Contributions  from  a Master Gardener



Spring Mulch Napa Ground Covers Pampas Grasses

Spring

In the area, the cherries and flowering currants are in full bloom and many of the crab apples too. 
The Ceanothus (some people call it "California lilac") is out and looking just beautiful. 
I have two 'Ray Hartman' ceanothus which are just solid clouds of gorgeous blue right now. 

The lilacs are blooming, and people are finally filling out their baskets and window boxes.  The broom, both
desirable and non - is in full glory.  My yellow Lady Banks rose is the only one really blooming yet, and
threatening to take down the southeast corner of the house.  Hard to believe 5 years ago it was a wispy strand in a
gallon pot. 

2 weeks ago, we had a "hot" day -- that is, the sun broke out and was fully visible for a solid 4 hours.  As I hacked
away at a giant bed of grass and thistle-choked iris and peonies, the thought crossed my mind that maybe there
might be some sunny "springlike" weather coming to temporarily replace the soggy days we've been inundated
with...

After all, the daffodils, hyacinths. hellebores, and tulips had been out regardless of the incessant rain, mist, and
wind, and the hordes of swallows and hummingbirds had been back for a month.  I even went so far as to
fantasize about scraping the mushrooms out of my armpits and putting away my rubber overalls and
mud-engorged boots for a few months...

By that night, the clouds were back and the weekend was a misty, showery gray again.  We do need the rain, and
I know by mid summer, we'll all be standing around holding watering wands and harking back fondly to the
incessant rain.

All this rain has boosted the weeds into overdrive -- luckily, I don't mind too much working out in the rain -- I
draw the line when I can't see out of my glasses, but I am fortunate to have hair which acts as a "living umbrella,"
deflecting an amazing amount of water, especially when the humidity is up and it springs into "superfrizz
action!!" ( If the sun graces us with its presence, my head becomes a magnet for cross-pollinating bees,
butterflies, and damselflies, etc.) 

Anyway, the shotweeds are as big as cabbages, the horsetails are more prolific than I have ever seen them,
blackberries are shooting out arms in every direction, thistles have rosettes as big as pizza boxes, dandelions are
blooming their hearts out, stinging nettles are sending ropey underground runners out 6-7 feet in every direction,
morning glories, liverwort, shepherd's purse, moss...you get the picture! 

In short, for me- job security, but until things dry out a little bit, a lot of plodding drudgery as well.  It's something
I call the "labor sinkhole."  Clean it up one week, and come back the next to find a new carpet of weed
seedlings...bringing to mind a mantra echoing and resonating between scrapes of the weeding hoe -
"Mulch mulch mulch mulch...muuuuullllch!" 


Mulch

Mulch  - maybe not the most exciting subject, but I can't stress enough the value of mulch for its supreme
labor-saving and life-giving qualities.  I know some of my customers are against spending an extra penny, but
sometimes I can convince them that they will be money ahead if they invest in good mulch to put down over
those freshly weeded beds at least once every two or three years. 

Of course, you can "harvest" your own mulch, in the form of leaves, household compost, or a combination of
things, but the local landscaping supply yards usually carry several kinds as well.  You could buy it bagged at
your local garden center, but even on sale you'll be paying far more than getting it by the yard at a landscape
supply, and you can wander around and look at all the neat rocks (or are they stones?) and the different colors
and kinds of gravel and other hardscaping marvels,  etc. while you're at the landscape supply.
 
I'm an unrepentant bark-hater, 100%, so I never mess with bark,  reground, fines, dust, chips, chunks -- in any
form, as a mulch.  I know people like it, but I just hate the sticky, stinky, stickery, splintery, nitrogen-robbing
stuff.  I guess it makes for a "nice, neat" appearance, but I can't stand it and don't see it in any place that I
wouldn't prefer without it. 

When I first started using mulch, I bought the standard "composted steer manure and bark dust" mix, but then I
learned that there is very little "nutritional" value in composted steer manure, and the bark dust adds nothing.

