October 2008

I could recount all the varieties of Single Late Tulips I’ve tried in my main spring border or just refer you to the Bulbs category over on the left.  It’s been one disappointment after another.  You know how it is - the colors aren’t true to the catalog photos or the damn things don’t bloom together or whatnot.  So I’ve stopped expecting a dazzling result that’ll knock fellow gardeners off their Crocs.  I’m taking it easy these days.

Easy Move #1

I have my GardenRant friend and partner Eliz to thank for this one.  Instead of laboriously planting every tulip individually, I now plant them en masse in just a few large holes.  (She actually plants 50 together!)  So now I’m digging 4 - not 60 - holes for 60 bulbs, which also makes it actually possible to use wire screens to keep the squirrels from getting to them - yay!  I still sprinkle red pepper flakes over the wire before topping the whole thing off with mulch, though, coz squirrels have a long history of outsmarting us.  I figure two defenses are better than one.

Easy Move #2

The other move to easy-peasy tulips is throwing all design caution to the wind and using a MIX , something I’ve honestly almost scoffed at.  But a neighbor had some Single Lates she doesn’t want - the very type tulip I grow, because they bloom after the daffodils have faded - and it’s a mix of pastels, so what the hell.   Planting them without knowing exactly which color each will be was kind of liberating.   Hey, we’re in two wars, the economy has tanked, and I’m not wasting another ounce of concern about fussy details.  Or maybe it’s aging that’s to blame for my loosening standards.  You never know - aging is tricky that way.

And about that wire screening…

Why the heck is it called "hardware fabric"?  It’s heavy metal wire, after all.  I’m just saying. 

Here’s a chunk of it covering up 10-15 bulbs, with a bag of red pepper flakes just waiting to be applied.

Photo credit for Single Late Pastel Mix.

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(Blog version.  The complete version, as mailed, is archived here.)

Hot Topics

• Help the federal Ag. Department search for the lost ladybugs.

• Californians have to take their water very seriously.

• I asked for reactions to the controversial notion of banning of leaf-blowers, gas-powered or otherwise, and readers had plenty. 

• Then there’s the hot topic of - outdoor fires, even if they’re in those cool-looking firepits all the designers are installing.  Maybe not such a good idea after all?

• Organic Lawn Care advocate Paul Tukey gives us an update on the National Mall demo site, and the details of switching to organic for a healthier AND better-looking lawn.

• The Great Wood Chip Debate attracted comments from at least one nationally recognized experts and possibly more.

• There’s a bit of controversy in the U.K. over the not-strictly-organic approach of the new host of the popular TV show "Gardener’s World".

• Creeping perennials as lawn replacement  are thoroughly explored, with lots of product reviews.
  

• Hummingbird feeders - can you handle the commitment?  Readers recommend their best hummer-attracting plants.
  

• More on going lawnless, this time from California writer Amy Stewart, and readers offer plant suggestions from other regions.

Photo:  Meeting "Top Hort Guy" and Writer Allan Armitage in Portland.

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Thousands of bloggers around the world are participating in Blog Action Day today by focusing on  poverty, a timely issue that got a lot more so in the last couple of weeks.  But don’t worry; my contribution to the event won’t be about Wall Street but about 41st and Alameda in Los Angeles, where the 14-acre South Central Farm once was the heart of a poor, mainly Latino community and fed 350+ families - until the powers that be allowed a developer to bulldoze it to erect a bunch of storage warehouses. 

Yes, that’s the unhappy ending to the documentary "The Garden", which chronicles the fight to save the urban farm.  The movie, by acclaimed documentarian Scott Hamilton Kennedy, premiered at the American Film Institute, where it won the highest award at its Silver Docs Film Festival. (See my review on GardenRant.)  Truly, you have to see the movie to appreciate the depths of corruption that led local politicians to support the bulldozing and the depths of racism exhibited by the odious developer.  The sight of the bulldozing of not just 400 garden plots but the livelihood, community and culture that had been created by them will break your heart.

But the story - and the fight -  isn’t over yet.  The 14 acres could be returned to garden if they win the next stage - the environmental review, which was demanded by South Central gardeners.  In it, they’re making the point that turning the land into huge storage warehouses will bring a swarm of noisy, polluting diesel trucks to the site, and that using the land as green space is far better for the environment.  But has it really come down to purely environmental factors?  Will the human environment be considered, including crime reduction and the sheer amount of food - really healthy food - that was grown there to feed poor families?  Let’s hope so. 

