simplifying the garden

Winter is here and my landscaping business is in its usual mid-season slumber.  While I design all year long, typically early December through mid-February I take a hiatus from garden installations for three reasons:  inclement weather, high soil saturation and low plant availability.  I think its the right thing to do for client gardens even though it means a crazier spring for me.  Scheduling issues aside, I have grown fond of winter’s lull that allows me to eat dinner with Adam every night (instead of with my computer), get into a reliable workout schedule and most of all – ponder my own garden.  This year I have a new garden to develop and my approach is already shaping up to be quite different from our last garden.   One major difference is I am not starting from scratch here.   We built our last house and the garden was carved out of a cedar and alder forest situated in a ravine.  Adam and I did most of the heavy lifting including felling trees, hauling soil, compost, gravel & rock, not to mention the masses of plants & trees that went in.  I am glad this type of work is behind us – the difference between ages 31 and 41 in your joints is nothing to sniff at.  The other factor is how I have changed.  Nearly 10 years of designing gardens under my belt, I am much more restrained in both how I approach developing a garden and how I select plants.  In the early days, I was driven by a mad plant lust and wanted to try just about anything and everything.  Things failed, but many succeeded and I learned from those failures and successes.  In my new garden, I am blessed with good structure and I plan to build on this using a limited plant palette of known performers hand selected for the garden’s precise cultural conditions.  I have also developed patience.  I used to feel that the state of my garden was a reflection of my design expertise, and as such it must always be perfect.  These days, I’m comfortable sitting back and observing the garden through the seasons before I start in on major changes even if it means areas will look less than ideal for a while.  I want to be sure I understand each choice made by the prior owners as they made thoughtful decisions.  For instance, I am fortunate that they preserved some mature gems from the original garden (house was a 1920s rebuild & expansion).  However, changes do need to be made and finally getting to my point – many of these are driven by the need to simplify care of the garden.

I enjoy pottering in the garden, but by no means do I want a garden to own me.  I also have a high standard for how the garden should look.  Marrying these two requires good design.  My mantra – the garden design works so I don’t have to.  Obviously this is an exaggeration.  Every garden requires a measure of work, but the goal is to reduce maintenance anywhere I can – particularly tasks that are repetitively tedious.  For instance weeding with no hope of prevailing – like crab grass in between path stones that were laid directly on unprepped soil.  This new garden came stocked with just about every local weed, and some in spades.  In the beds, I have mounted a relentless assault over the past 5 months through repeated deep weedings.  Luckily the soil is well amended and loose so getting the weeds out is fairly easy.  There are just so many of them including the ultra wicked crabgrass.  The next step in this war is a very thick layer of compost that will go on the beds in early March.  I will probably throw in an organic pre-emergent like corn meal.  While it will take dedication over several years to control weeds in the beds, I can already see results.  On the other hand, the stone path is hopeless.  No matter how much I weed, I will never get all the little crabgrass root pieces out from underneath the stones without taking the path apart.  At that point, the best choice would be to replace it with something lower maintenance like clean gravel that can be lined with weedcloth – which is the plan for spring.    This change will allow me to focus on things that I can improve instead of a battle I’ll never win.

There are other examples of areas that need modification to reduce maintenance.  Salvaged concrete was used for a patio in the interior courtyard (see below).  I like the idea, the concrete is from a driveway that was removed during the house rebuild.  The downside: pea gravel in between the slabs migrates all over the place and weeds & plants have gone bananas in these joints…so another constant maintenance issue.  If I loved the design, I’d find a way to make it work (like sending Adam out with the flamer)…but I don’t.  The patio stops abruptly just past the french doors and feels out of scale with the space.  Its too small to hold furniture.  The grade sits too high, only 1/2″ below the siding, inviting all manner of pests into the structure.   The broken concrete with weeds growing in between does kind of scream abandoned.  In another area, I’d be fine with this – I love a deconstructed wild feeling in the right place.  However in an interior courtyard that should function like another room in the house (and in this house – tie the old and new wings together), it needs a different feel.  I want the space to be functional, echo the interior design and I’d like to disguise the narrowness of the space with a more uniform floor & uneven patio edge.  I’d also like to use the concrete pieces.   With that in mind, the planned redesign includes using the concrete pieces as a border around a larger patio that has a curved edge.  The new patio floor will be a 3/8″ clean crushed gravel in a soft peach hue.  The largest pieces of concrete will be set as landings in the gravel at the two sets of french doors and as stepping stones through a bed from the patio to a nearby path.    To soften the hardscape, Nassella tenuissima and annual succulents such as echeveria will be planted directly in the patio (cutting small openings in the weedcloth) with the gravel serving as a mulch.  Existing plantings in the adjacent beds will be replaced with plants that perform year round since the courtyard is viewed from nearly every room in the house.  We already have Italian piazza string lights to hang above the area and are planning a large farm table as the center piece.  The space needs enclosure on one end, and we want to experiment with tall panels of Cor-ten steel that will age to a rich rust color.  While this design is more complicated than the existing treatment, it will be less work since a much larger area will be covered in low maintenance permeable hardscape that will be lined with weedcloth.  A few before shots of the courtyard and one hastily thrown together mock up of what it may look like…(table courtesy of West Elm).