Over time, I started using mushroom compost and/or well composted chicken manure.  A nice thick layer (4-6")
over a newly weeded bed really adds some nutrition, keeps valuable moisture in, and smothers those pesky weed
seeds. 

When you come back the next week, there is no carpet of shotweed or shepherd's purse saluting you from
beneath the new dandelion and thistle leaves.  Yes, they will be back, but they are dealt a blow by the mulch, the
plants get a boost, you conserve water, and your healthier plants hold off bugs and diseases better!

 It looks good, too.  Just don't pile it up around the trunks of trees or think you can heap it on top of healthy
weeds/grass and somehow do yourself any good. 

Weed first, or you'll spend a good chunk of your "leisure" time regretting that you didn't.
 
 In short, there's nothing not to like about mulching (except the labor involved) unless you forget that most
critical of questions when you go to buy your mulch..."Uh, is this stuff horsetail and tansy/thistle (insert your
local Death Star weed) free?"  

A couple of years ago, I noticed some new businesses had their landscapes put in, and all their new berms had
enormous crops of mustard come in and dwarf the new shrubbery, etc.  It all came in on purchased topsoil, of
course.

It wasn't a total disaster, since mustards are annuals, but it cost someone some time and money to get all those
things out and disposed of before they could reseed everywhere.  That was minor compared to bringing in soil
with horsetail or thistle root in it.   No matter what, you're going to get some weeds in your mulch, unless it's
composted inside on a cement pallet, and some places do that, believe it or not.

But -- those should be the little, picky weeds, if anything -- not the big, noxious lifetime problem weeds.  If you
don't get a good explanation of how careful they are to keep these out, don't buy the stuff.  There are no 100%
guarantees, but it helps to indicate that you are aware of local Death Stars and absolutely don't want to buy them
in your mulch. 

Sometimes, companies will treat their mulch with "pre-emergent" chemicals to thwart the sprouting of weed
seeds.  Those chemicals also thwart the sprouting of vegetable and flower seeds, and will often stunt plants that
are already up and growing, so it is wise to ask about that, too.
 
Spring and fall are great times to mulch, because they are "clean-up" times.  Fall is particularly good, as spring
bulbs aren't up and in the way and you can put your organic fertilizer down under the mulch.  I really like the
basic organic fertilizers -- I use the "rose and flower" type on everything. 

Yes, they take longer to break down than the chemical fertilizers, but they also have more staying power.  Think
of it as eating better for better quality of life versus two espressos and a jumbo pack of ding-dongs for quick
energy. 

If you get on a  twice or three times a year schedule in your perennial and shrub areas, organic fertilizers can
really help keep your plants and soil healthy.  Around here, rain washes everything out of the soil, so we need all
the help we can get.
 
 I like the idea of putting rocks and bones and blood back into the soil, but I also think the "blue chemical soup"
or the timed-release chemical beebees are more effective on annual baskets and annual displays in general. 

Those are short-term, high-impact situations that benefit from the short-term burst you get from chemical
fertilizers.

However, if you are capital-O Organic, there is always the liquid fish fertilizer, which smells a little, but does a
nice job on annuals.

I use it for all my potted plants, especially in the spring, and for heavy feeders like tomatoes and roses all
summer.

I try to stay away from the chemicals, especially now that they have closed the beaches to clamming and even
wading around here due to failed septics and chemical overuse!

Napa

Well, I guess I have ranted about mulch, etc. long enough to bore even the most hardcore...so on other subjects,
your pictures from Napa are beautiful.

I just went back there to look at them again, and now I can't find the Napa piece...oh well,  I've heard that roses
are just bigger in California, and those are really nice. 

We have some great monkey puzzle specimens in these parts, too, but that one looks even bigger.  I've noticed
that the bigger the monkey puzzle, the rattier it gets.  Around Green Lake in Seattle are some really fine looking
specimens -- big, but not so old that they are shaggy and gnarly looking.  I believe it is too cold in your area for
those guys.