THE SPIRIT OF THE GARDEN LIVES

On a positive note, some of the South Central farmers took their farming skills to Bakersfield, 120 miles north of LA, where they grow food that’s then brought back to the old neighborhood via a CSA (community-supported agriculture) - the cheapest one available to the neighborhood.  So for a fee, they can continue to get really healthy food, admittedly a poor substitute for growing it themselves.

South Central Farmers have also created a grassroots economic project aimed at bringing "green jobs" to the neighborhood, called "Bringing Food to the Hood".  Its regular events around the perimeter of the old garden are all about food, music, teaching urban farming and nutrition, and keeping the spirit of the farm going.

And you’d better believe they’re using all their grassroots political skills and connections to lobby the City Council and Mayor Villaraigosa to stop the warehouses.  The long battle to save their garden has turned these urban farmers into savvy, experienced community organizers (a term that, incredibly, evoked derisive laughter at a certain party’s convention in St. Paul).

HOW YOU CAN HELP

• If you’re in Los Angeles, express your support for the garden to the mayor and City Council.  If you know someone in  LA, send them this article.
• Help get this important and very entertaining documentary distributed.  Just contact the filmmakers.
• Bring more urban farms to your city.  Here’s a good roundup about urban farming today. 

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In observance of Garden Blogger Bloom Day*, I present the most photogenic spot in my garden, and it’s that most public of them all - the curb garden.  This combination of beautyberrry and Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’ just blows me away.  Here’s a close-up.

• Sedum
• Beautyberry (Callicarpa)
• Miscanthus sinensus ‘Morning Light’
  
• Caryopteris
• Hardy begonia
• Japanese anemone 
• Aster
• Blush ‘Knockout’ rose, photo below.

And just how sustainable are they?

Here’s what resources it takes to keep these plants alive and looking good. 

• Sedum and Miscanthus are super-drought-tolerant and require no care except for chopping them down in early spring.  Also, the sedum needs to be divided every three years or so or it’ll flop.

• Caryopteris, hardy begonia, Japanese anemone and asters are of average to good drought-tolerance and get no care from me except for their yearly pruning.  Only problem is with the asters, which have looked awfully crappy for two years running now.  Last year I thought the culprit was drought but this year, with plenty of rain, I just don’t get it.  Some undiagnosed disease?  (Here’s a post and photo - any ideas?)

• 

  Knockout roses, also of average drought tolerance, are disease-resistant enough to still have great-looking foliage now in October, so they’re FAR more sustainable than most roses.   They also don’t require deadheading.  As for fertilizer, in their first year in my garden they bloomed heavily until December with no fertilizer at all from yours truly, though I’m experimenting with a dose of Rosetone a couple times a year to see if it makes a difference.. 

*Why a day early?  Coz tomorrow is Blog Action Day!

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Behold my dreaded underdeck area, with its patch of liriope and lots of English ivy.  The idea was to just not let the ivy spread onto the adjoining mixed border.  You know, keep an eye on it.  How delusional was I?  

Finally an irrefutable truth in gardening struck me - that ivy cannot be trusted in proximity to other plants, mere shrubs, perennials and other groundcovers, which let’s face it, never had a chance compared to this super-thug. 

And coincidental to this realization was the arrival of a visitor to my garden, a serious gardener, who suggested that in full shade surely even creeping liriope would be better behaved than the dreaded English ivy.  Apparently Ketzel has lived in the Pacific Northwest long enough now to have acquired a visceral hatred of English ivy, seeing as how it’s destroyed so much of their forest and gone and gotten itself outlawed, for crissakes.

Light goes on!  Rip out the damn ivy and replace it with NOT plain old liriope but the far lovelier carex varieties I have plenty extras of - full grown, free.  All it takes is removing the ivy patch from under the deck stairwell.  You know how the site prep turns out to be a MUCH bigger deal than the planting, right?  Ah, but the imagined bareness of a new palette for my design fancies carried me through four days of ivy removal from this spot and another area of the same size adjoining it.  Some of the ivy has been there for 30 or more years, by the way, so removing it was no picnic.  In all, I removed 10 trashcans-full of the stuff.  Good riddance! 

And here’s the simple "after" of an all-evergreen mix of large plain Carex and smaller variegated ‘Ice Dance’ Carex, which I-swear-to-God look just like this even in January in sheltered spot like this one.  As a garnish I’ve planted some hardy begonia and sweet woodruff in there, too.   Then a layer of mulch and MAN, it looks nice to me.

So why is it we come to hate certain plants SO MUCH?  It used to be I just hated English ivy when I saw it growing into trees but now I’m just sick-sick-sick of its endless, vigorous march onward to conquer every plant and building on my property.  I want it GONE. 

So are there any plants that YOU hate at a visceral level?

You can tell us.