salvaged concrete slabs

note the crispy Acer…already changing color in August…too hot for it in this spot…

mock up

These are the plans for the future – much work has already been done to simplify plant care.   We arrived on the heels of summer, so initial work in the garden was plant removal.  A few problem plants were dealt with immediately like local thugs Hypericum and Euphorbia ‘Fen’s Ruby’.   Water seeking and thus potentially invasive plants were removed from the base of the Glendon septic mounds.  An Acer Plamatum ‘Bloodgood’ planted about 1′ from the house was removed before it became a problem and given away as there is no spot for a tree of this size on the property. As soon as the weather cooled and rains returned, plants were shuffled around.   First up, dealing with right plant, wrong place.  A delicate Acer palmatum dissectum that burned in the August sun and required constant hand watering was removed from the center of the hot courtyard and placed on the northside of the house where its dark foliage will contrast against the light siding.  An unhappy floppy mass of Nassella tenuissima was pulled out of a shady spot and placed in the sun.  A few things out of scale here and there were removed or shuffled, and some things were regrouped in masses.  Drainage issues were addressed and my usual river rock border along the house was started.  The Glendon mound septic system (if you are not familiar – looks like burial mounds) is fortunately tucked in the back garden.  To protect the sandy mounds against erosion and soften their unnatural forms, masses of drought tolerant grasses and perennials adapted to sandy soils such as Nassella tenuissima, Nepeta, Bouteloua gracilis, Sesleria, Achillea, Sedum and Fragaria (beach strawberry) were massed on & around the mounds to create a “controlled” meadow (e.g. a meadow look without the using the weedy seed packets).   This area will require constant weeding as we cannot use compost on the mounds and they have been infiltrated with several weeds including horsetail.

This got really long but hopefully not too boring!  More to come as we keep moving forward…

Read Full Post »

drip irrigation

Finally – summer has arrived in Western Washington!  Our recent dry stretch means we are now watering full speed ahead as the moisture reservoir from the prolonged spring rains has finally dried up.  My garden is probably one of the last to dry out with its high water table, limited afternoon sun and heavy compost.    Given these factors, I opted for no automatic irrigation.  Which brings me to the topic – drip irrigation. I am often asked whether we need irrigation in our climate and I always respond with a strong “yes”.    Unless your garden consists of a small urban plot with a few pots and  limited bed space, you probably will find hand watering overwhelming and not entirely effective.  Not to mention a waste of water as most hand waterers (myself included) get tired of holding the wand and resort to setting up sprinklers.

There is a movement here that mirrors California’s water conservation efforts by encouraging home owners to skip the irrigation and use Mediterranean, natives & other drought tolerant plants that can take our typically dry summers.  In California, this is incredibly important.  Water use for landscaping is astonishingly high – particularly for irrigating lawns.   It is estimated that up to 300,000 acres of CA are covered by residential lawn (Source: Reimagining the California Lawn).  While I support water conservation and understand why it is important for us too, I still favor the use of supplemental automatic irrigation on ornamental beds for the following reasons:

1) Drought tolerant does not mean zero summer water – there is a difference between “thrive” and “survive” (the same applies for marginally hardy plants like many of the hebes…they might survive the winter, but they will look terrible).

2) Once the soil dries out completely, it can be a challenge to re-saturate – often requiring excessive water to reach a plant’s roots.  It is better to provide water at intervals – right to the plant’s roots and deeper to encourage strong root growth.

3) Plants that can survive with zero supplemental water in summer typically do not want to live here in winter – such as cold hardy agave and yucca.  It is downright mean to subject them to our deluge and many just give up and die unless their soil has been perfected to a free draining, gravel & sand mix.  They are outstanding for pots – particularly ones sited under eaves in a sunny position.  If you do pot them – the same rule applies for the potting soil – it must drain sharply.

4) Ditto for some of the Mediterranean plants we have been experimenting with in recent years – we are faced with rot if the soil is not free draining or hardiness issues in the cold winters (Cistus, anyone?).  Because we have to build soil that drains freely to support these plants in winter, the beds can dry out much faster in summer leading to needing supplemental irrigation to keep them looking decent (see #1 above).

4) I’ve never met a fern that I did not like, however several of our natives that are well adjusted to dry summers and wet winters are forest understory plants.  They are fabulous in the right setting, however the shady forest has long been cleared in many residential areas.  Our tough and beautiful plants like Polystichum munitum will scorch badly in the hot afternoon sun and cannot be utilized in exposed environments.

5) Just because you have installed automatic irrigation does not mean you are going to be wasteful about water.  On the contrary – a properly installed drip irrigation system (this is not soaker hoses or emitters) will conserve water as compared to hand watering, hand setting sprinklers or automatic sprinklers.  It delivers water exactly where it is needed and less of it.  If you are selective about where it is installed (ornamental beds near the house and not native areas), it can be a garden life saver.

