Natural Trellises

I have written recently about my desire to add structure and mid-level height to the garden. We are on a very flat plot; there is not a lot of varied terrain here, not to mention that it’s not terribly large. The picture above is of the South Garden, which has two towering trees, neither of which we planted: A southern Magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora), totally inappropriate for our climate, and a Catalpa bignonoides, which IS appropriate. The only thing I like about the Magnolia is that it shades the house in summer; however it also shades the house in winter, uses a TON of water, and has enormous leathery leaves that never break down and have to be removed from the garden. I love the Catalpa but my neighbors hate it, because it has these long seed pods (you can see last year’s desiccated pods above) that hold roughly a zillion seeds and they go everywhere and germinate everywhere. I love it because it has huge, orchid-like flower racemes in spring, gigantic heart-shaped leaves, and the seed pods when green are quite attractive, hanging like ornaments. Anyway, these trees provide plenty of canopy (sometimes too much, the pruners are coming in March to help me with that!) and high-level interest, and the Catalpa is very favored by birds and insects.

Then there is the shrub-level, which I’ve got covered, and the ground cover level, which is also good. Lots of low stuff. But not a lot in that mid-level.

image found on Pinterest

I’m absolutely obsessed with English gardener Monty Don, who has written scads of books and is on Gardener’s World in the UK every Friday night. His garden, Longmeadow, is filled with stone walls and box/yew hedges which all add plenty of structure in winter when the garden is covered with snow. But he also coppices numerous trees like Hazel (a practice that has largely fallen out of favor here) to make these free-form, natural trellises for climbing flowers, fruits, and vegetables. He has a lot of them in the garden and I think they are quite charming. Unlike fruit trees, they are also free! So I decided that we should make several of these to add structure to our garden, and I can use them for climbing vines, peas, beans, or even pumpkins (which I think I will do this year, more to come on that).

Last weekend, Tom and I went to my parent’s house, about 10 minutes away. They live on a large hill which is basically native oak woodland, with CA live oaks and bay trees intermingling with toyon and buckeye. One of their oaks had a dead section, which Dad sawed off for me, and we took those branches as well as some toyon to add to our pile of branches from the trees in our yard. Today, it was just a matter of figuring out which ones looked good together, finding a solid place for them to rest, and tying them together. The twine loops are to aid plants in climbing, though I’ll also have to train them to the trellis.

We put three of them along the fence next to the street, to add vertical interest for those walking by, as well as hide portions of the garden to make it a little more mysterious. With the leftover shorter branches we made one more to put in the South Pollinator Garden for the red mallow to grow on.

This week I also added a Boysenberry and a Red Globe Grape to our climbing fruiting vines, so we look forward to harvesting that fruit late this summer.

It’s full-on spring here, we have had not a drop of rain in February, and soon it will be time to start tomatoes.

Eggs, please

The days are (slowly) getting longer, the temperatures are rising, the rain has disappeared (bad), and the chickens are laying! Or, at least, I know one of our older hens is laying, every other day. The new chickens keep going up to the hen house looking purposeful, but no success yet. Soon we will be swimming in eggs!

There were three of us for dinner last night (Rin was out of town at a competition) and I wanted to use our freshly laid eggs for something simple. I found this recipe on Smitten Kitchen and we tried it last night, using our rosemary, garlic, and lemons. Oh my goodness, it was wonderful. First of all, to cook with our fresh eggs - those firm whites and deep yellow yolks - so delicious - and then the marriage of flavors from these simple ingredients - it was a winner. I highly suggest you give it a try tonight. (Note: I doubled the recipe to serve three with some pasta left over for another use, but we used all the pangrattato and six eggs. I pumped up the zest and the garlic, using the zest of an entire small lemon, and a couple of extra cloves of garlic. We also use more parmesan, generally, in almost every case.)

Elderberry, pushing for spring

I’ve been casting a critical eye over many of my borders, and determining how I want to change or refresh them. It’s interesting when you decide to look at something established and then erase it all in your mind and allow yourself to think up something new. I was unhappy with how my garden looked this winter, and it’s because I don’t have a lot of formal structure, other than the trees and the fence and the raised beds, to “hold the space down” when there aren’t a lot of things going on vegetatively. One way to do this is to add height. What I’ve determined is that I need more lower canopy, either with plantings or with built structures, to provide a higher mid-level. I have high level stuff, high canopy (big trees), and bushes and low level stuff, but very little at, say, a six-foot height. I want to make this layer without making too much more shade (I’ve got plenty from the big trees, thank you). Tom and I have had many conversations about this, and things will be changing, and we’ll let you know what we decide. This sort of structure might also add a bit of mystery by hiding areas of the garden from direct view, so that you always feel you are discovering something as you wander around. Think of the walled gardens in Europe, but now picture trying to do this without walls, or big yew/boxwood hedges. It’s a bit of a challenge! Any ideas appreciated! Meanwhile I’ve been ripping out or severely cutting back some things that I’ve had for years, things I planted over 10 years ago, and replanting those spaces with something different. I also very much want to make my borders bigger and fuller. This takes time because it takes money, but ultimately I’d like to narrow any walking spaces and fill the edges with plants so that there is more abundance.