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A terrific bunch of contributors to the website have been jumping on board over the last month and it’s high time I make a fuss over them!  Here’s a little bit about them and their contributions so far.

• Dr. Linda Chalker-Scott is the hort guru who recently helped out over on GardenRant with clarifications about using wood chips as mulch - check it out.   But who is she?  An extension urban horticulturist and associate professor at Puyallup Research and Extension Center, Washington State University.  She is the Washington State editor of MasterGardener magazine and for six years she authored an online column, ‘Horticultural Myths.’ She’s also author of The Informed Gardener.  And because I asked for a photo, heeere’s Linda!
  • The Myth of the Wandering Weedkiller: "Do does Glyphosate (Roundup) really migrate to other plants?.
  • The Myth of Staking - Do we really need to stake trees and if so, for how long?
  • The Myth of Drainage Material in Container Plantings - Do we really need those chards at the bottom of our pots?

• Renegade Gardener Don Engebretson, is a Minnesota landscape professional and multiply award-winning author.
  • 10 Landscaping Blunders and How to Avoid Them - the PowerPoint version is a huge hit on the garden-speaking circuit.
  • Myth-Busting: When planting a new tree DO NOT amend the soil is a hot topic, so Don can’t resist.
  • Myth-Busting: Moss growing on lawn is a sign of acidic soil -  more proof that Don loves a good myth.
  • Dividing Shrubs?  Don’t DO That! because people need to know.

•  Rainy Side Gardener Debra Teachout-Teashon is the online gardening guru for the Pacific Northwest.
  • "My Gardening Practices aren’t so ‘out there’ after all," about her lifelong commitment to organic gardening.

• Landscape architect Billy Goodnick, the Garden Wise Guy in Santa Barbara, California writes newspaper columns and locally on television.
  • The Pro’s and Cons of Faux Turf" is a fair and balanced accounting from an arid-climate perspective.

• Denver Master Gardener and garden designer Lise Mahnke of Dry Ideas has a clear regional focus.
  • 7 Principles of Xeriscaping from a specialist on the subject
  • How to Make your own Solitary Beehouse, which she Lise actually did herself.

• Transplanted Gardener Ginny Stibolt, author of the upcoming Sustainable Gardening for Florida, has been vetted by academia, so her writing is certified authoritative.
  • Just say no to poisons, which doesn’t pussy-foot around the issue.

• C.Garden Lady C. L. Fornariis a garden consultant on Cape Cod, and a garden writer and speaker nationally.
  • Carefree Perennials about her favorites for sustainable gardeners.

• Climate change expert Michael Johnsen contributed "The Carbon Footprint in your Garden."

• Australian garden writer Stuart Robinson, author of Gardening Tips ‘n’ Ideas is also the mastermind behind Blotanical.com.
  • Using Rubber Mulch in your Garden
  • Vegetables that MUST be Organic
  • Foliar v. Slow-Release Fertiliser - notice the Aussie spelling there?

MORE CONTRIBUTORS?
Know anyone else who writes wisely about sustainable gardening topics, including yourself?  Let us know in a comment.

Top photo: Linda Chalker-Scott.  Next, clockwise from upper left: Don, C.L., Ginny, and Debbie.  Lower composite, same deal:  Stuart, Lise, and Billy.

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It’s the Takoma Park, Maryland Green Homes Tour, showcasing 15 homes and gardens, and it’s FREE.  Here’s how to request the details, or go to their website for local green building resources and more.   On my own Woodland Avenue there’s not just my sustainable garden but architect Rick Vitullo’s ultra-green home, too.  Washington Gardener editor Kathy Jentz is also on the tour. We’ll be open for business from 11 to 5.

Takoma’s 15 homes and gardens are just part of the larger DC Solar Homes Tour.   It features 50 homes that are open both Saturday and Sunday - check their website for full details.  

Below the jump is the hand-out that’ll be available for Green House&Garden Tour-goers.

Notes on the Sustainability of this Garden

I KILLED MY LAWN

Why?  Because I hated mowing, and I wanted plants that offer more for wildlife and for my own enjoyment than turfgrass.  (Btw, beautiful lawns CAN be grown organically – see www.SafeLawns.org.)

Front: In the fall of 2007 I ripped out the lawn in the center oval and attempted to grow food – but there wasn’t enough sun.   Now I’m experimenting with assorted groundcovers, and may add a bird bath.  (For growing food, I’ll try again next year on my sunny deck – in containers.)