Despite our need for supplemental water – there is no perfect automatic irrigation system.  A reality I share with each of my clients.  Each system has its pros and cons, however some are more worthy than others.   My preferred choice for ornamental beds is drip irrigation such as Netafim (www.netafimusa.com/landscape/literature).  Netafim consists of tubing with emitters spaced at intervals.  There are different options for the emitter spacing and choosing the right one depends on your soil profile and your gph (gallons per hour) needs.  The lines are placed in the garden bed after planting and before final compost typically with a 12-18″ spacing.  The lines are pinned down and buried under a few inches of soil and compost or just compost.  The method is to blanket the bed with water rather than have an emitter for each plant.  With this approach, you must carefully plan for zone division based on sun exposure and soil moisture levels and to be sure to use plants with similar water needs in each zone.

Some landscapers believe that sprinklers are the best way to go for ornamental beds.  I’ve heard the argument that sprinklers are better because you can “see the water” whereas with drip, you cannot.  I find this odd – plant roots need the water, not the leaves or soil surface or the adjacent sidewalk.  “Seeing” the water everywhere does not improve distribution to plant roots.  Here are some other reasons why I prefer drip irrigation such as Netafim over automatic sprinklers in beds:

1)   Efficiency of watering over time:  Typically, sprinkler systems are installed before the plants.  The installers use equations to calculate coverage based on bare soil.  Anyone who has created a garden from scratch knows that water distribution via sprinkler is vastly different at year one compared to year three when plants reach established size and probably are blocking those sprinklers.  This results in what I like to call “soak and starve” – the plants right next to and blocking the sprinkler are over watered while other parts of the bed are completely dry.

2) Water waste & distribution:  Sprinklers water everywhere, but the water needs to get to plant roots.  Water evaporates in the air, ends up on leaves and hardscape and often has to be run for an excessive amount of time to penetrate the soil during the height of summer.  This can result in shallow water distribution which often leads to shallow root growth.

3) Foliar disease:  With our wet springs, we already struggle with fungal issues and foliar diseases. Continuing this top soak through summer can prolong  some nasty cultural problems like Heuchera rust and black spot.

4) Plant squash:  Overhead watering a plant loaded with blooms leads to a soggy and sad looking specimen.  Ditto for many of the lightweight ornamental grasses that can be flattened by sprinklers.

This is not to say that drip irrigation is perfect.  You need to be careful to not hit the lines when working in the garden.  You need to scratch below the surface to check the moisture levels every once in a while to see if you are over or under watering. (Note: This gets back to “seeing” the water…keep in mind that you have to check with sprinklers too.  Just because the top of the soil is wet does not mean that just below this layer is getting water.)  The lines need to be flushed to prevent sediment build up.  They can be set up for automatic flushing or this can be done annually.  In our climate, it is a good idea to winterize the lines and this does double duty for flushing.  For installation, you either need an experienced installer or to carefully do your homework to ensure the system functions as intended.

 

Read Full Post »

did I jump the gun?

Our last frost was January 11th and warmer than normal temps have allowed me to begin garden clean up.  As soon as I can get out there, I do – there is much work to be done and I prefer to do it in small chunks.  However, as I sit at my desk today looking out at the rainy day and the 5 yards of compost I had delivered yesterday, I can’t help but wonder if I have jumped the gun.  Truthfully, it is early to begin this work.  The soil is saturated and we are likely to have additional frosts – possibly Monday night.  On the other hand, we have a string of sunny days in next week’s forecast which will be good for getting more work done.  Temperatures will be colder than usual, which I can handle if it is not raining.  My least favorite conditions to work in are raining and just above freezing.  Makes for a bad tempered gardener (what are you chirping at bird?!)

Transforming the mess that I see outside my window to a flourishing garden must be done in several stages. First up,  I take care of the storm debris and cut back the rotting & slimy perennials and squashed ornamental grasses.  For things like the Hakonechloa macra, I don’t even need to cut – the dead foliage just pulls out (can I say how much I love this grass?).  At this point, I leave any detailed evergreen perennial clean up (such as Heuchera) and pruning frost damage on my tender plants (such as Pittosporum).   To early to bother – more damage is likely and I’d rather leave them intact until the new growth comes on.  As I clear up the major debris, I spread compost.  I don’t bother with small debris – this gets buried under the compost and rots.  There are different perspectives about cleaning up garden debris vs just covering it to rot.  I prefer cleaning up the large debris & leaving the small.  Leaves are often part of a disease cycle, particularly fungal problems.  So I get them out and replace the nutrients they would provide with compost.  This theory of disease prevention only works when the compost has been produced correctly and pathogens in the source material cooked.  Otherwise you are just introducing new pathogens.  I also find that a thick layer of leaves just under a thin topping of compost provides a very inviting slug den and no need to make it any easier for these plant eating machines.

