(Low) Maintenance

I almost called this post "Book Review Review", because it's inspired by two most excellent book reviews I read recently.

• The Blue Planet Garden blog had a review of "The American Meadow Garden: Creating an Natural Alternative to the Traditional Lawn" by John Greenlee.
• And Pam at Digging had a review of "The New Low Maintenance Garden: How to Have a Beautiful, Productive Garden and the Time to Enjoy it" by Valerie Easton.
  

DISCLAIMER: I have not read those two books. Instead, I'd like to share my reactions to the information I do have, and follow up with some thoughts on maintenance and time spent in the garden.

Readers of this blog might think I'd immediately be enamored of The American Meadow Garden. After all, the vision of clump grasses, annuals, and a few perennials, the pollinators and butterflies frolicking in the garden seem enticing. The photos are stunning -- well, they're by Saxon Holt, so of course they are.

Problem is, I've talked to people who've tried to have a meadow. One woman just had a small area, with lupine and some bunch grasses. She told of endless hours of weeding to get out the bad seeds and encourage the good. She hung on for 2 years. Next time I drove by her garden, she had some perennials in the spot where the annual lupine used to be. My fair city actually sowed California wildflowers on the former dump after it had been covered with soil. The first year was spectacular: Owl's clover, poppies, lupine, and some bunch grasses. The second year was more of a mixed bag. By now, the European annual grasses have taken over completely, with a few poppies as a reminder of great things past.

So, would I discourage anyone from trying to establish a meadow in their garden? Not at all! I think the small lupine meadow might have had too much shade, and the meadow on the dump probably had the wrong soil. It's possible do do this, especially with the no doubt excellent instructions from the book. But to be quite frank, I don't think I can handle the weeding. I can barely keep up with the weeds I get, and they're not bad. Maybe when I'm retired.

The New Low Maintenance Garden actually pushed the exact opposite button for me. As I understand it from the review, the premise of the book is that we have no time to enjoy our garden because the plants are just trouble. Having more hardscaping and a limited plant palette is the author's solution.

I've actually taken issue with using concrete in the garden in my Blog Action Day post. I hope the author does not advocate concrete as hardscape, but I know many landscape architects do. Realistically, it's the easiest way to have a weed free surface, but the environmental problems are manifold.

I also very much question the limited plant palette approach. For the wildlife gardener, more species is almost always better. Pollinators need nectar and pollen year round, birds need seeds and insects for their young. I'd leave the limited palette to the industrial plantings and encourage everyone to think diversity. An estate garden planted with natives that I saw a few weeks ago had a plant list that covered 4 spreadsheet pages. Several hundred plants, and yet it looked tidy and had clean lines. Good planning is key, regardless of how many plants you use. And having plants in the right spot will allow them to grow well with minimal pruning, watering, fertilizing or otherwise molesting the plant.

That said, the photos in the book review look appealing, and the ideas of using less lawn, collecting water on the site and -- gasp -- enjoying the garden all sound great. Who knows, I might like the book after all.

Here's what's interesting, though. I searched for the book on Amazon, and typed "low maintenance garden" (leaving out "new"). And pages and pages of books about the topic were displayed. I could not believe it! It seems as if, next to the search for the flat stomach and the wrinkle-free face, the low maintenance garden might be one of the holy grails of Americana.

So I asked myself whether my garden is low maintenence, and what I spend time on in my garden. Here it is:

