadena
Zen Garden at the Langham
Santa Barbara Mission
View From Courthouse Tower
Courthouse Stairs
Marina
Sail Boats
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