At first glance, the workload for this stage is overwhelming and with a two month break – I am a bit off my gardening game (right, bend at the knees, not waist).  It is by far the most physically demanding time in my garden – and when I am likely to be injured.  To keep myself mentally and physically intact, I develop a game plan before starting the overall clean up.  I then decide what my goals are each day before I head outside.  I also limit my time – the days of seven straight hours in the garden are over.  Adam does not appreciate a monosyllabic wife as I struggle to stay awake.  Worse yet, my joints & lower back threaten a full scale revolt if I don’t respect them more.  Having a specific plan ensures I stay on task and get the satisfaction of starting and finishing an area.  Adam and I team up – he hauls compost to small piles near my work areas (on tarps of course).  It may not be the most efficient approach, but I like being able to look out the window at a finished groomed area and see that I have made progress.  I find it most satisfying to focus first on the areas I see every day (entrance), while less visible areas (back of the back bed) tend to be addressed last.  While doing this, I am always mindful of access so I don’t tromp through finished areas to get to others.   Because commitments to client installations start in March, I try to have all of this major clean up done in my garden by the end of February – weather depending, of course.  Nothing like a foot of snow to slow you down.

My favorite winter clean up tools include:

• a large collapsible leaf bin
• a small tarp that can be cinched up
• a knee pad
• a trug
• a small metal hand rake
• a large metal rake
• the “claw” (aka a hand tiller) and
• my Bahco pruners

The name of the game is keeping debris and compost off of adjacent gravel and hardscape (while not losing my pruners), so I usually work with the tarp under me and at the edge of the work area so I can drag debris onto it. The tarp can then be cinched up and dumped into the bin (hopefully not dumping pruners).  I then leave the full debris bins for Adam to haul to our debris pile that just slowly decays yet never seems to get larger.  The claw is used to loosen soil where I have strategically stepped.  That’s right – gardening this time of year is like a game of Twister as I try to keep the foot traffic in the beds to a minimum since the soil is saturated.   You know you have done wrong when you see worms fleeing across the top of the soil you have just compacted…

In early March, I do any needed spring pruning.  Detailed grooming of tender plants, evergreen perennials & ferns follows as plants begin to put on new growth and the threat of late frosts passes.  March is also when I shuffle and replace plants.  This includes eliminating plants that are time sinks (based on notes from the prior growing season) and replacing them with proven performers for my conditions.  An ongoing process of trialing plants and only keeping the best in an effort to reduce garden maintenance.  April is feeding time as the soil finally warms up, also the time for hardscape repairs and improvements such as fresh gravel, and pot spiffying.   In May, ah May, we finally break out the furniture & cushions…

Whoa, I started day dreaming for a second there.  There are 5 yards of compost and 20 or so extra large bins of debris between me and the days of pillow plumping…

Read Full Post »

vole toll

Acorus gramineus in better days...

Last year, my sweep of Acorus gramineus in the front gulley was devastated.  I first noticed some browning and went in to investigate with rake in hand.  To my horror, not only the brown, but huge clumps of seemingly healthy sections came out.  At the bottom of each one was a jagged edge.  Upon closer inspection, I could see the plants’ fleshy roots had been eaten.  My conclusion: voles.  

 

Voles are burrowing rodents – similar to moles.  They look like field mice with a little longer nose. They prefer grassy, low lying areas and wetlands.  Where moles cause damage in their burrowing, they are after grubs and worms.  On the other hand, voles eat your plants.  They prefer things with fleshy roots, but are not above sampling others.  My theory about this invasion was the loss of nearly all the outdoor cats on our street over the past 5 years – likely due to coyotes or raccoons.  The voles were unchallenged. I checked around with other landscapers and found that they too had seen a rise in numbers, so my vole invasion was probably part of a larger population boom.  

I love this part of my garden and was very troubled by the damage.  Poisoning was not an option.  Voles are part of the larger food chain, and anything that poisons them in a bait station could also poison whatever eats them while the voles are still alive or once dead – such as coyotes, eagles, owls or even cats & dogs.  Most rodent poisons are anticoagulants.  Not nice at all.  Body gripping or kill traps were out of the question with no explanation needed. I started with Mole Mover ultrasonic devices even though the data about use with voles was sketchy.  The damage seemed to abate for a while. Then, this spring I noticed the piles of dirt again and knew I had to take further action.  

