Fresh tomatoes are one of the most common reasons why people start gardening. But what about planting a stir fry garden? You can grow everything you need for a delicious stir fry dinner right in your own backyard. Stir frying (chǎo) is a Chinese cooking style that uses small amounts of “cold oil in a hot wok” to quickly stir a variety of ingredients into delicious, healthful goodness. If you don’t have a wok, you can do much the same thing in a skillet. There are no rules! The nice thing about designing a stir fry garden is anything goes. Whatever ingredients you prefer are the perfect choice. Assuming, that is, the plants are suited to your microclimate. In many cases, you can grow these ingredients in containers on a patio or balcony. Your stir fry garden design is your own. That being said, raised beds make planting and caring for your stir fry garden much easier. The nice loose soil makes life easier for root systems and you don’t have to bend over quite so far when weeding. Before we start counting our chickens, however, let’s take a look at what you might want to plant in your stir fry garden. Stir fry garden plant selection Everyone has their favorite stir fry recipes. This makes plant selection easy. Simply start with what you like. Then, try adding one or two you’ve never grown or eaten before. Who knows, they may turn out to be new favorites! The most common plants chosen for stir fry gardens include:
Some of these plants grow best in summer, while others prefer California’s wet winter weather. Each Hardiness Zone and microclimate is unique, as far as planting times and days to maturity. You can click on the links above for planting instructions and potential pest and disease problems.
Bon appétit and happy planning!
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Freshly mown lawns, twittering birds, brightly colored flowers, the crunch of a mulched path under our feet - these garden components create a more enriching experience by waking up our senses. You can make more of your landscape with a sensory garden. Most garden designs are based on visual experiences or crop production. Sensory gardens are designed with the five senses in mind. A fuzzy leaf, a fragrant herb, and plants that attract song birds are just skimming the surface of this sensory garden experience. Gardens and good health Research has demonstrated what gardeners have always known - working the soil, tending plants, and strolling through a garden are good for your health. This is especially true of sensory gardens. They pull us out of our fast-paced, tech-driven lives and back to nature. This is critical for both our physical and mental health. The positive effects of gardens, in general, and sensory gardens, in particular, have been found useful in helping people with autism, dementia, and mental health issues. Public sensory gardens incorporate walkways that are accessible to those using wheelchairs. They also tend to use plant labels with Braille or other interactive plant labels. Disabled or not, we can all enjoy the experience of a sensory garden.
Of course, our senses do not exist in isolation. If you walk across a sidewalk, followed by cobblestones, and then over a pile of pinecones, the sounds, smells, and sights will change with each experience. As you look through seed catalogs and your own seed collection, which plant varieties will be suitable to a sensory garden? Let us explore each of the senses for some ideas. Before we do that, however - a word on native plants. For ease of care and to increase biodiversity, consider native plants for each of your senses. Native plants are already suited to your microclimate and to the local wildlife, reducing the need for irrigation and protection from pests and diseases. Now let’s start planning a sensory garden! Sight Most of us rely very heavily on sight, often taking it for granted. But visual aspects of a sensory garden are more than just brightly colored flowers, leaves, and stems. As with any other garden design project, other visual considerations include lines, shapes, and textures. Fences, pathways, buildings, and hedgerows create visual lines that the eye will follow. The shapes of plants, raised beds, trellising, and the overall space contribute to the experience. Textures of bark, foliage, flowers, and walkways change how we feel about a space. Garden art, tree cages, furniture, and lighting also impact the visual aspect of a landscape. Some plants that provide bright colors and contrasting shapes include:
Sounds Twittering songbirds, a hummingbird in flight, and buzzing bees can bring a garden to life. Water features, such as a babbling creek, a burbling fountain, or the sound of birds splashing about in a birdbath also add a new dimension to your landscape. So can wind chimes, spinning pinwheels, and rustling stems and seed heads.
Scent can trigger powerful emotions, take us back in time, or lift our mood. Scent is so powerful that entire gardens are designed specifically with scent in mind. These scent gardens are a type of sensory garden. If you brush your hand across a rosemary shrub or rub a tomato leaf between your fingers, there is no mistaking those heady aromas. Think of how tiny white citrus blossoms can fill an area with their sweet fragrance. Many herbs contain essential oils that can fill your sensory garden with a variety of scents. Chamomile, cilantro, dill, lemon balm, mint, and tarragon are just a few of the scented edibles you may already have in your landscape. Other plants with strong aromas include curry plants, lavender, and salvia. Touch Pet a moss covered rock, stroke the bark of a tree, or hold a ripe orange in your hand. In each case, your finger tips will experience something entirely different. Fuzzy sage, lacy fennel, and ticklish thyme offer unique textures and scents, especially if you close your eyes. Taste Taste is is one aspect of garden design most often neglected. You wouldn’t go to a public garden and think about tasting the plants, unless you were a toddler. Which reminds me, if young children will be participating in your sensory garden, be sure to avoid potentially toxic plants. You also need to make sure that these plants haven’t been sprayed with pesticides and other chemicals, or come into contact with fresh manure. You want the plants in your sensory garden to look and be good enough to eat. Choosing plants for their taste, to nibble them where and as they are, can be a lot of fun. My chocolate mint plant always surprises visitors. Tentative chewing of a raw leaf turns into a look of delight as a peppermint patty appears on their taste buds! Did you know that borage leaves taste like cucumber? Or that nasturtiums are edible flowers? Basil, cherry tomatoes, chives, mint, and parsley can be enjoyed au natural, fresh from the landscape. Fruit and nut trees provide delicious tastes when in season, plus they offer shade from the sun in summer and textural experiences year round.
The goal of your sensory garden, then, is more than just visual appeal. It is an experience that heightens the senses and makes us more aware of our surroundings while slowing our heart rate, reducing stress, and adding beauty to our lives. I think we could all use more of that, don’t you? There is something about rocks that begs us to play with them. Have you ever considered creating a rock garden? Rock gardens, also known as rockeries or alpine gardens, consist of aesthetically placed rocks with plants growing in the gaps. This particular garden design is well suited to drought-prone areas and alpine regions. Rock gardens tend to require very little care, once they are established. If you look closely, however, you will see that rock gardens are busy places. A world in miniature Rock gardens create a microhabitat for a wide variety of beneficial insects and animals. All those nooks and crannies create wonderful hiding places for native ground nesting bees, predaceous ground beetles, lizards, soldier beetle larvae, spiders, frogs and toads. Rocks also provide great sunning spots for a wide variety of amphibians and reptiles. These creatures are in need of all the help we can offer. In exchange for providing them with some real estate, many of these visitors will consume a lion’s share of the pests that damage and carry disease to your garden. Types of rock gardens Your rock garden can be designed to look like a dry stream bed, a natural stone outcropping, a Japanese Zen garden, or something else entirely. Stones of different sizes can be used to create pathways or visual appeal. Amphibians are particularly fond of rock gardens with water features. Your rock garden can be very formal or it can simply be a bunch of rocks positioned in ways that you like. There are no rules. Types of rocks Most first rock garden designs are built with rocks and stones that are already present on the property. You can also collect rocks and stones from friends and neighbors, or buy specific rocks, stones, and even boulders. Sometimes, you can get free rocks from construction sites, just be sure to ask permission first. When selecting rocks for your rockery, more porous rocks are better suited than harder rocks. Harder rocks take longer to look natural. Softer rocks look weathered and like they have been there forever much faster. Also, moss grows on it more readily. You can encourage the growth of moss on your rockery by collecting mosses that you like and putting them in a blender, along with some yogurt or sour milk. Puree this strange concoction into a thick slurry, which is then poured over the rocks. Sooner or later, moss will start to grow. Site preparation Once you have selected a site for your rock garden, remove all of the existing vegetation. Many of these plants may become too large for your rockery. Next, loosen the soil enough for the largest rocks to be somewhat sunk into the ground. This will make it look more natural and prevent the whole thing from toppling or rolling around. For the best results, create a shape with the largest stones and fill that area with high quality planting soil. Mud in that soil in to reduce large air pockets before adding medium-sized rocks. Repeat the soil addition and mudding in until all of your stones have been placed. Now you can start adding plants. Plants used in rock gardens Rock garden plants need to stay small or your rock garden will disappear. Limited by the lack of deep soil and all those rocks, rockery plants are chosen for their ability to thrive, albeit slowly, in well-drained soil. Plants that can survive in dry environments are called xerophytes. In addition to size, rock garden plants must be able to thrive in your microclimate. Sun and wind exposure, Hardiness Zone, annual rainfall, soil structure, soil pH, and all the other plant selection guidelines still apply, with the addition of small size, slow growth, and drought tolerance. Start your plant search by considering plants native to your area. Native plants have evolution on their side and they support indigenous species. They also tend to require less care and irrigation. When considering plants for your rockery, be careful about installing invasive plants. These can cause more problems than they are worth. Some of the more common rock garden plants include:
Much like stumperies, rockeries use natural materials to create spaces that are both beautiful and beneficial. Once your rock garden is in place, make a point of examining it closely for signs of life. Your rockery will end up creating a tiny world all its own.
