BOOK REVIEW: PLANTING IN A POST-WILD WORLD

Though most of their readers might be other designers, Thomas Rainer and Claudia West’s Planting in a Post-Wild World offers plenty of information for non-professionals as well. The book shows how to design and maintain an ecological landscape and does so in a beautifully, clear way. One of the most helpful sections of the book suggests viewing a landscape in four different layers:

1. Structural Layer: comprised of the year-round key parts of a design. These components should always be maintained, though replaced if needed, and kept clearly defined as they are the basis of the design.
2. Seasonal Layer: waves of color/texture provided by each season’s visually dominant plants. These are maintained by treating them en masse, thinning or spreading as necessary.
3. Groundcover Layer: provides the main diversity of the planting and most of the ecological function. This layer does not contribute noticeably to the aesthetic design, except as a living mulch. It’s managed by retaining and adding diversity as much as possible to maximize the health of all the plants in the landscape.
4. Gap Fillers: self-sowing plants throughout the design and encouraged to set seed. This builds up a seed bank of desirable plants which will ideally sprout to fill any gaps that occur.

I love how the authors separate the main aesthetic contributors (the first two layers) from the main ecological contributors (the last two). That makes it much easier to create a landscape that is strong in both beauty and functionality.

For a gardener, unfamiliar with ecology, this book is a great primer.

Change in the Garden:  What To Plant in the Fall Garden

It’s that time of year where the weather gets a little cooler, we get some rain (maybe less in California), and changes are made in the garden. Eye of the Day interviews some plant experts on their Fall favorite plantings and best tips for the garden.

Alison Walker, a Texas native who recently moved to California, has worked with plants and nurseries for over six years. She is excited to be living in a cooler climate and to get to plant all her recommendations below.

What to Plant:

Herbs:

• Cilantro
• Chamomile
• Lemon Balm
• Mints
• Parsley
• French Tarragon

Veggies:

• Cabbages
• Lettuces
• Carrots
• Brussels Sprouts
• Kohlrabi
• Turnips
• Kale

Edible Blooms:

• Purslane
• Nasturtiums
• Oxalis
• Calendula

Evergreens:

• Lavender
• Rosemary
• Sages
• Thyme

Regular Garden Maintenance:

• Add and Remove plants per climate requirements
• Prune blooms and harvest bigger leaves on plants like Basil
• Plant or deadhead Marigolds to act as deterrent for bugs
• Fertilize, compost, and mulch as necessary
• Replace and refresh any leggy leaves

Mimi Richardson is our resident succulent expert but grew up around all types of plants. She has worked at nurseries across the central coast. These are here tips for your Fall garden.

 What to Plant:

Grasses:

• Fountain Grass
• Mondo
• Carex

Blooming Plants

• Coprosma
• Easter Lily
• Cotoneaster
• Gazania
• Strawflower
• Proteas

Other Recommendations:

• You can be more hands off in the garden at this time of year
• No Fruit Trees
• Succulents are always a good idea
• Have fun with fall containers and arrangements with:
  • Pumpkins, Warted Pumpkins
  • Artichokes
  • Oranges
  • Decorative Corn
  • Decorative Gourd
  • Butternut Squash
  • Ferns
  • Pomegranates
  • Celosia

Adrian Nunez is a Nurseryman at Seaside Gardens in Carpinteria, CA. He has focused on the retail side at Seaside for the last five years but has worked with wholesale nurseries for 17 years. He gives his best recommendations and tips for the Fall season.

No. 1 Tip for the Fall:  The most important and fundamental thing is to prepare your soil.  Get rid of weeds. Know your soil health, does it have enough nutrients? Use a soil tester that you can get at any garden store. Does it need nitrogen, phosphorus, or potassium? Dig at least six inches into the soil, loosen it up a bit, and add organic components. Before you plant anything, know your soil.

What to plant?

• Bulbs
• California natives
• Shrubs
• Vegetables: broccoli, Brussel sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce, radish, spinach, kale

What to look for in buying plants?

• Check the laTbels, what size will it get in terms of height and spread. Check the growing information and know the size.
• Take the time to find the best shape plant. Look at it for health.
• Look for plants that haven’t bloomed yet—better chance of surviving transplants.

What to consider for water?