Back:  The much larger back lawn met its demise, too – composted with leaves.  The design goal in this lawn replacement was to keep the space open and low - visually and functionally similar to a lawn.  Plants needed to be able to take a bit of foot traffic – at least for weeding and removing litter – and withstand having the garden hose slung across it in the summer.   Also, they needed to require no mowing and no watering – at all – and not cost a lot.  I priced several low creeping perennials but they spread too slowly and would have cost from $1-2,000 to cover the area within one season. (Because it’s on a hillside, covering the ground quickly is essential to prevent erosion.)

The solution:  First I enlarged the borders.  Then for the remaining ex-lawn, the dominant plant here is Sedum acre, which arrived here as a weed.   It was already thick around the dry streambed, so I removed several plugs, planted them in the bare space, and in 3 months the ground is almost completely covered.  Other weeds I’ve allowed to stay are the edible purslane and the native smartweed (Polygonum pensylvanicum), now blooming in fuchsia.  The only money spent was for a few dollars’ worth of white and red clover seeds.  Clover is drought-tolerant and “fixes” nitrogen – captures it from the air and converts it to a form usable by plants.  Later this month I’ll be planting rivers of crocus and chionodoxa (“Glory of the Snow”) across the space and expect to be thoroughly dazzled next spring.

PLANTS CHOSEN FOR SUSTAINABILITY

My garden (certified as a wildlife habitat by the NWF) is a mixture of sustainable plants, both native to this area and well-adapted plants from other regions.  There are full pages about almost all the plants here at Sustainable-Gardening.com – under “Plants” in the navigation bar. [Shrubs are here and Perennials are here.] Unfortunately, English ivy covered much of my garden when I bought it in 1985 (and still covers most of our wooded valley – more on that below).  So I’ve used the ivy to cover the chain-link fence around the front yard but will rip it out when I can afford a decent fence.  Ivy continues to climb the sides of the house and the tool shed.  It’s a total pain to keep in check and I’m researching alternative solutions that isn’t TOO costly.  Meanwhile, I make sure there’s no ivy growing up the trees.

MAINTENANCE

Besides minimal watering during periods of drought, the only maintenance these plants require are weeding (with a hand tool), a yearly application of Takoma Park’s free leafmold mulch in the borders, collection of leaves in the fall, and a bit of pruning. 

PEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES

I have a 2-part program for garden pests:  1) Tolerance for a bit of insect damage.   2) Intolerance for plants that are severely damaged by pests or diseases - I just get rid of them.  The only exception are the Canadian hemlocks, which I will spray if they ever show signs of wooly adelgid infestation. 

WATER MANAGEMENT

The garden is filled mainly with drought-tolerant plants and the little supplemental watering that’s needed is done by hand.  (I also recommend drip irrigation.)   Container plants on the deck are exclusively succulents, so they never need watering.

Water from the driveway side of the house is directed under a stone retaining wall to discharge into a dry streambed, which slows the water down and can handle the occasional flash flood.   Then in the wooded area the streambed ends and the water is dispersed into the vegetation, which continues to slow it down. 

Water from the other side of the house is fed under boulders and discharged into a 2-foot-deep trench of gravel, then into the wide, intensively planted mixed border of trees, shrubs, perennials and groundcovers that continues all the way to the bottom of the hill.

At the bottom of this wooded valley is a stormwater runoff “creek” that feeds into Sligo Creek.  Unfortunately, there’s no natural solution to the erosion occurring along its banks – because of the unnaturally large quantity of water carried by it, caused by increased development and the piping of water to this creek from other neighborhoods.   An expert from the Anacostia Watershed Society has advised us that vegetation won’t stabilize the stream banks, that only large boulders or other physical barriers will stop the erosion – the exact solution we see along Sligo Creek.  But because  this is privately owned land, we’ve been unable to find any source of funding for such a project.

HOW TO RESTORE OUR VALLEY?

The other obvious ecological problem in this valley is the plant mix at the ground level, where there’s a Battle of the Invasives going on.  Some of us have removed patches of ivy, five-leaf akebia, mustard garlic and other nonnatives in order for native plants to revegetate, but they haven’t been able to out-compete the thugs.  To remove all invasives and restore the valley to its indigenous vegetation is a big job requiring not just funding but also expertise in restoration and a lot of labor for both the removal and the upkeep. 

MORE INFORMATION

There’s LOTS more on my website www.Sustainable-Gardening.com and my blog www.SustainableGardeningblog.com, including slide shows of my garden at other times of the year.   For definitions of sustainable gardening - mine and others - click "Sustainable Gardening 101" under "Gardening" on the navigation bar.  [Here it is.]

Or for information about my garden-coaching, see www.TheGardeningCoach.com.   I specialize in naturalistic, low-maintenance gardening for the budget-conscious.   

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