Pollinator gardens attract insects that pollinate your crops. They also tend to look lovely. Similar to butterfly gardens, pollinator gardens use flowers and other plants to attract and provide for pollinators. What are pollinators? Pollinators are mostly insects, such as bees and butterflies, that carry pollen from one flower to another, resulting in fertilization and fruit production. Bats, birds, lizards, and even people can be pollinators, as well. Most pollinator gardens use insectary plants to attract these garden helpers. What are insectary plants? Insectary plants are those that provide food, shelter, and/or egg-laying sites for beneficial insects at various life stages. Those beneficials may be predators, pest parasites, or pollinators. The flowers that provide this service are usually globe-shaped, such as chives and onions, umbrella-shaped or flat-topped umbellifers, as in seen in carrot and cilantro plants that have been allowed to go to seed. Depending on your region’s pollinator species, the insectary plants suited to your area may be tall or short or both, but most are brightly colored. As convenient as generic pollinator plants lists are, you will have a more effective pollinator garden if you take the time to identify pollinators native to your area. You can do this by searching online for “pollinators in [my town/state]”, and by contacting your local native plants society, Master Gardeners, and universities. You can also contact the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation and take other actions to create a more successful pollinator garden. Salt, anyone? While you generally want to keep salt as far away from your garden as possible, there are exceptions. Using a damp salt lick to provide minerals and moisture for bees and butterflies is one of those exceptions. If you have an area that stays damp, simply add salt or wood ashes to the mud. Otherwise, you can put out a dish of slightly salty water. Sea salt contains more important micronutrients than table salt, but table salt is better than nothing. Just remember that salt will damage nearby plants. Plant for variety Pollinators are active, in most regions, from early spring through late fall. Ensuring that your landscape includes a variety of insectary plants during that time frame will go a long way toward attracting and supporting valuable pollinators. That variety includes clumps of native plants, suited to your microclimate, and some night-blooming plants that provide for moths and bats. I use a spreadsheet that lists months across the top and a rainbow of colors down the side to document what is blooming, throughout the year, in my landscape. I add to it as I notice or add new plants. This way, I can see when there are gaps in flower production. Since those flowers provide pollen and nectar, the more I have, the better off my pollinators will be. [The file is too large to share here, but you can contact me if you would like a copy.] Avoid hybrids Evolution is a relatively slow process. Many of our modern hybrids, especially those with ‘doubled’ flowers, have had their fragrance, nectar and pollen bred right out of them. They may look nice, but that’s all they have to offer. Quit the chemical habit Broad-spectrum herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, and pesticides have no place in your pollinator garden. Even those advertised as “safe” can disrupt the breeding, feeding, and existence of beneficial insects. They are probably not very good for us, either. Instead of chemicals, practice least damage Integrated Pest Management (IPM). If you absolutely must use chemicals, apply them at night, when most pollinators are not active. Dead limbs can be good Dead branches and dead trees provide nesting sites for native bees. Stumperies also create habitat and food for a variety of birds and other insects. Just make sure your dead tree does not create a safety issue. Trees are extremely heavy. Hummingbird feeders
Your hummingbird feeder provides nectar for far more than just hummingbirds. Chickadees, wrens, and orioles may also enjoy a sweet sip every now and then. And so will many pollinators. The 1:4 sugar to water ratio used in hummingbird feeders is fine for many beneficial insects, too. Just be sure to wash your hummingbird feeder with hot, soapy water once or twice a week to avoid mold and the spread of disease. Setting aside just a little space in your landscape for a pollinator garden can profoundly increase the number of butterflies, native bees, and other beneficials you see each year. And they could really use our help these days. You can instill a love of gardening in your child with a children’s garden. I learned my love of gardening as a child. It all started with a clear plastic cup, a black sponge, and four hard, dry corn seeds. It was an educational toy which had a child insert the sponge into the cup and then push the corn seeds between the cup and the sponge. Each seed was positioned so that it pointed in a different direction. Water was added and the magic of germination began. I was impressed by the fact that the first roots (radicles) always knew to go down, while the first shoots (plumules) always found a way to move upward, even if it took some twisting and turning. The whole process still amazes me and you can let your child in on some of that magic with a garden designed with them in mind. Make it child-sized Adult-sized shovels and trowels can take all the fun out of gardening for a child. So can cheaply made tools that tend to break. Start your children’s garden off right by investing in a well-made child-sized trowel, shovel, hoe, and rake. A small bucket and watering can will be handy, too. Create a space You may not want your child(ren) digging around your prized rhubarb or roses, so set aside space just for them and their garden. You can make the space a fun shape, too, such as a triangle, a butterfly, or a series of small circles. This will help create ownership, which will carry your child through some of the more difficult tasks, such as waiting for plants to germinate or flower. Ask them what they want to grow Do they want to grow their own pumpkin for Halloween? Or, maybe a sunflower fort, a pizza garden, a Three Sisters garden, a butterfly garden, or a pole bean teepee. The possibilities are practically limitless. Head to the library with your child and explore the gardening books section. Check out several and be sure to grab one or two grown-up gardening books geared towards your region or microclimate while you are at it. That way, as plants are selected, you can research the best way to help them thrive. [See, you don't have to know how to garden to help your child create a garden of their own!] Grab a pad of paper and a snack and start exploring all the garden design possibilities with your child. Including them in the planning process is important. As you look through photos and drawings together, have your child create a list of plants they want in their garden (if they are old enough). And you will be there to instill some basic gardening principles and to rule out plants not suited to your area. As much as your child may want their own banana tree, it wouldn’t be a good choice for a beginner. In the beginning, you should keep explanations simple. You can always delve deeper into the information for yourself once they go to bed. Popular children’s garden plants You can’t go wrong with radishes. They grow so fast that things start happening before your child loses interest. Soaring giants, such as corn and sunflowers, are nearly always a good choice. Plants with large seeds, such as beans, melons, and squashes are easy to work with and the edible harvest is a bonus. Climbing plants, such as pole beans or dramatic red noodle beans, can be used to create hanging walls or secret hideaways. Mounding miniature lettuces and spiky shallots look nice and are always welcome in the kitchen. Cherry tomato plants are prolific and they provide healthy snacks as your child works and plays in the yard. Marigolds, snapdragons, and zinnias add color with little effort. Include scents and textures Children are very tactile. They like to touch, taste, and smell whatever is around them. This makes many herbs good choices for a children’s garden. Chives, dill, mint, and sage add delicious aromas and an edible harvest. Fuzzy lambs’ ears and ornamental grasses are fun to touch, while English thyme can make a fragrant ground cover. Edible flowers, such as nasturtiums, pansies, and violets are also good choices. Just be sure to educate your child about how not all flowers are edible. Plants to avoid Most edible plants a re a sage bet, but some plants are toxic and should be avoided when designing a young child’s garden. [Especially those marked with an asterisk.] These plants include:
As your child gets older, the risk of toxic plants becomes less of a problem.