• Once you’re done planting, mulch the area to reduce water loss. If we end up not getting any rain, just do a once-a-week deep watering which will further prevent water loss.
• In case we get water, do it every other week and reduce watering depending on how much rain we get.

Any other common FAQs for Fall gardens

• When is the right time? Plant at end of October, early November. Ground is still warm enough to plant even with cooler weather.
• What’s going to bloom through Fall? Rudbeckia, Coreopsis, ornamental grasses, Red Hot Poker or Kniphofia
• Other tips? Feed plants now if you haven’t already done so in the summer. Good season for feeding.

Photo Credits:
Creative Commons, mint by yoppy is licensed under CC by 2.0
Creative Commons, brussel sprouts on stalks by Nick Saltmarsh is licensed under CC by 2.0 
Creative Commons, sage by Isaac Wedin is licensed under CC by 2.0 
Creative Commons,  starr-120403-4187-Carex_buchananii-habit-Kula-Maui by Forest and Kim Starr is licensed under CC by 2.0 
Creative Commons, Protea. by Mark Freeth is licensed under CC by 2.0 
Creative Commons, farmersmarket09095 by Kel and Val is licensed under CC by 2.0 
Creative Commons, Kale by Clyde Robinson is licensed under CC by 2.0 
Creative Commons, Red Hot Pokers by Ian Parkes is licensed under CC by 2.0 

In My Garden

I love Spring. The energy that the longer days and warmer weather give me is equaled by what I get from  my garden and the plants that are beginning to come alive. Renewal is happening all around me from flowering succulents to budding roses to the carpet of arugula sprouting from the last rain.

I want to stay home, not go to work. I want to get dirt under my fingernails and look forward to soaking sore muscles in a hot bath at the end of the day thinking about tomorrow and what pots I can fill with which plants that have kept me company all winter just waiting for this moment to arrive.

Harmony in my garden, my sanctuary where my soul is revitalized and the faith I have in my small marriage with nature can’t wait for the next sunrise to begin again.

Sunlight, fecund soil, sweet water and my small contribution mixed into a paradise of my own creation; why would I want to be anywhere else but in my own garden?

– Brent Freitas

Right-sizing your Garden and Saving Water
By Deana Rae McMillion, Garden Enthusiast and Master Gardener

Right-sizing our gardens in order to reduce water usage is imperative. Just taking out your lawn isn’t necessarily the answer. Many people who do remove their lawns aren’t doing the necessary research and are planting water thirsty plants or invasive plants that use more water or rob their soil of nutrients.

If it seems overwhelming to remove your entire lawn, one thing you can do to save water is let it go brown. In this severe drought the most important thing to save are our valuable trees. But why not look at this as an opportunity to right-size your garden and plantings? California is a summer dry climate and that is not going to change even when the drought is over.

11 Ways to Conserve Water in Your Santa Barbara County Home Landscapes

1. Select water-efficient plants that grow well in your climate and microclimate.
2. Be hyper-aware of plant selection and be sure not to choose invasive plant species
3. Hydrozones: Place plants with similar water needs together and irrigate them accordingly (high, medium, low, and very low zones).
4. Let roots of established plants dry out between irrigations, water deeply and infrequently slightly below the root zone.
5. If you do not use or enjoy your lawn consider replacing it with drought-tolerant plants. If you decide to keep your lawn – water it based on University of California’s “Drought Irrigation Tips”
6. Mix soil amendments (compost, etc.) evenly and deeply into sandy and clay soils (40% or more by volume) before planting.
7. Spread a 2-3” layer of mulch on top of the soil around garden plants and trees.
8. Water early in the morning.
9. Control weeds.
10. Avoid over-fertilizing.
11. Sweep walkways and driveways; do not hose them down with water.

Have a home landscape or gardening question? Contact the Santa Barbara County Master Gardener Helpline at 805-893-3485 or email anrmgsb@.

Please allow 3-4 business days for a response as the Master Gardener helpline is staffed by volunteers. Please be as detailed as you can in your query when leaving a message. Photographs are also helpful in our responding to your gardening concern.
Resources:
Santa Barbara Master Gardener Program
California Garden Web: Drought Gardening Tips
Plant Right: Home Gardeners

Tips for Successful Edible Gardening by The Conscious Garden

In Southern California we love to eat healthy food and there is no fresher, tastier or more nutrient dense foods than those that you pick from your own garden or that you buy from the farmers market.  It is important to know that your food is free of chemicals, organic and full of nutrients,  so what better way to know what is in your plants than growing it yourself?  I want to share with you some of the main things to remember when setting up an edible garden, and whether you have a yard or not, it IS possible!