A little research and purchase on Havahart’s site (www.havahart.com/ ), some peanut butter and…well…the voles got new homes.  Let me tell you – they love peanut butter.  When I first started, I’d set a trap at dusk (they are nocturnal) and within a few minutes I’d hear the click of the trap doors.  Since organic peanut butter was all we had when I started this experiment, they were living the luxe life.  My success led Adam to keep track of the “vole toll” on our chalkboard… 

Then last night, a new development in the vole vs. Tish saga: reinforcements.  At dusk, we were breaking up one of the usual animal squabbles (Lola (cat) 1, Owen (dog) zero), and Adam called me over to the window in a hushed but very excited voice, “Come here…NOW.”  Sitting on a branch about 10 feet off the ground and literally staring in our kitchen window, no doubt entertained by the antics, were two large owls.  Once noticed, after some head bobbing, they both flew to another part of the garden.  We crept out quietly (after securing Owen in the car because by this time he knew something was up), and were treated to even lower perches in another part of the garden, and flight directly overhead.  They were scanning the ground and calling out to each other with a high-pitched eerie hiss.  They were hunting!  We ran back inside and grabbed the bird book, and checked out The Cornell Lab of Ornithology Bird Guide – a fabulous resource all about birds and aptly named this – www.allaboutbirds.org.  Through their sample recordings, we concluded that our visitors were barn owls.  Then the good part from the bird book - ”A barn owl can eat up 1,500 rodents a year.”  Wonderful.  Welcome my friends, make yourselves at home and enjoy the plethora of food (note: our cats are indoor). 

For now, I’ll sideline the traps and let nature take its course.  We have heard these guys in the neighborhood for a few weeks now, the screech is unmistakable.  They seem to have set up home close by.  Watch out voles!

Read Full Post »

buzz buzz

Nursing the tail end of a cold, I headed downstairs last night seeking honey laced chamomile tea.  I ambled into the kitchen bundled in pajamas and a robe, and to my dismay noticed the honey jar was almost empty.  As the kettle was boiling, I attempted to extract the remaining honey, but found that each utensil I chose would not fit into the honey jar.  Finally, I found something that worked, and scraped what was left of the honey…and while doing so, realized just what a Pooh Bear moment this was.  Ah, but honey is worth it.     

My love of honey aside, bees are an important part of our lives and it is quite alarming what we have seen recently with Colony Collapse Disorder, or CCD where entire colonies of commercial bees will abruptly disappear.   Data is not entirely conclusive, and several theories have been proposed (including pesticides).  So what is the good gardener to do to help bees and other pollinators?  First, toss the herbicides and pesticides (aka – dispose of them properly through local hazardous waste resources) and vow never to use them again.  Next, take a look at The Pollinator Partnership pollinator.org/index.html.  They have some fabulous information on their website – including regionally specific guides with tips for helping pollinators pollinator.org/guides.htm.  We can help these wee creatures by including food source plants in the garden, access to clean water and for some types of bees, like the mason bee, we can actually provides homes www.masonbeehomes.com/index.php.

Nothing makes me happier than the garden full of life in summer with bumblers, hummingbirds and other pollinators.  See what you can do improve your garden for your neighborhood pollinators.  Pooh Bear would strongly approve.

Read Full Post »

spring!…oh my back…

Day after day of sun, clear blue skies, chirping birds…perfect spring weather for working in the garden – - a complete anomaly for Seattle this time of year.  And of course, I injure myself.  A recurring injury I have from too much heavy lifting when we were building this garden.  Actually not my back, I have the joy of costochondritis - inflammation of the rib cartilage.   I did not know that I was blessed with cartilage in this spot, until it screamed in pain.  Worse, it completely takes me out of the game for a week or two.  And even worse, this pain very closely mimics cardiac pain, so the first few times I had it, it was a bit unnerving.  If I ignore it and keep working, it sticks around for over a month.  Apparently, this is an injury most common in weight lifters.  Maybe the Governator and I do have something in common. 

Jest aside, I most likely sustained this injury from hauling very heavy river rock to skirt our house among other lifting tasks that I stubbornly took on.  Which brings me to my point – Adam and I did the majority of the hard labor in our garden because we wanted the ability to design as we built, and we thought we could.  The “thought we could” is the tricky part.  Of course, it is possible – however, the question is whether it is wise.  Clients often want to do a portion of their installation, and I always am excited by people who want to get involved.  What I advise, is for them to select the work that they want to do carefully.  It seems like we should just be able to do much of this work, but the truth is our bodies are generally not conditioned for it.  Even if you are athletic as Adam and I both are, you are demanding hard work from muscles and joints that are perhaps rarely used, and thus prone to injury. 

So if you have a long list of gardening chores to do, and are already visualizing the hot soaks in the tub and ibuprofen it will take to undo the damage to your body, consider getting strategic help.  This is particularly true for any significant garden development or renovation.  This does not mean to recruit some poor unsuspecting teenager to help you – they risk injury too.  The guys I work with know how to use their bodies to avoid injury, and are conditioned for the work through experience.  Most important, they have the right tools to do the job safely.  Thus, a licensed/insured professional is always the best choice.  To that end, I do make sure any landscape installer I work with is insured as required for on the job injuries because I want to make sure that the best treatment is available for anyone who needs it.  Accidents don’t happen often, but when they do, everyone is covered.

Enough of the tough love talk – do get out there and enjoy spring.  But keep in mind, good body mechanics when you do lift or haul and bring in qualified help when you need it.

Read Full Post »

i edit, therefore i am…

I worked with a friend in her garden this morning suggesting which shrubs to move and remove so that the garden once again feels inviting on a human scale and not over grown.  This was an inherited garden, and the prior owner planted far too many large specimen shrubs and not enough of the goodies - grasses, perennials, ferns etc.  We are rectifying this with strategic eliminations and bringing in masses of a few types of grasses and perennials.  In short, we are editing.