Special touches Birdfeeders, pinwheels, crawl-throughs, and other special touches can help make your child’s garden even more engaging and fun. Yard sales are a great place to find a child-sized garden bench and unique garden art without spending a lot of money. You may also want to include a fruit cocktail tree. These trees have been grafted to provide more than one type of fruit on the same tree. If your child is so inclined, encourage them to document their garden. They can create a book of bug drawings, a chart of plant growth, or a photo album of their garden over the seasons. At the end of the day, after you have both washed up and eaten supper, you may want to curl up with a good gardening bedtime story, such as Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden. It sure worked for me! How many butterflies did you see in the past year? Not very many, right? You can attract a surprising variety of butterflies to your landscape with a butterfly garden. Back in my hitchhiking days (the 1970s), I saw millions of butterflies along the Interstate. They would litter the side of the freeway and create colorful clouds in the air. In my own insect-friendly yard, however, I saw no more than a dozen butterflies last year. What happened? Threats to butterflies Butterflies have been around for 56 million years, but times are hard. Habitat loss, pollution, pesticide use, invasive species, rising temperatures, and interruptions in their food web all make life difficult for butterflies. Butterflies are particularly hard hit because many of them rely on a single plant species as hosts for their eggs and offspring. Native populations When I lived in San Jose, California, I learned that there were 144 species of native butterflies. Sadly, that area also has the highest density of endangered butterfly species in the nation. Some of the most threatened California butterflies and their host plants include:
Which butterfly species are native to your neighborhood? How are they faring? Imagine what would happen if everyone added just one butterfly-friendly plant to their landscape. Host plants Most of the plants used in butterfly gardens are insectary plants. Insectary plants are those with the color, shape, and height that appeal to butterflies and other beneficial insects. Common insectary plants include the following:
Members of the sunflower family (Asteraceae) also make good insectary plants. The problem with these generic lists is that many of these plants are non-natives, which can cause problems. Even though these plants provide nectar and pollen for adults, they can actually devastate local butterfly populations because the adults see food for themselves and lay eggs nearby. When those eggs hatch, the larvae have nothing to eat. Put simply, these might or might not be the plants your butterflies need. Or they might be perfect. I cannot tell you which plants, specifically, to include in your butterfly garden. This is because each region has its own indigenous butterfly population. To find out what is native to your area, conduct an online search for “butterflies native to [your town]. The results may surprise you.
Once you have a list of indigenous butterflies, you can track down their host plants. Host plants are those that will provide the pollen and nectar needed by adult butterflies and the leaves needed for egg-laying and caterpillar feeding. Armed with this information, you are ready to design your butterfly garden. Planning your butterfly garden Your butterfly garden doesn’t need to be big or formal to be effective. You can scatter host plants throughout your landscape, if you like. Or you can create an elegant parterre. It’s up to you. Butterflies do use sunlight to warm themselves, so south-facing areas are preferable, as are areas protected from wind. A water feature, such as a bird bath or fountain, can help your butterflies stay hydrated. Rocks, for basking, are always appreciated. There is also nothing saying you have to install plants specifically for endangered species, although it would be nice. The important thing is to get the correct plants in the ground and helping them to thrive. Adding a butterfly garden to your landscape does not take a lot of effort on your part, but it can make a huge difference for the butterflies. It will also increase the biodiversity in your garden, making it a healthier environment. Other beneficial insects will also be attracted to these plants. These beneficial insects might be pollinators, predators, or they may parasitize insect pests. And the flowering plants look lovely. Did you know that some adult butterflies also eat carrion, rotting fruit, and tree sap, while the larvae of some butterfly species eat ants and other insect pests? I didn’t either. Now we know. Rather than rushing to a crowded grocery store at the last minute for holiday meal ingredients, wouldn’t it be nicer to simply walk outside and collect the freshest ingredients possible? You can, with just a little planning. Creating a holiday dinners garden is a form of planting forward. You know ahead of time what you will need, so you estimate which ingredients should be planted and when. That way they will become harvestable as they are needed. And your holiday dinners garden is not limited to edibles. Seasonal decorations, such as flowers and greenery, can be found in your yard just as easily. This planning process may feel overwhelming, at first. Instead of taking on more than is fun, you might want to select one holiday at a time and build on that over time. Either way, it all starts with a calendar. Create a calendar Calendars are handy tools, especially for gardeners. You can use printing paper or an inexpensive paper calendar to design your holiday dinners garden. Start by identifying all the holidays you celebrate each year with special meals. In my family, these holidays are New Years’ Day, Easter, 4th of July, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Mark your family’s holidays clearly on your calendar. Meal planning We all have favorite dishes for each of our holiday dinners. In my house, New Years’ Day would never feel right without hoppin’ john and Easter wouldn’t feel like Easter without a ham surrounded by baby beets and carrots. Whatever your traditional meals include, create generic menus for each holiday dinner. For example:
I do not raise pigs or turkeys in my suburban yard, but including as many of the dishes as I can think of helps me work out the details when figuring out what to plant. Make a list and check it twice Using each of the dishes you want to include in your holiday meals, create a shopping list of ingredients that could come from your garden. Be sure to include the date when the ingredients will be needed. Spreadsheets are very handy for this step because this list can get a little unwieldy. You may want to use a separate page for each holiday. Using my menu for the 4th of July, I would start with this:
As you can see, there is some overlap between dishes. [My son, the cook, recently told me that most people have a flavor profile. Apparently, my profile features potatoes, thyme, onions, and garlic!] My avocado tree is not old enough to produce fruit, so I will not include it in my plan just yet. Perennial herbs Nearly all dishes use herbs of one sort or another, so these mostly perennial standbys can be used to create the framework for your holiday dinner garden. The nice thing about perennials is that they are either actively present, or they have been around long enough for you to have canned or frozen some of their harvest. Common perennial herbs for a holiday dinner might include rosemary, tarragon, and thyme. To make your holiday dinners garden look more attractive and to prevent these frequent members of the mint family from taking over completely, you may want to grow them in containers, placed artfully throughout the garden. Some herbs, such as cilantro, dill, and parsley are not perennials, but they will self-seed once they become established. Others, such as oregano and sage, are perennial in some Hardiness Zones and annuals in others. Once the perennials are in place, you can plan for the annuals. Spreadsheet magic I love spreadsheets. To me, they make it easy to keep track of a lot of information. You may or may not feel the same way, but they are very handy for this step in the garden design process. You can start with just one holiday or go whole hog with all of them. For this example, I am only using my 4th of July BBQ, but I am including the date for when I add other holiday dinners. In the first column, list each of your ingredients. In the second column, add the date you want each ingredient to mature. The third column is for a note about whether each ingredient is a perennial, already preserved, or how many days it takes from planting seeds to harvest. Keep in mind that days to maturity found online and on seed packets may be different for your region of microclimate. These numbers are simply averages, but they are still useful.
