Contributions
from a Master Gardener
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.