Spring always reminds me just how important editing is in creating a garden.  Fortunately for me, my clients allow me to return year after year (or sometimes I show up on the doorstep) to check on the design and make adjustments.  A great garden is neither created in one season, nor in one design.  It must be revisited because gardens are living art and they change.  We have to adjust with them, and at times, intervene and redirect.  For those who have inherited a garden that was perhaps wonderful 5 years ago, but now is overgrown due to lack of editing – do not fear taking charge.  We must be ruthless editors at times.  Often a friend or neighbor will gladly help reduce your jungle by taking some plants and also offer an extra pair of hands to take them out.

Making choices for editing is not unlike pruning.  As with a tree or shrub, we start with the deadwood.  In editing, this equates to the plants shrubs that are not doing well.  If they can be rehabbed in another area, give it a try but do not be afraid to compost a sulky plant.  If I balk about taking something out, a landscape installer I work with always says “they are plants, not puppies.”  She is right.  It’s all too easy to anthropomorphize plants…but you might feel different when the sulker is still looking ratty in mid summer – it can bring down an entire area.  So don’t lie to yourself that the one good branch means the thing will finally come back this year.  Man up and get rid of it.

Next up in editing is similar to the “crossing wood” step in pruning.  When we prune a tree or shrub, we take out the crossing branches to allow others to thrive.  In editing, look for over grown plants that are crowding out their neighbors.  This is the oft committed gardening sin – planting cute little shrubs that grow to be monsters.  Here in the Pac NW, the sin is double when these sleeping giants are placed near the house…and ultimately grow in front of windows.  We need light here, and keeping plants from shutting out the light is a must for our mental health…not to mention for preventing wood rot and critter invasion.  I once consulted with a woman whose garden had blocked most of the windows in her little rambler. Many of the shrubs were not healthy as they competed for light.  The views out the windows were naked rhodie legs.  Not pretty.  After much hand wringing about taking out these shrubs, I finally had to be firm.  “Take back your garden”, I told her. “The plants are eating your house.”  Learning from someone else’s mistakes is a good lesson for when you select new plants.  Don’t just look at the nursery tag, they are often incorrect (or lie).  Look up the plant online or in a book to make sure you know ultimate landscape size.  Another educational experience is a trip to a local arboretum…always sobering to see those cute little guys at 40′ tall.  Makes you think.

In pruning, after deadwooding and taking out crossing branches, we look at over all shape & form and make adjustments.  Same goes for editing.  Once the scraggly sulkers and mammoth monstrosities have been dealt with, see what does not work aesthetically.  For some this is the most intimidating step.  If you feel overwhelmed, bring in some design help.  One easy technique that I use is to figure out what is working, and add more.  Pretty simple, but it works.  After all, massing and repetition are the secrets to a fabulous looking garden.  Next up, I consider the garden as a whole in terms of color and form…and determine whether I need to pull a specific foliage color, texture or leaf size into this area.  Finally, I look at seasonal performance.  Is this a tucked away area in the part of the garden that only gets a summer audience, or is this smack by the front entrance?  This makes a tremendous difference in plant choice.  No point in putting a ‘Diane’ witch hazel out in the back 40 where no one goes in January (when it blooms), nor would I put a plant that looks like a soggy mess in winter right by the front door.  Eww.

Finally, remember to take notes and photos throughout the year too.  I take notes in every season, and use these with photos as the basis for my editing.  Otherwise, I can easily forget that the Rheum will indeed grow to be 4′ wide, and I cannot put anything in that open spot.  Or perhaps it’s the Rheum that needs moving if the empty space is too noticeable in winter…there I go, editing again…

Read Full Post »

be a good gardener

Last week, I attended a lecture at Bloedel Reserve (www.bloedelreserve.org/) given by the design team of Withey Price (Glenn Withey and Charles Price).  If you are not familiar with Withey Price, they are not only revered designers here in Seattle, but also curators of Dunn Gardens www.dunngardens.org/index.php.  Prone to be being name dropped by clients and other landscapers, it is truly well earned as their work is stunning.  They are a treat to hear speak as they are knowledgable and provocative, while still being friendly and approachable.  Best of all - they are very witty. 

The subject of their lecture was questioning whether gardening can be sustainable.  They raised some good questions about sustainability in sourcing materials and the trade offs of using one material over another.  Many landscaping materials are obtained or created at some ecological or humanitarian detriment, so the question they asked is which evil do you pick.  They also raised the question of native vs exotic and the very nature of gardening….is an all native garden really a garden…and where do you draw the line on ”native” – local to your neighborhood, island, county, state, region???  Is something that is native to Western Oregon ok to call native here?  What if it is invasive here? Not to mention manures…how are these animals kept – are they in cages or on feedlots?  I know I don’t spend the crazy amount of $5 a dozen eggs to ensure the chickens are hormone free, organically fed, free range and while we are at it – well adjusted - to then by yards of manure produced by oppressed chickens.  No way.  And as Charles and Glenn pointed out, as you start asking hard questions of many garden product suppliers – you are met with blank stares.   So what is a good gardener to do?