For each ingredient, count backwards from the holiday the number of days to maturity for a planting date. In the example above, my apples ripen long before July 4th, so I freeze or can them. Then, I see that basil takes 50 to 75 days from planting to harvest, so I count back 75 days from July 4th for a planting date of April 21st. Now, my family loves basil and I plant a lot of it, starting long before April 21st, but I add a reminder in my calendar to plant basil on that date so I know I will have plenty when I need it for that holiday. If your planting date occurs before it is actually warm enough to plant a specific species, you may need to start it indoors, or buy seedlings at a later date. In some cases, like celery, I could plant it but I choose not to. For me, celery is fiddly to grow and is so inexpensive at the store that it is not worth the garden real estate. You might feel the same way about onions or garlic. A lot of this will depend on where you live and how much time and space you have. Even if you only select 2 or 3 ingredients for each holiday meal, you’ll be glad you did. Simply go down the list, counting backwards for each ingredient that needs to be planted. You can add these annual reminders to the calendar in your computer and add alerts in your phone. If you set them to repeat every year, the planning process is done. Before you know it, you will have all the information you need to plant your holiday dinners garden! As you prepare for a change of seasons, it is common to want to clean things up, to make the garden look a little more tidy, and to create less work for yourself in the future. Very often, landscape fabric is part of those plans for an easier, weed-free future. Landscape fabric is easy to use and it works. For a while. And at a price that might surprise you. How landscape fabric is used Landscape fabric is a semi-porous material that is used to create a weed-free area in a landscape. Advertisements claim that water, air, and fertilizer can still reach the soil while preventing weeds from taking hold. Photos make the end result look lovely and trouble-free. To use landscape fabric, the following steps are used:
It’s that simple. Unless there is a slope. Or if you care about pollution. Or if soil or plant health matter. Air flow is important Plant roots and soil dwelling critters need to absorb and release gases to survive. In a healthy environment, oxygen and carbon dioxide move freely between the soil and the atmosphere, allowing for moisture and temperature regulation and other important processes. Without air flow, important soil microorganisms, worms, and plant roots die. Mulch material matters Landscape fabric and mulch allow gases to disperse at different rates. Mulching is an excellent way to stabilize soil temperatures, retain moisture, and block weeds, but the material used makes a big difference in gas exchanges. Recent research has shown that, if you cover the soil with landscape fabric, you will slow those gas exchanges by more than 1,000 times than if you had used wood chips. If you were to use plastic sheeting, the gas exchange rates would be slowed by yet another thousand times. Finally, as plant material, soil, and water collect on top of landscape fabric, weeds will grow anyway. Also, landscape fabric, which is actually plastic, tends to deteriorate over time, being exposed to moisture, microorganisms, and foot traffic. These plastic particles end up in creeks, rivers, lakes, and oceans, as well as in our own air supply. As the mulch shifts, areas are exposed, torn, and the whole thing looks messy as weeds, being weeds, take hold once again.
The next time you see an area covered with landscape fabric, take a closer look at the crowns of nearby trees. Are they dying? Are they putting out suckers? These things are happening because the trees are suffocating. Instead of using newspaper, cardboard, or landscape fabric to block weeds, simply contact your local arborist and ask for a load of clean wood chips. A nice 4” thick layer of mixed wood chips does an amazing job at blocking weeds and protecting your soil. For free. Nurse cropping is a form of companion planting in that specific plants are installed to provide one type of protection or another for young crops as they become established. Nurse crops protect young perennials
In commercial agriculture, nurse crops are fast-growing annuals that are planted along with perennials, such as alfalfa, to help those perennials become established. This gives the long term crop protection from pests as it is getting started. Nurse crops as trap crops Trap crops are installed around or near desirable crops because of the way they attract or repel specific pests. In some cases, trap crops interfere with a pest’s lifecycle or kill it outright. In other cases, the trap crop is “harvested” after pests have appeared to remove them from the garden. Nurse crops are frequently used as traps crops. For example, wireworms are a big problem for strawberries. In one study, strawberries planted alone had a 43% mortality rate, while strawberries planted two weeks before wheat was added had a 27% mortality rate. When wheat was planted 8 days before the strawberries, that mortality rate dropped to 5%. That’s a significant savings in strawberry starts, just by broadcasting a handful of wheat berries a week ahead of time! Pros and cons of nurse cropping Like every other plan of action, nurse cropping has pros and cons. The benefits of nurse cropping include reduced weeds, wind and erosion. Also, perennial seedlings are protected from excessive sun in their first weeks of growth. Oats and other cereals are common nurse crops. As such, another benefit is that the nurse crop can be a harvestable edible in its own right. The potential problems associated with nurse cropping is that the nurse crop does use up water and nutrients. It may also become a type of weed itself. You can use nurse cropping in your garden by starting cereal grains in a bed a week or so before planting something else. If you don’t harvest it, the local birds and other wildlife will appreciate the buffet and more tender plants will benefit, as well. Hollyhocks are probably not your first thought when it comes to edible gardening, but these tall, bold beauties of our grandparents’ time may surprise you. First, did you know that all parts of a hollyhock are edible? My chickens may not share that world view, but we frequently differ on menu items. In addition to being edible, hollyhocks are surprisingly useful plants. Hollyhock stems make excellent starter firewood, and the roots have been used for centuries as medicine. While I do not make any medical claims about plants, research has shown that infusions of hollyhock roots may reduce stress. I’ll leave that to you. Let’s see what else we can find out about these durable garden flowers. Hollyhocks are members of the mallow family. Native to Europe and Asia, there are 60 or so species of hollyhock, or Alcea, with Alcea rosea being the most commonly grown. The Alcea genus includes all the hollyhocks, except for one species that is native to the western hemisphere, the streambank wild hollyhock (Iliamna rivularis). While the streambank wild hollyhock is in a different genus, the blooms are still lovely. For this post, we will be focusing solely on Alcea hollyhocks.