 I was really disappointed to lose my huge Australian mint bush (Prostanthera) this winter.  I know they are kind
of borderline, but I was really hoping it would make it, as it had been around for 5 or 6 years.  It had fantastic
purple flowers that went great with my Alchymist rose.  Had.

 I might have to plant another one in there and just accept that it is a short-lived shrub in this area.  Otherwise,
everything I thought might die (all my echiums, bulbines, and tigridias I knew I should have protected) did die,
and a few things have surprised me by seemingly appreciating the cold snaps...more buds on the tree peonies
than ever before, etc. 

I have been planting a bunch of seeds, and so far a few things are coming along.  I will probably be hitting the
old farmer's market with some of my homegrown plants, but right now am too tired to contemplate it all. 


Ground Covers

As to your question about herb ground covers, a lot depends on where you are, and your definitions of ground
cover, and invasive!  There are tons of choices for "invasive" herbs -- in fact, isn't "herbus" Latin for invasive?

If you want something to actually walk on, it really limits your choices.  Pygmy savory (Satureja) isn't too
spreading, and neither is creeping germander (Teucrium chamaedrys 'Prostratum') though some of the other
germanders can be  real spreaders. You could step on those once in awhile. 

You can use a lot of the thymes -- "Elfin" is the toughest to walk on, but you can have "light traffic" (not for use
in high Yeti concentration areas) on mauve, pink chintz, woolly, and other non-woody thymes.  You can walk a
little bit on Corsican mint, and it will spread non-obnoxiously in areas where it is hardy.  There is a very nice
creeping yarrow, Achillea tomentosa, which makes a nice furry mat with little yellow flowers.

 There is also a dwarf Santolina (S. c. 'Nana') which makes a very low ground cover, and can stand a little foot
traffic, when it isn't in bloom.  There are plenty of plants which are low -- to 8" or so, and make nice moundy
ground covers, but are not for walking on. 

Some of the non-invasive ones are:  SOME violets (some seed like fiends); Calamint ("Blue Cloud' and 'White
Cloud' are excellent and easy from seed); dwarf catmints (Nepetas); the dwarf artemisias, like 'Silver Mound;' wild
gingers for shady areas; dwarf lavenders ('Baby Blue,' 'Blue Cushion, ' etc.); dwarf rosemarys -- 'Huntington
Carpet' or 'Irene," though these will mound up and get taller than 8" -- but will definitely cover ground if they are
hardy in your area.

 Also -- the woody thymes -- not for walking on, but a great variety for ground covers; dwarf "curry" plant;
wintergreen (Gaultheria p.) for shade; kinnickinnick (Gautltheria u.u.) for sun. 
I'm sure there are many many more, but these are what came to mind when I was thinking about it. 

None of these are "no-maintenance" plants, as weeds love to get into them, but I like to pack the plants in, on the
theory that where desirable plants are, weeds are not.  Of course, that isn't true, but it gives me a handy excuse to
buy plants when I really don't have room for them.


Pampas Grasses

I did glance at your Pampas Grass article.  Around here, you see people putting those big nylon tie-downs
around their Pampas grass and firing up the chain saw to take them down. 

Often people don't realize how big they can get and how much room they take up -- not to mention their
unfriendly paper-cut-inflicting leaves.

I've heard some amusing stories about people trying to get rid of the things.  If you have room, they can really
add some winter interest.  I like the pink one, 'Gold Shield,'  and 'Patagonia,' but my yard is WAY too small for a
Pampas grass. 

Just a note on grasses in general around here, before I leave you alone -- sometimes people get a wild hair to
"neaten" things up in winter and hack down their ornamental grasses. 

Since those leaves are not up there waving around and dispersing all the rain during the rainiest times, water will
sit on the crown and rot the whole center out, leaving a fringe of leaves and creating the "tonsure effect" so
popular in Disney monks. 

So, it's often best to leave them up until early March around here and then cut them back.  Pampas grasses are
so dense, they will often do some rotting in the middle no matter when you cut them.

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