I have been growing food since I was a kid, and one of the things I have learned, is that plants will grow in anything.  So, what ever you have to grow food in, whether it is a raised bed, beautiful container or just a simple plastic drum, you too can have edible vegetables right at your home.

Tips for a Successful Edible Gardening

Soil
The key to having good nutrients in your food is in the soil and that is also the advantage of growing at home: you can truly know if it is organic and what’s in it as you plant.  Use a premium potting soil to begin with.  If you have a large garden, use a mixture of different composts such as manure and worm castings.  The soil provides the nutrients to the plants and allows them to be strong.

Water
Edible plants require a little bit of water often and if you add a drip system, it will ensure the plants are getting water directly to their roots where it is required and it makes the garden more water efficient.  This is especially important in container gardening, and it will make life SO much easier.

Plants
When you decide to plant, choose seedlings from a good organic local supplier, providing bio-dynamic organic seedlings. This will ensure that the roots are strong and will stand up to transplanting and our current drought conditions, giving the plants a good start to their edible nutrient supplying journey. It is also time efficient.

Pest Control
Be ready for providing pest control – and keep it organic, non-toxic.  Sluggo for snails, Organocide for bugs and Serenade for diseases.  I find that if you notice bugs attacking a particular plant, leave one of those plants free of pest control and the bugs will eat that one plant and leave the rest alone.  (Periodically remove the bug-plant and destroy it removing the bugs and disease).

Feeding
Remember plants need food too!  Fish and kelp as the master formula is great. Or you can use an organic food with mycorrhizae. The numbers on the pack of organic fertilizer should not be higher than 5-5-5, which are nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in a low balanced form.

Just remember, take care of your edibles and they will take care of you. Don’t be afraid to try your hand at an edible garden. If you see something you would like to plant, try a handful of plants and see how it goes.  Plants are sustaining and will grow for you if you just give them a chance.

I am available for consultations or garden support to fulfill your edible garden desires.

Happy Planting!

Sagar Faucheaux
The Conscious Garden

Phone:  (805) 745 5555
consciousgarden@

Brent’s Rogue Garden

People often ask me what my garden at home looks like.  I laugh and reply it looks like a psychedelic trip to a botanic garden gone rogue with cracked pots.  Then they laugh, not sure if I’m being honest or just outrageous, and they’re right, my garden is outrageous and honestly, it is a trip. While we sell volumes of the best and most authentic pottery and garden statuary around, we get our share of damage. Handling heavy pottery, moving it, merchandising it and delivering it involves some mistakes. So I have plenty of opportunities to take beautiful Italian terracotta pots home, albeit with chips and cracks (we epoxy the cracks so they will last just as long as the first quality ones). The problem is what to do with over twenty years’ worth of damaged pots.

Welcome to my test kitchen where I try different plants in different pots to learn what works. Just like a cook’s test kitchen, I have learned what works when potting different plants, hence my belief that the first thing to growing healthy container plants is the drainage.  No matter the plant, it must have freedom to drain continuously.

Second is the soil. If you match the plant’s root system with the proper soil mixture you will have a healthy plant growing in a beautiful pot. I am a strong believer that perlite added to any soil mixture helps to grow healthy container plants.  Why do I spend more on organic soil amendments? Because I’ve learned that chemical fertilizers work fast and make container plants grow and look healthy initially, but down the road, your container plants will suffer the toxicity of chemical salts which build up in the soil. Using products like “SuperThrive”, soap, Epsom salts, wood ash from my pizza oven and most of all, composted soils amendments from the great composter I got from .

I have pots everywhere, hence the “garden gone rogue.” I have created patio areas on all sides of my house to accommodate all of the pots and plants. If a planted pot at Eye of the Day begins to look shabby, I’ll will take the plant home and perform triage by restarting it in an appropriate looking pot. I learn from doing this what looks good from a design point of view and I can share what works in containers that clients may not have considered before. I have been able to grow and pair plants with our products to help market Eye of the Day while making my “test garden” a realistic place to prove that container gardening is the best way to create “Paradise at Home”!