Caring for hollyhocks Hollyhocks are not particularly picky. They grow best in Hardiness Zones 3-8, can be grown in full sun or partial shade, and prefer good drainage. The only thing hollyhocks do not seem to like is dry soil. Here in California (Zone 9b), dry soil is the rule in summer, but a thick layer of arborist chips mulched over the area and planting them in a relatively protected corner of the yard seems to be help enough and they return every spring to fill my summer with gorgeous flowers. Being near a fence or trellis also protects these tall stems from wind damage. To keep your hollyhocks healthy, cut stems back to 6” or so above soil level after flowering is completed. Continue to top dress and irrigate the area and new stems will appear throughout the growing season. In winter, cut plants back again and protect with a 6” layer of straw or mulch. Come spring, gradually remove this protective layer to help plants become acclimated. Once spring growth is in full swing, remove the straw and start thinning. By removing the cut stems from the area and composting them, you will interrupt the disease triangles and thwart pests of hollyhocks. Hollyhock pests and diseases
On the downside, like other members of the mallow family, hollyhocks are prone to mildew and rust and will attract weevils, mallow flea beetles, and orange tortrix moths. The caterpillars of a few other moths and butterflies, including painted ladies, will also chew on hollyhock leaves, as will slugs and snails, spider mites, and Japanese beetles. Aphids, capsid bugs, and cutworms may also cause problems. Because they are prone to rust and mildew, hollyhocks should always be watered at ground level. Wet leaves nearly always attract disease. Diseased leaves should be removed and thrown in the trash whenever they are seen. Hollyhocks and children Hollyhock seeds are large and easy to work with, making them a good choice for a children’s activity. Hollyhocks do not like being transplanted, so it is better to sow seeds where you want them. A hollyhock’s long taproot doesn’t like being disturbed, once it begins its downward growth. Traditionally, hollyhocks have been used to create secret garden spaces for children and solitary readers. Simply draw a line where you want you secret hideaway’s walls and plant seeds along that line. Seeds should be planted in groups of 3 or 4, placed 2 to 3 feet apart. Only cover lightly with soil, if at all, and keep the area moist but not soggy until germination occurs. Thin each group by snipping off all but the best one seedling at ground level. They may look tiny and lonely, at first, but these plants get large and need good air flow to stay healthy. Before you know it, you will have a secret garden space of your very own, attended by the many bees, butterflies, hummingbirds and other pollinators that love hollyhocks as much as we do! Sweet alyssum is a lovely, low maintenance flower that attracts butterflies, but it isn’t actually an Alyssum. Not so long ago, when scientists first started using DNA to sort out plant species and plant families, a number of embarrassing relations and non-relations were discovered. This has lead to upheaval in the world of plant nomenclature. While this doesn’t generally affect us, as backyard gardeners, it can cause some confusion when it comes to plant names. So it is with sweet alyssum. Native to the Mediterranean region, dainty sweet alyssum used to be counted among the Alyssum species. As such, it was known botanically as Alyssum maritima. [Isn't that a lovely name?] We now know that the global sweet alyssum plant is actually a Lobularia species, an equally pleasant name.. Again, this doesn’t make much of a difference for us, as home gardeners. What I was surprised to learn is that, in both cases, sweet alyssum is a member of the cabbage family, which means that it might attract the same pests and diseases as your cabbages, broccoli, and mustards. Before we start ripping out this tiny, durable flower, let’s see what it has to offer. Sweet alyssum description Each sweet alyssum plant grows up to 12” tall and wide. Stems are made up of several branches, each of which has many flower clusters. Most sweet alyssum flowers are white, but you may get an occasional blue, pink, or purple in the mix. These flowers have a honey sweet aroma that bees and other pollinators seem to love. As individual stems near the end of their life, a profusion of fruits, which are hairy elongated pods, like most other members of the cabbage family. Each pod contains two seeds. These seeds spread easily on the wind. And plants can thrive in a number of different locations. How to grow sweet alyssum Sweet alyssum somehow manages to grow in rocky outcrops, on sand dunes, between paving stones, and everywhere else seeds can get a toehold. This is good news. Unlike their perennial Alyssum cousins, sweet alyssum is an annual. If you have it growing already, you know that it readily self seeds.
Sweet alyssum is an excellent choice for softening paths, lining the edges of raised beds, or as a relatively maintenance-free ground cover. I say ‘relatively’ because sweet alyssum plants may get leggy and flop over near the end of their productive lives, leaving them to look somewhat less appealing. You can eliminate this look, and stimulate new flower growth, by occasionally giving plants a trim. I use my weedwacker. Sweet alyssum pests and diseases As far as cabbage family members go, sweet alyssum is rugged. It has very few problems. Diseases that may impact your sweet alyssum include botrytis blight (gray mold), clubroot, downy mildews, and root and crown rots, though I have never seen any of those diseases on my sweet alyssum while the same diseases have, at times, been present on nearby plants. Supposedly, the cyclamen mite and caterpillars of the diamondback moth feed on sweet alyssum. Again, I have not seen this in my garden. The only pest that I have seen hiding out, under the canopy of sweet alyssum blossoms is the dreaded Bagrada bug.
Rather than ripping out your sweet alyssum, just trim it back every once in a while and be sure to take a peek underneath its skirts every once in a while, with an eye for Bagrada bugs.
Get your beans growing skyward with a tuteur. Tuteur is French for ‘trainer’ and pronounced the same as that tutor who helped you through middle school algebra. What is a tuteur? Tuteurs are 3- or 4-legged obelisk-shaped trellises used to provide a climbing structure for peas and pole beans and other climbing plants. Actually, a tuteur can have as many legs as you like, as long as it is sturdy enough to not topple over. Traditionally, tuteurs were nothing more than a handful of branches lashed together at the top and spread apart at the bottom, teepee-style. Placed over young pea and pole bean plants, these structures provided supports for young tendrils to wrap around as they climb toward sunlight. Like other forms of vertical gardening, tuteurs take up less space while expanding your growing options. They also reduce pod exposure to fungal spores and slugs and snails, and they create interesting focal points in your garden. While you can certainly buy a tuteur, they are very easy to make and odds are good that you already have all the materials you need to make one for free. How to make a tuteur At its most basic level, a tuteur can be nothing more than 4 long poles lashed together near the top, with the legs spread out at the bottom. At the other end of the design spectrum, you can construct an ornate obelisk, complete with gazing globes, wind chime, or whatever strikes your fancy. Whatever design you choose, keep in mind that some plants can become substantial, so you will want your tuteur to be sturdy enough to handle whatever will be using it for support. Of course, once the tendrils do all their winding and climbing, they will add a measure of stability to whatever structure they climb. To create a simple tuteur, you can use bamboo poles, scrap untreated lumber, tree branches, rebar, and many other reusable materials, following these steps:
Calendula officinalis is an edible flower that can add color and attract honey bees to your garden. Believed to be native to Europe, Calendula officinalis has been grown by people for so long and in so many locations, it is hard to tell for sure.