Paralysis by analysis aside, there are choices we can make as gardeners that collectively will have a profound impact.  I know that it is easy to say to oneself, “it is really not a big deal to use a little of this or that because afterall, my plot is small compared to the rest and I am not doing near the damage of agribusiness.”  Seductive, but the problem is that if too many of us think that way, collectively, home gardening and lawn care can create a significant amount of pollutants and toxins for our furry, feathery and buzzy friends.  And it does.  So what can we do?  I tend to think that using common sense almost always aligns with sustainable and organic practices and this combined with a little relaxing of our need for perfection takes us forward leaps and bounds.  Below are a few of my design and gardening tenets that I believe to be sustainable.  After all – we gardeners are out to create beauty and if this is at a detriment to the very things we find beautiful, it is just not right.

1. Toss the chemical pesticides and  herbicides:  Number one, without question.  I am chemically sensitive so I can’t go near the stuff – a visit to Home Depot’s gardening section gives me a headache (my husband calls me “the canary”).  I am like the shop teacher missing fingers – do as I say, not as I do.  My chemical sensitivity may well be due to unprotected exposure to a garden chemical several years ago.  Even if you can tolerate it, most creatures can’t.  So don’t use it – if a plant requires toxic chemicals to look acceptable to you or to survive – it needs to be replaced.   Careful design, right plant – right place, and ruthless editing can completely eliminate the need to rely on chemicals.  Hey, those bees are important to us, let’s keep them around.  Learn about organic methods for dealing with pests when they crop up.  There is a plethora of data out there.
2. Reduce or eliminate the lawn: I know why we love lawn – there is much research out there pointing to our natural inclination to open, savannah environments on a primal level (we can see those enemies coming).  It’s also a monoculture that covers space effectively.  However, in many climates, lawn requires too many resources.  In California, it is water which is in peril after many years of drought.  Here in Washington, water usage in the summer is also an issue as this is the drought season.  Add to this the fact that many grasses do not grow well here, and certainly not in the shade of large trees.  In spring, when out biking, I often see fellow gardeners dutifully sprinkling their moss kill out on the lawn and I think uuugggg, just let the moss grow instead – obviously you are working against nature.  Moss is green too.  Some other alternatives to consider -
   • reduce your lawn size to what I call a “pocket lawn” – still gives you the open space to rest the eyes with less resources and time required to maintain
   • if you do have lawn, research which varieties do best for your conditions and always grow from seed, not sod
   • convert your lawn to a “meadow” using ornamental grasses – check out John Greenlee’s new book “The American Meadow Garden” (photography by Saxon Holt, enough of a reason to buy it).  Why go out hiking to seek “nature” when you can create it in your front yard.
   • eliminate your lawn entirely and replace with permeable hardscape combined with beds of carefully selected plants right for the site and conditions
3. Research, plan, design:  Don’t underestimate the design step in creating a garden.  You don’t necessarily have to hire a professional (although we always love it when you do) but do give this step its due - planning is very important to the success of a garden.  Check out my prior post on things to consider when designing a garden blissgardendesign.wordpress.com/2009/03/08/design-and-sustainability/
4. Think carefully about water usage:  Here in Western Washington, it seems like we have more water than we want most of the year.  The issue is during those dry months, and that is when we need to water our gardens.  Xeriscaping is not appropriate for all conditions here – some sites will kill drought tolerant plants in winter.  However, there are many ways to achieve water conservation such as grouping plants with like water needs together, using a low volume drip system that delivers the water needed to the plant roots, allowing grass to go dormant in summer and harvesting roof water for the ornamental garden (personally I would skip the edibles) with rain barrels or other more sophisticated systems. 
5. Use compost: Pretty much the wonder material in my opinion.  Feeds, reduces weeds, retains moisture.  You can make your own or buy it.  If you are feeling productive, make your own – but be sure to keeps those weeds and diseased materials separate and try to get the pile heated up to pathogen killing temperatures.  If you buy – you are helping to close the green waste cycle, but not all composts are created equal.  Look for a certified organic producer and if you want to take it one more step – ask if they test their product regularly or you can have it tested.  Some composts are exacerbating fungal issues here in Western Washington – but I still think it is the best thing since sliced bread.
6. Rethink perfection:  This one is tough for me.  After a few years of having my gardens on tours, photographed and looked at by prospective clients, I have gotten a little obsessive.  And in general – perfection is sold to us at every turn.  But it is OK to lower our standards.  A good reminder…so – repeat after me…

“There is no garden police.”

“If my plants don’t look picture perfect like a magazine layout, then that just means I am normal and have a life outside of gardening.”

“I am the only one that notices the idiosyncracies.”

“I do not need to have the greenest lawn on the block – in fact a dormant, golden lawn makes me think of the sun kissed hills in  Sonoma.”