• Spot watering (summer) -- The irrigation in the front garden is broken, and I want to stop watering the front, so it makes no sense to fix it. I spot-watered the plants approximately every 10-14 days this summer. It took about 1 hour each time, and I enjoyed spending the time and seeing the progress (or not) of the new plants. Next year, I'll switch to every 14-18 days, then to once a month.
• Container watering (summer) -- I have some water-loving container plants in the shade. In summer, I water them every 2-3 days, 5-10 minutes. Note to author of The NEW Low Maintenence Garden: Containers are more work than plants in the ground, not less.
• Weeding (fall and spring) -- When there's water and some warmth, there are weeds. I tend to weed as I go, 10 minutes before I go to work, or a brief period here or their. This year, I'm finding the dreaded Oxalis pes caprae, so I'm trying to be extra vigilant.
• Pruning (summer and winter) -- I prune most natives in summer (or not) and my fruit trees in winter. The fruit trees actually take quite a bit of my time, between pruning, raking leaves, lime sulphur application, and harvesting. But then it's also one of the most enjoyable parts of gardening. Does eating the fruit count as maintenance?
• Leaf raking (fall) -- For about 3 months in the fall, I spend quite a bit of time raking or sweeping leaves or redwood branches. However, here's the catch: Most of the time is spent clearing off the hardscaping or the dry streambed. What falls in the other areas is often left to rot. I did try out a neighbor's electric leaf vacuum last year. I found it heavy and very noisy, and it took me a long time to clean up most of the dry streambed. I decided I'd rather go back to sweeping and picking up the leaves.
  
• Planting (mostly fall) -- Each summer, I plan some changes or additions to the garden, and I buy and plant things in the fall. I'm also planting bulbs and hope to start annuals from seed. Is that maintenance? Does it stop me from enjoying my garden? Probably not. In fact, probably the opposite.

Now here's the interesting question: Is my garden low maintenance? I often get that question during the garden tour. And I'm tempted to ask back: Compared to what?

On the one hand, I don't have a lawn I need to mow, fertilize, and otherwise coddle. Most plants don't need a lot of pruning or care. I only fertilize the fruit trees, mostly with my own compost. On the other hand, hand weeding and dealing with the leaves does take a little time. And I'm truly behind on the bulb planting. But I usually enjoy the times I spend outside, listening to the birds, smelling the leaves, imagining the joys of spring to come, discovering new blossoms or spiders or mushrooms. Then I run inside to get the camera for a photo, or to get a cup of tea and have a break, and I think I'm so lucky to have this special time to play. Is it maintenance? Is it low? You decide.

Happy Birthday TmouseCmouse

(Click on any banner for a full view; well, everyone probably knows that already)

Last summer, after having dabbled in gardening with natives for a few years, I read Douglas Tallamy's book Bringing Nature Home. The book had a profound effect on me. It has scientific evidence for the damage invasive plants can do to not just other plants but pollinators, birds, and eventually the whole ecosystem. And it explained clearly the good that native plants can do by supporting the pollinators, birds, and all that surrounds us, even in small suburban lots.



I wanted to do more than just fiddle with my own garden. So, in October last year, I asked my good friend Country Mouse whether she might enjoy doing a joint garden blog. I still remember, we were having a companionable luncheon at the cafeteria at work, and it was a sunny fall day. After contemplating the matter, Country Mouse indicated it was a definite Maybe, but immediately came up with a brillant name: Town Mouse and Country Mouse.


I did my first post on November 9, and just proceeded to muddle on. We both hoped that our posts would be entertaining, educational, and inspiring. Well, actually, I just hoped Country Mouse would finally be done with her deadline and join in, and that someone would find our blog.


Then I found Blotanical, and realized there was a whole wide world of garden bloggers out there. Amazing photos! Interesting stories! And many like-minded bloggers who cared deeply about sustainable gardening, native plants, or both.


We were so excited about our first comments, and even more excited when we found our blog on other blogs' side bar. And really, getting some feedback has made it so enjoyable to write the posts. Thanks to all who participate, or follow our blog or -- believe it or not -- recognize us as the "famous" mice we are. As happened to Country Mouse last weekend.


For me, the exciting part has been how the blog, and our understanding of native gardening, has grown over the year. I've also received an amazing camera and I'm slowly learning how to make photos that capture what I see. Which is surprisingly difficult, but fun to experiment with.


Going forward, I might try to revive the Book Review and the Native Plant of the Month feature.
I hope to get better at identifying birds and insects. But mostly, I hope to continue to enjoy sharing, and learning from others.