Pot marigold description Unlike the Tagetes genus of marigold, which have leaves that appear alternately along a stem, pot marigolds have slightly hairy leaves that are arranged in a spiral around the stem. They are short-lived perennials, typically grown as annuals, that grow 18 to 30” tall, with 2” flowers. Flowers are bright yellow or orangish-yellow, with ray florets and disk florets, common to sunflowers. Pot marigold’s curved seeds are actually dried fruits, called achenes. Pot marigold as an attractant In addition to looking lovely as a border plant, or in a parterre, Calendula officinalis will attract important pollinators, such as honey bees to the garden. Unfortunately, they will also attract cabbageworm butterflies, large yellow underwings, an invasive moth of the cutworm variety, and setaceous Hebrew character moths, whose larvae feed on a number of popular garden plants. Pot marigolds as food Pot marigold flower petals have a tangy, peppery flavor. Traditionally added to German soups and stews, pot marigold is also added to herb butters and cheeses, or chopped and used to garnish deviled or scrambled eggs, fish dishes, or steamed vegetables. Pot marigold flower petals add color and tang to salads. If you add marigold flower petals to rice, while cooking, the rice will turn yellow. For this reason, it is also known as Poor Man’s Saffron. Farmers have fed marigolds to chickens for years to make the yolks a deeper yellow. One variety of pot marigold, ‘Mexican Mint’, has the flavor of tarragon. It is also known as Texas tarragon. Pot marigold petals also make a delightful tea. Pot marigolds as medicine Pot marigolds also have medical merit. Research has shown that tinctures of pot marigold are used today to treat skin irritations and burns, to speed healing, and to control bleeding. [I wonder how they would look growing next to some aloe vera - just to keep the medicinals together.] This is not my area of expertise, and I won’t make any personal claims, but it is interesting to see how, every once in a while, those old treatments hold true. That being said, some people are allergic to pot marigolds. How to grow pot marigolds Pot marigolds are easy to grow from seed and they tend to be drought tolerant. Start seeds in small pots, only lightly covered with soil. Keep the soil moist, but not soggy, until germination occurs. Then, move plants to a sunny location with good drainage. Calendula may need protection from scorching summer afternoon sun, and they can be grown in containers, or on windowsills. Marigolds readily self-seed. Calendula pests and diseases While these plants are relatively trouble-free, they may become infected with powdery mildew, root rot, and smut. They are also susceptible to Alternaria leaf spot, aster yellows, charcoal root rot, cottony rot, cucumber mosaic, gray mold, Pythium root rot, root knot nematodes, rust, southern blight, spotted wilt (from the tomato spotted wilt virus), stem rot, and Verticillium wilt. I couldn't find any pests that significantly bother pot marigolds. Many of these diseases can be prevented by providing good drainage and air flow, so top dress soil regularly with organic matter, space plants with mature sizes in mind, and avoid overhead watering. So, do you know if your marigolds are edible or not now? This poem may help:
Every year, there are garden favorites that we plant religiously. Just as consistently, the same pests come, causing damage and carrying disease. What if there was a way to lure those pests away from your garden faves? There is. It’s called trap cropping. Trap cropping refers to the purposeful planting of crops known to attract or repel specific pests within and around the crops you are trying to protect. This distraction reduces the damage done by pests. In some cases, the attractant trap crop can interfere with the pest’s lifecycle, or kill it outright. In other cases, as pests start feeding on the trap crop, you harvest it, breaking the lifecycle of specific pests.
Trap cropping is a form of companion planting (better known as intercropping). While mint, garlic, nasturtium, and fennel have often been touted as cure-alls for many pest problems, the science behind trap cropping is still relatively new and I was unable to find enough research geared specifically toward those plants. Fear not, however, as there is plenty of good information you can use to protect your garden plants! How trap cropping works Trap crops distract pests away from food crops. By providing a rich food source for these pests, they are less likely to damage your food crops. Also, heavy pest infestations attract beneficial predators, such as lacewings and lady beetles. Once an infestation occurs, the trap crop can be fed to your chickens, tilled under, or composted. In commercial fields, pests attracted to trap crops are killed off with pesticides or vacuumed off the plants and destroyed. Types of trap cropping There are several types of trap cropping:
Very often, trap cropping methods are used in combination, improving their effectiveness. These methods reduce the need for chemical pesticides, while increasing biodiversity. Which crops have the biggest pest problems in your garden? And how can you use trap cropping to protect them? Let us know in the Comments! Bee's friend is a gorgeous flower that attracts pollinators and other beneficial insects Also known as blue or purple tansy, or lacy phacelia, bee’s friend (Phacelia tanacetifolia) is a popular choice in agriculture as an annual ground cover. It is also grown as an insectary, to attract bees and beneficial predatory insects, such as hoverflies. Flowers remain open for an extended period with very little water, making it an excellent addition to your foodscape.
How to grow Bee’s Friend
Bee’s Friend seeds can be sown directly in areas that receive direct sun or partial shade, as soil temperatures warm in late spring. Stagger plantings for a more powerful impact. Seeds must be in complete darkness to germinate, so be sure to follow the planting directions on the packet and use an irrigation method that does not push the soil around too much. Misting is a good choice. Bee’s friend is considered one of the top 20 honey-producing flowers. Whether you raise bees or not, that much nectar is sure to bring bees and other pollinators to your garden in abundance! It makes an excellent plant for under or around fruit and nut trees, as a natural way of boosting pollination rates. The flowers are lovely, too! There is something about garden water features that makes everything better. Calming, refreshing, or splashing playfully, water has the ability to improve our mood, create art, and support local biodiversity. And, hey, it looks nice! Benefits of water features Water features provide many benefits other than the artistic appeal. Water features can provide life-sustaining moisture for hummingbirds, butterflies, other insects, reptiles, and amphibians, many of which are severely threatened these days with habitat loss. You can encourage honey bees and other pollinators to come to your garden when a water feature is present. Water features can suit any style, from rustic to elegant, quirky to traditional. Water features also tend to improve curb appeal and property values, if you are thinking of selling your home. If you are even the least bit handy, you can install your own garden water feature. [Instructables has some excellent ideas!] You can get the necessary information from your local library, or you can buy a kit. Types of garden water features Water features come in all shapes and sizes. They can be birdbaths, fountains, or waterfalls, ponds or pools, or even a creek or stream. Starting with the most simple water feature, and moving through to more complex features, each has its own pros and cons. Birdbath A simple birdbath can often be found at yard sales and thrift stores. You can also make your own with a wide, shallow bowl, or any other container that has sloping sides. While a birdbath requires regular refilling and cleaning, it is very rewarding to see goldfinches, mourning doves, and jay birds drinking and bathing. Add a pump to a small water-holding container and you have a fountain, or a waterfall. Fountains and waterfalls Fountains and waterfalls are especially good at transforming a space without a huge expense. And you can now find solar pumps to power a garden water fountain. Fountains add water movement and oxygenation to your water feature. This slows the growth of algae and reduces the likelihood of creating a mosquito breeding ground. Also, the sound of falling water can be very soothing, and it can mask less desirable sounds of traffic or noisy neighbors. Moving water also adds moisture to and helps clean the surrounding air, supporting nearby plants and animals, along with your family. You will need to maintain water levels in your fountain, especially in summer. Also, fountains do need to be cleaned occasionally, to keep water flowing through the pump. If you have more room, a pool or pond might make a lovely addition to your garden. Ponds and pools While swimming pools have chemicals and steep sides that can prove detrimental to most local wildlife, small ponds and pools take up only a moderate amount of space and can often be self-sustaining. [And who wants the wildlife playing in your swimming pool, anyway?] A small pond can create a shady sanctuary for weary feet, brilliantly colored koi, and overheated dogs, along with local wildlife. You can take a pond idea one step further by using the soil dug out for the pond to create a sloping creek. Creeks and streams Backyard creeks and streams create a magical space in your yard. And these systems are mostly self-contained. Water is pumped from the pond, through a filter, and then up over a small waterfall. Because the water is moving, you get the sights and sounds of running water, the water is oxygenated, and the filtering system reduces the amount of maintenance you need to provide. Ponds with creeks also create ideal habitat for shy amphibians and reptiles who will feed on pesky beetles, wasps, and other critters. You can find affordable kits that walk you through the installation, or you can hire a professional.
