What a great year to be a natural gardener! We have nearly double our “average” in the record books with more in the forecast. All us folks interested in flowers and suchlike are fortunate, because the majority of the water from these copious rains has made it into the deep soil levels where it will be much appreciated and utilized by our native plants come summer.
The rainy season started out good, and just kept getting better and better. More to come. We have seen a nearly perfect pattern of rain and sun, wet spells then dry days, providing equally perfect conditions for beautiful gardens and ideal plant growth. The plains, hills, mountains and deserts will put on a wonderful display this year. Already, the southern deserts are in full bloom and the diversity of species is especially notable in this year’s amazing show.
Watering
Needless to say, no watering is needed in the natural garden at this time. It would be fun to guess when you will have to first give your garden its first good soak. I’m guessing that for many of you, it will be mid-late June. In years like this, many established gardens will do fine with perhaps 2 or 3 irrigations all year. Tell that to your friendly HOA or your local water district who think they are saving water with their low volume sprinklers running “only” twice a week! And write me if you have a garden that you never water… natives can do it, and there are a few of you out there.
Related to Watering
Observation. Take note of the way rainfall events totaling 1-2” come over a 2-3 day period with several days of nice clear weather to follow. Then comes another rain event. This is our model for summer water, deep infrequent soaks, (see previous summer month newsletters). The key lies not only in the way the water is applied and percolates into the soil, but how air follows the water into the root zone. We cannot emphasize this enough, plants need oxygen in the root zone as much as they need water.
Pruning
Most of your pruning should have been done before now. Many native plants are coming into flower this month, so if you prune or shape them, you may be cutting off their bloom. Once again, for this simplest of garden tasks, please remember that good horticultural pruning is not always remedial (solving problems) or even simply aesthetic (creating beauty), but that we trim and prune for the future… to make plants healthier and longer lived… and so that they will get along with each other in the garden. And for sure, good pruning is not done by mindlessly revving up some cheap piece of power equipment to hack innocent plants into unnatural shapes. We see this happen all too often in the world of commercial/industrial landscapes all around us, and we must absolutely oppose this practice in our natural gardens.
Weeding
If you’re sure it’s a weed, pull it. If you sowed wildflower seed last fall, be careful to not pull those plants. In some gardens, a perennial plant called Bermuda buttercup (Oxalis pes-caprae) is enjoying a particularly successful year. This weed is very difficult to eradicate because it has little bulbs in its root system that stay alive in the soil when the top goes summer dormant. Also it germinates readily from seed, making it a formidable weed “enemy.” The one thing it has going for it is that it has an attractive clear yellow flower and it looks like it wants to blend in as a woodland component in your California natural garden. But it is not native, and given favorable conditions it also wants to take over. What to do. Short of using an herbicide (nominally effective because for the tenacious bulbs, and not recommended in most cases) you can learn to love it and live with it. Control it by pulling it out (or trying, the bulbs are hard to get) to reduce the size of the stand, or trimming all the leaves (where you don’t want it) to control its sphere of influence, and ask it to behave and play well with your native plants. Or shade it out with dense ground cover shrubs. You should also mow it down before it sets seed. At least this one weed has a short season and is somewhat attractive. Chances are you inherited it in an old yard or garden plot, and you may not want to take up the fight for total eradication. If it is a recent arrival, you might be able to dig it out and never see it again, but big old stands are hard to get rid of.
Mulching/Top dress
No new mulch or top dress at this time, but if the rains have packed your mulch into a moist mess, definitely get out there with your 3-prong cultivator, and scratch up the bare areas in your garden 2-3” deep. Open up the surface layer of mulch and soil so that your soil can “breathe.” The results are immediate and dramatic.
Feeding
After you scratch open the crusty surface (see above), you can broadcast some all purpose organic fertilizer so the next rain will carry the nutrients into the soil. Follow label directions or use half strength. Natives will take up nutrients as the soil starts to warm.
Troubleshooting – Varmints, Pests and Diseases
As in February (which see), aphids can be blasted off the tender new growth with a strong spray from the hose. Brown snails may be migrating from your neighbors’ yards during rainy nights, so be on the lookout. Go out on a cool damp morning (early) and collect them so you can destroy them. I’ll let you devise your own method for their demise.
Annual Wildflowers
Enjoy the flowers starting to bloom from the seed you sowed last fall/winter. What? You didn’t sow seed. There’s always next year.
Adding New Plants
This is one of the most satisfying times, and one of the best years on memory to be doing spring planting. You will be planting into moist soil, with more rains in the forecast. It’s time to add lots of new plants. Don’t be bashful. Make your garden more exuberant and diverse with new species, new colors, new plant forms, and new growth habits, all in keeping with the story your garden is telling.
Engage
Last month we talked about photo journaling. You can combine taking pictures with other forms of record keeping, drawing, sketching and writing. Your garden journal. Also, since the rains are making garden care so easy, make time to get out into the quiet land away from the noise. For hearty inspiration on how to make your garden more natural and more beautiful, visit our numerous parks and natural public lands during one of the best springs ever. The deserts are blooming like crazy right now. The foothills and mountains will follow as the weather starts to warm. And our coastal reserves will be literal flower gardens through the summer this year. Visit early and visit often. Your natural garden will have more meaning and its narrative will be more clear if you can directly relate it to your own quiet time in nature.
From the Garden,
Mike Evans
Questions? Help is just one call or one email away. Call (949) 728-0685 or email (with pictures if you like) our special helpline: gardenhelp@californianativeplants.com