The veg garden is looking lovely and is providing us with lots of good food. Broccoli, cauliflower, beets, kohlrabi, carrots, spinach, kale, chard, and snap peas are keeping us in delicious dinners. The first batch of peppers has been potted on and is sitting under one grow light, while another new batch is slowly germinating under another. I bought a thermometer for the greenhouse so I can monitor nighttime temps. So far, it’s still too cold at night to put anything in there, but in March, the first batch of peppers will be moved there to make room for tomatoes indoors under the lights. I will also start a TON of flower seeds in flats in the greenhouse, for planting out in April/May. March will also bring the tree company out to prune all our big trees, which should allow for better health for the trees and greater light in my garden.

I found this little rock in my garden the other day, just inside the fence, and quite tucked away. On the back there was writing. It said, “Martinez Rocks on FB. Enjoy or re-hide.” I don’t belong to Facebook, but Tom does, so I had him look up the group. It’s a group of artists that are painting rocks and hiding them to bring pleasure to those that find them. Of course, I love this idea (remember my letterboxing phase?), nature and art all wrapped up in one. I wanted to find a fun place to re-hide it. Tom and I took a Sunday drive out to the Capay Valley to view the almond blossoms (the trees by our creek are blooming, so we thought they’d be blooming in abundance in almond country, but there were only a few, which was a bummer! We were too early. The Almond Blossom festival is the last weekend of February).

We found a few trees starting to bloom!

We stopped by Full Belly Farm, one of our favorite places, and took a walk to look at the chickens, cows, and fields being prepared for planting. I ‘hid’ the rock on a tree stump near a beautiful empty field. I hope someone else finds it and enjoys it.

Our chores for the coming weekend include our first hive check of the year. I’ve noticed the bees bringing in a lot of pollen, and I can smell the brood. So that means they’ll need more room very soon for both babies and honey.

So you can see, the chores to be done are building up, while we enjoy the fruits of the autumn work we put in last October. Busy times are coming!

In Praise of Messy Borders

Last weekend I was working in the garden when a neighbor walked by and asked a question about a particular plant. This plant wasn't in my yard, it was down the street a bit, in a newly landscaped yard of another neighbor. So I walked down with her and we looked at this new landscaping and identified some plants. The particular plant this particular neighbor was interested in was Kangaroo Paws, which is an interesting and wise choice for drier California gardens. As we stood there in this other yard chatting, I mentioned that they way the landscaping had been planted was displeasing to me. It's a vast expanse of lawn with a border of these kangaroo paws and other more common plants, all planted about four feet apart from each other. The ground in between the plants is mulched with wood chips (and that's great!) but the plants are so far away from each other. I said that I preferred a riot of plants, all close together, making a kaleidoscope of color and texture; some high and waving in the breeze, some low to provide a living carpet mulch. I waxed poetic about that type of planting until I looked at this neighbor next to me, who had a sort of blank look on her face. So I stopped talking and she said, "actually, I'm the opposite. I prefer plants to have lots of blank space around them, so you can appreciate each blossom."

Well, that was interesting. I had never considered that there were people who preferred that type of planting, something I've always read about and thought of as 'polka dots.' I then remembered another neighbor who once looked at my front woodland border and said, "I prefer things neat." It's fascinating, isn't it, the way we each have our certain ways of doing things, and the way our eyes see beauty? 

I don't think of myself as a messy gardener; after all, we have a strict pattern of raised beds all over our yard, each of which has a neat, defined border of wood, and plants growing within that border. In spite of that, or perhaps even because of it, I like my borders to be a bit wild. The interior spaces are dedicated to production - food for our family. Therefore they must be organized and neat. But the borders can be a tumultuous array of natives, ornamentals, perennials, and annuals, all growing in a haphazard manner and lending the garden a sense of the carefree.

I'm not knocking my neighbor's preferences for orderly spaces, but there is some science behind letting your flower beds, and indeed even your vegetable beds, be a little bit on the overgrown side. Let's go through those reasons one by one.