Garden water features add beauty and value to your home and garden, while improving the quality of life for all nearby living things. Indoors or out, you can create an attractive salad garden that provides fresh, crisp salads practically year round. Imagine walking over to a container, raised bed, or garden patch with a pair of scissors and snipping off fresh ingredients for a salad. Much like an herb garden, salad gardens can provide a variety of colors and textures to your landscape, balcony, or home, as well as delicious, fresh ingredients for your meals. Where can you grow a salad garden? Balconies, patios, raised beds, windowsills, towers, and containers are all the space you need to create a salad garden. You can also add salad plants in with your other plantings! You can use a collection of artistic planter pots, or some of those long, narrow planting containers found at yard sales and thrift stores, or you can get really creative, using takeout containers, an old wheelbarrow, or any other food safe container. And that’s really important. Be sure that whatever container you choose is rated for food use - many pallets are sprayed with a cocktail of chemicals, and some ceramic pots are decorated with toxic enamels. Once you’ve made sure your containers are food safe, it’s time to start choosing your plants! Choosing plants for a salad garden Start your salad garden plant selection with foods you and your family will eat and enjoy. There’s no sense using up valuable growing space on plants you don’t want. To select the best plants for your salad garden, consider the time of year each plant will be able to grow in your area. Check with your local County Extension Office and read those seed packets. You can also get all the information you need right here, online. If you will be growing outdoors, be sure to check with the USDA Hardiness Zone Map to identify your zone. You will also want to identify which plants are perennial, which are annuals, and which are biennials: Salad perennials — chives, patience dock, Malabar spinach, nasturtiums, perennial rocket, sorrel [If you have the space, rhubarb and artichokes provide HUGE, ongoing crops each year] Salad biennials — kale, parsley, Swiss chard Salad annuals -- arugula, bok choy, cilantro, dill, lettuces, mizuna, radish, spinach The perennial plants will serve as year-round anchors in your salad garden, the biennials may take 2 or 3 years before going to seed, and annuals will have to be replaced each year. Or, maybe they won’t. We will get to that in a moment. One tool for helping in the garden design planning process is to get a package of 3x5 index cards and create a card for each type of plant, putting all the relevant growing information on the card. That information would include:
You can spread the cards out on a table and move them around, to create attractive, productive groupings that will play well together. Consider the height and shape of each plant. A deep container that features tall, wispy dill in the center, offset by brilliantly colored Swiss chard, surrounded by a bright green halo of short, mounding lettuces will look lovely and taste good! Keep a lookout for hybrid dwarf varieties of many salad greens that fit better in containers. If you are growing indoors, you may need to add grow lights during winter. Succession planting As your salad garden begins to produce edibles, remember to continue planting new annual seeds every 2 to 4 weeks, whenever the growing conditions are appropriate for each plant. This succession planting will keep you in salad greens practically year round. The important thing about planting a salad garden is to keep planting those seeds! Surprises in the salad garden Some plants don’t seem to play be the rules of botany. Beets, for example, are classified as biennials. This means they are ‘supposed’ to generate a fleshy root in the first growing season, to store nutrients for the next growing season, during which seeds are produced. [By the way, beet seed-bearing stems are lovely - they look like Japanese art.] My seed-producing beets, however, have been providing me with beet leaves and seeds for over 5 years now! I use the seeds to grow new plants, and the baby beet leaves are delicious in salads. You can add a tiny touch of art to your salad garden with ceramic bunnies, glass balls, or tiny metal snails. Will these features help your plants grow? No, they won’t. But they might make you smile! Harvesting your salad garden Many salad greens can be harvested using a cut-and-come-again method. This mean you remove outer leaves, as you need them, and the plant simply generates new leaves from its center. If you allow some of your annual and biennial salad garden plants to complete their lifecycle, going to seed, you will end up with a perpetual motion salad garden that continues to generate new edible plants each year. While most salad greens prefer cooler temperatures, if you plan around your microclimate, you might be able to put together a salad garden that will continue producing throughout most of the year. What do you put in your salads? Stumperies are not Gordian Knots of the pop-quiz world. Instead, stumperies are garden features that use large branches and tree trunks as their anchor points. While visiting the Missouri Botanical Garden, I was delighted to discover an entire section of the gardens dedicated to stumperies. Coming around a curve in the path, I was met with a cool, green peaceful bit of gardening that featured logs, branches, sheets of bark, tree trunks, and skyward bound tree roots, surrounded by wispy ferns, colorful lichens, and fuzzy mosses. The effect was soothing and peaceful - and who doesn’t need more of that these days? Originally described as a “Victorian horticultural oddity”, stumperies use branches and other large pieces of tree to create habitat for a wide variety of shade-loving plants, growing them more closely together than might otherwise be possible. First created in 1865 England, stumperies often use storm-damaged or diseased trees to create a unique shade gardening space, rather than going to the trouble of disposing of those trees. Personally, I had an ancient apricot tree whose trunk had been regularly sprayed with a sprinkler for years before we bought the property. Rot had taken over the tree and the root system was pretty much nonexistent. Rather than waiting for it to fall over on somebody, we tipped it over and moved it to a corner of the yard, where it now serves as a new growing space and a good place to sit. Stumpery design Stumperies are based on what naturally occurs in a forest. As a tree ages, it eventually falls. When it does, it slowly decomposes, absorbing rain water, improving nearby soil structure, and acting as a ‘nurse log’ to plants that have adapted to growing on rotting wood. To design your own stumpery, you must look at each piece of wood and bark as an artistic component. Try different arrangements until you have achieved something you like. Don’t worry, there are no wrong answers. Here are some tips to creating a healthy stumpery:
Plants used in stumperies The most common plants found in stumperies are mosses, ferns, and lichens. Hostas, hellebores, epimedium, rhododendrons, bleeding hearts, and some bulbs can also thrive in a stumpery. You can encourage moss growth on logs and stones by smearing them with yogurt [or that carton of soured milk from the back of the fridge]. You can also install shade-loving edibles, such as arugula, basil, blueberries, bok choy, celery, chervil, chives, cilantro, fenugreek, garlic, ginger, kale, lettuces, Malabar and other spinach, mint, mustards, nasturtiums, onion, parsley, potatoes, raspberries, sorrel, tarragon, and tomatillos. The perennials will continue indefinitely, and you can allow some of the annuals to go through their full lifecycle and propagate themselves! Benefits of stumperies Stumperies create micro habitats for local flora and fauna, increasing your garden’s biodiversity. Beetles, toads, and lizards often find sanctuary in all the hidden nooks and crannies provided by a stumpery. Of course, slugs and snails and other pests do, as well. But birds enjoy the extra perches and snacks, so it all balances out. Stumperies can be a good way to put old wood to work in the garden. They can hide eyesores, make use of neglected corners, and create a whimsical woodland that adds some tranquility to your day. If you don’t have stumps readily available, you can always contact local arborists and construction companies. Very often, they will be happy to provide you with all the material you need for free. [That way, they don’t have to pay to dispose of such large items.] Which reminds me: keep in mind that, eventually, the trees and branches that make up your stumpery will disappear and need to be replaced.