I hope to continue to feel a connection, from my blog to other bloggers, just as my birds aren't my birds but belong to all of us.

And while I was worried at the beginning that I'd run out of things to blog about, the problem has actually been that I don't have time enough to post and read and garden. But then I remember that it's fine to enjoy the quiet and some rest. Especially during this darker time of the year.

End of the Line for the Brush Pile - Fire Department Heroes -- with Chipper

I finally called up Friday to register for the chipper rota with the Branciforte Fire Protection District, staffed almost entirely by volunteers. It might be two months, I was told: the local fire departments share a chipper and everyone must take their turn. Oh well. But true to their mission statement, the officer I talked to was indeed nice:

All members of the Branciforte Fire Department will strive to give excellent customer service, to always do the right thing, and to always be nice.

Don't you love that last part!

The next morning I was out collecting seeds (Madia elegans) when Mr Wood Rat called my cell phone to say that the chipper would be there within an hour!

Yes, it was the end of the line for the brush pile -- and a great photo op for this month's Gardening Gone Wild photo competition whose theme is -- "The end of the line."

The picture at the top of this post is my pick for the competition. As you can see, it's the end of the line for the brush we cleared - and there is a fire fighter literally at the end of the line for feeding the last of the brush into the chipper. On the left you can see the tiny pile of mulch that is all that remains of the gargantuan brush pile!

Below I begin at the beginning of the end ...

This was near the beginning of the hour and a half it took to reduce the pile of dangerously flammable dry wood to usable mulch. They worked really hard!

In fact you could say they really got into their work....

Hey there, didn't you read the warnings?...

I also liked this next photo as an entry for the competition because you can really see where the end of the line is for these big old rotted logs that Mr Rat had lugged out of the woods. (They were in a big pile where we now want to do some landscaping). It is a more dramatic shot. But I went with the visual pun.

That was some heavy-duty chipper! It hardly hiccuped. I like the teeth someone painted on its output chute.

I was so happy to see the back of that pile. I asked the guys if I could take their photo and they graciously agreed.

We extend a BIG THANKS to these volunteer firefighters who are supporting local homeowners to maintain a defensible zone around our homes.

And here is Mr Rat grinning at the place where the pile was, as the fire fighters drove off to deal with their next pile.

Duncan the dog was hopeful some of the late residents of the pile might still be around. But they, like the pile itself, were gone.

Art in the Garden

Gardening Gone Wild has invited us all to post about art as an inspiration for the garden as part of their Garden Blogger's Design Workshop series.

That made me think about the art I have in my garden, the connections from the art to the wonderful people who gave it to me or who made it, and the beautiful juxtaposition of the ever-changing plants and ever-solid art pieces.

The wind chime on the left was a gift from Country Mouse's daughter. Maybe it's not art, but it's so pleasing to the eye, and I can see the bright yellow stained glass sun right from my kitchen window. What better sight on a gloomy day? What better thought then friendship and connection? What better inspiration?

Around the corner, a Chinese porcelain seat on which I've currently placed two frogs that were a gift from my mother in law. I'm very fond of frogs, and looking at them serenading my on their bright yellow brings instant joy. Yes! I'm in the garden now"


For me, a garden becomes a garden not just through the plants. Humans bring their gifts to the garden in the form of beautiful pottery, attractive benches, fountains, and of course, sculpture.

My favorite piece is my Buddha face, a Christmas gift from Mr. Mouse. Nestled between the stones and ferns in the redwood habitat, it reminds me of the great Buddha faces surrounded by tree roots in Cambodia.

Moss is slowly starting to grow on the face, more noticeable in winter, and I'm hoping the face will grow into the garden more and more.

The Buddha from Indonesia, quite a bit smaller, is in the shade, quite well hidden. I enjoy it when I come across a small piece of art as a surprise, and while I know this buddha is here, I still enjoy that it's a little hard to see.