“My garden is naturalistic (eg ok to be a bit wild).”

And most important:

“I took up gardening because I love it and it is relaxing.” 

Read Full Post »

brrrrr

Well it is finally here – the cold weather. The next week is currently forecast as the first hard freeze for the Seattle area – with drops into the 20s and teens possible. I have been busy composting my beds for added warmth and covering tender plants with Reemay.
 
While we are spared from the really low digit weather that other parts of the country enjoy, we still can take some precautions for the best results in our gardens.  Some reminders for the folks here in Western Washington:
 
1. For new plantings – take a walk around the garden before the cold weather and check if there are any plants where the compost/soil has settled too much at the crown. If any roots are exposed, rough up compost to add coverage or buy a bag of compost at the nursery to supplement. If the plant is mounded up too high in the soil – lower the plant so the crown is at grade or pile up the compost around the mound for now. Plants can be popped out of the soil with frost heave. I have seen it – it’s ugly. Nothing worse than trying to replant into frozen ground.  
 
2. Since we are done with the watering – disconnect hoses and consider the protective covers for your bibs.  
 
3. Empty any glazed pots or containers that have collected rainwater – remember that drilled ones sometimes get clogged and can collect water. 

4. Make sure your planted pots are watered. It is often the lack of water in frozen soil, not frozen foliage, that causes frost damage.  Having them go into the freeze dry does not help.

5. Don’t be so fast to remove those fallen leaves…definitely shake them off the evergreen plants, but on the ground around plants or over herbaceous dormant plants provides some frost protection.  For sanitation/disease reasons, I generally remove all my leaves over the late fall/winter, but I only complete small areas at a time so I can replenish the compost at the same time to provide added frost protection.  In the meantime, the leaves can add some warmth. 
 
6. If needed – protect plants that are not cold hardy. A good option for protection is Reemay cloth, available at most nurseries. This lightweight, breathable fabric provides just enough protection without weighing down the plant. Never use plastic to protect plants.

7.  If you have any homeless plants (I always do!) hanging around in plastic pots, make sure they are watered, group them together and if possible, store in a protected area (near house, under over hang etc). 

8. Walk your gardens after a hard freeze and check for frost heave.  It is not as prevalent here since freezes are not deep into the soil, however I have noticed that saturated soil (very common this time of year) freezes much deeper and plants can heave out of it.  I call it the “ice spike” effect.  Sometimes it’s just the top layer of compost heaving up, so check the plant crown for exposure.  If you see a problem area, replant the plants if possible, or if the ground is too hard, mulch with whatever is available until you can replant (leaves, compost etc). 

9. Don’t forget the birds – when we have a hard freeze or snow here, the birds have a tough time finding food.  If you have feeders, don’t forget to keep them full during the cold weather.

Bundle up and stay warm!

Read Full Post »

midsummer makeover

I have just returned from a week at my parents’ house in California.  I always enjoy being away from the garden for a bit, then gauging my immediate reaction when I return.  This time, my gut response was claustrophobia.  I may feel this way because my folks are high up with a wide open view of the ocean, while we are nestled in a hollow with tall trees all around…or it could be the usual mid summer overgrown state of the garden that needs an intervention.  Not one to let the plants grow under my feet, I headed outside and started whacking. 

I enjoy the midsummer cutbacks.  Just when I am beginning to feel the garden is tired (or maybe that’s just me) a thorough groom and cutback refreshes the garden.  One good round at this time of the growing season will improve the health of the plants by getting rid of dead weight, increasing air circulation and will encourage some repeat blooms.  It also can hold the structure of the garden until late fall.   At first, it seems a little bare to go from the overwhelming abundance to a cleaner look, but you will appreciate this effort a few weeks down the road when the plants start to fill back in with fresh foliage, instead of letting them burn up their energy supporting dead weight.  First I whacked back the Nepeta x faassenii ‘Walker’s Low’ and Geranium ‘Brookside’ which just completed it’s bloom.  I gave all my Heuchera a solid groom to pull out dead or dying foliage and encourage air circulation at the base.  I pulled out the spent blooms from the groundcover Campanula ‘Birch Hybrid’ and I did some judicious pruning of piggy plants that were threatening to swallow up less aggressive neighbors or were splayed out at weird angles.  Lastly, I swapped a leggy sedum in a small pot for some sempervirens.  As a general rule, I leave interesting seed heads and spent grass inflorescence as long as possible into winter, so these are spared at this time.  The garden already looks renewed.  Up next will be taking all the euphorbia back that have not yet been cut, more nepeta and geranium whack back and a few other odds and ends.  When this round of work is done, I will likely have hauled 10 wheel barrel loads of debris.  This sets the stage for the late summer bloomers that are coming on such as persicaria, sedum and astilbe chinensis and also allows me to get more enjoyment out of the garden.

If your temperatures are as high as ours right now (100 degrees) wait until cooler weather arrives or do the work in the morning or evening.  Happy whacking!

at the peak

Read Full Post »