1) These wild borders mimic natural spaces. Where in nature do you see a neat, orderly, polka-dotted landscape? Nature fills in space, with whatever it needs in that place to improve the soil for the next plant. Soil life depends on living roots in the ground for optimum health. Living plants are constantly feeding the microbes in the soil and making important exchanges to improve both the soil and the life of the plant. Dying foliage offers nutrition to the area. Conversely, orderly landscapes show only the asserted will of humans. I'm not sure when the trend of orderly landscapes started, probably a long time ago in Europe and Asia, when humans decided they could improve nature, and started manipulating plants. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with asserting a human force of will on your garden. But I'm saying that, while it might be enjoyable to the gardener, it may not be what nature intended. I would say mowed lawns fall into this category. Where in nature do you see a lawn? Now a meadow, maybe. 

2) Pollinators like drifts of flowers. You'll attract more butterflies and bees if you plant drifts of flowers, all close together. Pollinators like a place where they can go and stay awhile. If your plants are few and far between, they may just skip the joint all together - it's too much work for too little reward. If you like seeing beautiful wildlife (birds too) in your garden, and if you like having your food plants pollinated, plant more closely and in drifts. 

3) A plethora of plants helps shade the soil and conserve water. Here in our dry state of California, choosing plants by water needs is a good way to go. If you plan your border to reflect a particular plant community rather than 'native' or 'imported,' you can have lots of flowers that you enjoy that may not be particularly suited to our state. Natives are important and I try to keep the contents of my borders 50% native; but you don't have to limit yourself to those as long as you put plants in similar communities and water needs. Plus, if you have lots of plants, you'll actually conserve water. This is because the plants form a canopy that shades the soil and allows less water to evaporate from the ground. A moister soil also helps regulate the temperature under that canopy, so that the plants don't get too dried out. It's a win-win.

4) A dense canopy of plants also helps to crowd out weeds. If every space is taken by a plant you intended to be there, there will be no room for weeds. 

5) You'll attract beneficial insects. Not just the pollinators that we all know and love, but also weird creatures that like to shelter in a denser canopy. These weird creatures are often the good guys, eating up the aphids and thrips and whiteflies that plague our crops. We all have plenty of prey insects, regardless of whether we want them. The trick is to invite the predators in too. And one great way to do that is to plant a full and diverse border.

6) And that brings me to the subject of diversity. When you plant a diverse grouping of plants, you're solving lots of problems at one go. You'll get some plants that have shallow roots, some that have deep. You'll get some lower growers and some tall growers. You'll get some flowers with daisy-like heads and some with umbrella-like heads. You'll get some who have lots of pollen and some who have lots of nectar. You'll get a gorgeous flower show from the entire rainbow, as well as different greens from the leaves, which create texture. You'll get big leaves and small leaves, coarse foliage and fine foliage. In other words, it's a delight for your eye, for the insects, and for the soil.

7) Plants grow better with friends. As long as you are careful to plant in correct communities (things that like acid soil, things that like clay soil, things that like shade, things that like dappled sun, etc), plants will do better with a diverse community around them. Permaculture has the right idea about this with their guilds. 

8) Perhaps the best reason of all, it's less work for you as a gardener. Why are you spending time mowing and chopping and weeding and watering and cleaning up all the time? And you can do this in containers, too, if you don't have yard space. My mother, who lives on a rocky hill that has remained (sensibly) a native habitat, has hundreds of pots on her deck which are always awash in color and beauty. 

I don't mean to imply that having this kind of garden is no work at all. I do spend a lot of time on these borders. First of all, they take years to establish, depending on the kind of plants you purchase. The full look that I've gotten (and love) has taken me all my 13 years at this house to achieve, and there's plenty of spots where I have yet to achieve it. It takes planning, time, and money at the outset. And the ongoing maintenance also is an issue if you choose more annuals over perennials. I like to have about half of each, so that means some seasonal work to replace the spring annuals with summer annuals, for instance. Some clean up is necessary and some re-seeding. And if you put out seeds frequently, you'll need to clear a little space for those seeds so that they have room to germinate, and you'll need to water a little more frequently. 

So it's not work-free! But the constant 'taming back of nature' isn't part of that. Instead, your goal is to allow nature to take over and do the work for you. 

So, for my part, I shall leave the heavily tended, cultivated polka-dot look to my neighbors. Instead I will continue to crowd my space with diversity and beauty, and reap all the rewards of it. I believe that, once you understand the reasons to do it this way, you'll want that too.