After writing this post, I think I will have to create a more formal stumpery with my apricot trunk. I’ll keep you posted. Hugelkultur is a no-dig gardening method that uses mounds of logs and branches covered with soil to create growing space. Mounds are commonly used when growing pumpkins, melons, and other cucurbits. These “hills” help prevent waterlogged roots, prone to rot. Hugelkultur is something entirely different. These mounds start out 3 feet high and wide. As decomposition occurs, the mounds collapse. After being built, mounds are normally left to rest for several months, though some people plant them right away. Since more decomposition is occurring during the first seasons of a hugelkultur’s life, heavy feeding crops, such as melons, squashes, cabbages, potatoes, and tomatoes are grown first, followed by less demanding crops, such as beans, strawberries, and peas, in later seasons. The average lifespan of a hugelkultur is 5 to 6 years. Hugelkultur beds are generally positioned so is to be perpendicular to prevailing winds and slopes. For a more whimsical appearance, you can create hugelkultur in whatever shape suits your fancy, such as spirals or mazes. While enthusiasts claim hugelkultur can be used to redirect stormwater, these mounds do not have the strength or stability required of solid earthworks. Instead of protecting against flooding, hugelkulturs can cause even more destruction as floating logs and branches join the water flow. Problems with hugelkultur Before you get caught up in the hugelkultur fad, understand that there is, as far as I know, no scientific research to verify the claims made by hugelkultur fans. This doesn't mean the claims are false. It simply means that scientific studies have not yet verified the claims. There are some obvious problems, however. Traditionally, hugelkulturs were recommended for counteracting “poisoned layers” of soil. This is a terrible idea. Plant roots will move through the mound and into the soil below. Using raised beds with soil barriers, or container gardening, are much better solutions. Hugelkultur is also said to feed and water nearby plants. In nature, fallen logs do provide water and nutrients to nearby plants. This occurs because they are on top of the soil. As they decompose, they become more porous, storing water and releasing nutrients. These ‘nursery logs’ have long been a source of water and nutrition for young trees and other plants. Hugelkultur logs are underground and do not function in the same way. What is hugelkultur? Hugelkultur was started in Germany as a way to put woody debris to good use when, at the time, it was illegal to burn it. While proponents state that hugelkultur started “hundreds of years ago”, there is no proof to substantiate that claim. The term was first used in 1962 by Herrman Andrä, a German gardener, when he noted the diversity of plants growing on a pile of woody debris at his grandmother’s home. Andrä and others standardized the method, claiming that the rounded mounds increased growing area and nutrient availability, while storing moisture for growing plants. How to build a hugelkultur bed At first, hugelkultur was nothing more than long piles of logs, branches, twigs, and plant waste, such as straw, compost, or sod, covered with soil. In some cases, the design evolved to start with a dug trench or sunken area. The soil removed to make the trench is then used on top of the mound, before planting occurs. The trench method is more commonly used in sandy soils [In another method I found, cardboard, kitchen waste, and old clothing are also incorporated into the mound. Depending on the type of fabric, cotton and wool, as opposed to polyester and rayon, this may or may not be a good idea, respectively.] Other concerns about hugelkultur include the potential for nutrient deficiencies or toxicities. With all that decomposition going on, nitrogen deficiencies may occur. This can happen because the microorganisms responsible for breaking down plant materials use nitrogen as an energy source. (See nitrogen cycle) On the flip side, so much organic material is being used and broken down that nutrient levels can become excessive, creating toxicities within the soil and groundwater.
Witch hazel. While it would be fun to imagine that the name witch hazel has something to do with Halloween and cauldrons, the words actually come from the Middle English wiche, meaning bendable or pliant, and the Germanic hæsel, which can refer to any temperate shrub or small tree. Sorry for popping your bubble, but these trees really do have plenty to offer. During my visit to the Missouri Botanical Gardens, I saw lovely, low spreading trees that happen to provide a bonus of striking flowers. In winter! The trees I saw were tucked away under larger deciduous trees, often with a backdrop of evergreens. While generally pruned into the shape of a small tree, I have since learned that witch hazels will also grow into a many-stemmed shrub, and that there is even a weeping variety. But it is the flowers that captured my attention. These are not your garden variety roses or daisies. Witch hazel flowers While we generally focus on edible plants at The Daily Garden, I had to make an exception for witch hazel trees. The winter flowers of witch hazel provide color, nectar, and pollen through the lean winter months, increasing biodiversity, and improving your mood. At a time when everything else is gray, these striking flowers are visual fireworks in an otherwise drab view. Witch hazel flowers can be a buttery yellow color, or they may be a brilliant orange or red. Very often, flower petals have a red or purple base, adding depth to the color. The witch hazel tree The genus name for this group, Hamamelis, means “together with fruit”. This name refers to the way flowers and new stems occur while fruit from the previous year is still on the tree. Very often, flowers will start out yellow, then shift to orange, and end their lives a fiery red before falling to the ground. The fun thing about witch hazel trees, especially with the yellow flowering varieties, is that they look like sunflower trees, in the dead of winter. There are four species of witch hazel, or winterbloom, native to North America: H. mexicana, H. ovalis, H. virginiana, and H. vernalis. Each of these varieties has a pleasant fragrance. There is also one Japanese variety, H. japonica, and one Chinese variety, H. mollis, neither of which have a fragrance. There are also several different cultivars. Pacific Horticulture has an excellent description of the many cultivars available today. Witch hazel trees are deciduous. They can reach a height of 40’, but most of them peak out at 10 feet. Witch hazels seem to prefer a lower growth, keeping to the shadows of other, larger trees. Witch hazel trees will not perform well, left exposed to California’s scorching summer sun, but they make lovely understory trees. The fruit is a capsule that contains one or more black seeds. When the fruit is ripe, it splits explosively, ejecting seeds up to 30 feet from the parent tree. [In some areas, these trees are called Snapping Hazels because of this behavior.] Witch hazel trees have thin bark and shallow roots, so it is important to keep newly planted trees well irrigated.
How to grow witch hazel Growing witch hazel requires patience. After they have been cold stratified, seeds take up to a year to germinate. You will want to start them in pots, where they will stay for 2 or 3 years, before they will be ready for transplanting. Flowers do not appear until plants are 6 years old. Native to the northeast and throughout the Appalachian Mountains, witch hazel prefers life on the northern side of everything: the north side of your house, on north facing slopes, that sort of thing. Witch hazel extract These are the trees that provide us with the popular astringent of the same name. Native Americans used witch hazel extract to treat a wide variety of conditions, including inflammations, tumors, and swellings. The Puritans adopted these practices and many medical claims are made about the effectiveness of witch hazel, some of which are true, while others are not. According to WebMD, the leaves, bark, and twigs of witch hazel contain tannins that reduce swelling, which is why it is used to treat bags under your eyes, hemorrhoids, minor bleeding, and mild skin irritations. All the other claims about witch hazel extract are unsubstantiated. Before you go trying to make your own witch hazel extract, you need to understand that the inexpensive plastic bottle of witch hazel available at the drugstore is a distilled version of the original recipe. It’s probably not worth the trouble of trying to make your own, unless you are really into that sort of thing. Also, witch hazel can be toxic, so be careful. Witch hazel lore Forked witch hazel branches are the tool of choice as dowsing or divining rods. Early settlers observed the Native Americans using witch hazel branches to find underground water sources. According to the American Society of Dowsers, “The dowsing rod is a simple instrument which shows the reaction of the human nervous system to certain factors which are unknown to us at this time.” Sounds fair enough. Apparently, the flexibility of witch hazel limbs makes them particularly sensitive and responsive to those as yet unknown reactions. If you have a shady spot in your landscape and need some winter color, witch hazel might be just what you need. |
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