The third Buddha statue we have was from a temple in China that was flooded as part of the three gorges dam project. My meditation teacher had several buddhas and buddha heads for sale at one time, and Mr. Mouse and I liked the Maitreya immediately.


It also seemed to be a very reasonable price considering how old it was supposed to be. Well, we later found it it's actually not that old, but I actually prefer not to have a valuable antique in my garden. Maitreya Buddha, the Buddha of the future, is traditionally shown seated in a chair. That, leaves space in front and to the sides for an attractive display of flowers, and in spring I enjoyed the blossoms of blue-eyed grass and an attractive annual around the base. Now that it's fall, only a small succulent remains, but we can still enjoy the statue itself and its beautifully carved head.


In that way, the different art pieces in my garden remind my of people I love, and inspire me to work on making a home for them that's tranquil yet full of life. And my music are the fountains and the songs of the birds.

Register your garden for Going Native Garden Tour

The Going Native Garden Tour, an annual event in Santa Clara (and South San Mateo) county is now accepting garden submission for tour gardens. To quote from the site:

"If you live in Santa Clara County or San Mateo County, and California native plants are a significant percentage (50% or more) of your garden, we invite you to submit your garden for inclusion in the Going Native Garden Tour 2010."

You sign up using the form on the web site. The garden selection committee will then contact you and schedule a visit. If your garden is accepted, you'll be invited to a meeting where you learn more about being a host. Each garden is staffed by at least one docent and at least one sign-in volunteer at all times on tour day. If you're busy that day, or are not yet familiar with all your native plants, the tour committee will find docents for you.

Garden submission ends December 1, 2009.

The tour is Sunday, April 18, 2010.

I've had my garden on the tour for several years. It's one of the most fun things I'm doing. In fact, I'm enjoying it so much that my manual therapy business, Azureheart Structural Integration, has been a proud sponsor of the tour last year (and expects to do the same next year). This donation made it possible to have organic T-Shirts, which seemed more in line with the tour's philosophy. But I digress....

Sign up! Tell other garden owners to sign up! Go Native!

Happy Guy Fawkes Night, U.K.! - Our "bonfire" brush pile

In the UK today people are celebrating Guy Fawkes Night - commemorating the foiling of the Gunpowder Plot in 1605. The plan was to blow up the houses of parliament, with the king inside. Ever after we have commemorated the event by burning an effigy of Guy Fawkes, the conspirator responsible for the gunpowder plot itself, atop a bonfire.

I suppose if they had succeeded, we would still be burning bonfires - but with an effigy of the king on top!

We also enjoy fireworks and fire-roasted potatoes and suchlike traditional treats. A nice gentle civilized lot, the British! Here's the traditional ditty:

Remember, remember the fifth of November
Gunpowder, treason and plot.
I see no reason, why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot.

In commemoration I follow up my last post on chaparral clearing with a picture of our potential bonfire!

Another before and after -- Chaparral thinning for fire safety, and beauty

Since Country Mouse and Wood Rat became aware that, like heretics of old, we were perched atop a veritable bonfire of dry wood -- in our case a couple acres of very thick chaparral -- we have been nibbling away at the fuel load below us, while maintaining the native habitat.

The advice from this web page is in alignment with what we are trying to achieve here, as our thinking has evolved:

To promote fire safety, California’s Own recommends thinning chaparral in the 30-100’ radius around a house located adjacent to wildlands. We target dead wood, all non-native weeds, and the most flammable natives. By removing approximately 50% of the coverage, 60-80% of the fuel is removed. We do not remove native root systems, so as to minimize disturbance and erosion. We do mulch up the native debris and blow it back on site to help prevent the return of weeds. And finally, if the customer would like, we can add paths, sitting areas, bird baths and low native perennial color to enhance the area as we “carve out” a mature native landscape from impenetrable chaparral.

The company, California's Own Native Landscape Design, is in Escondido. (They just came up in a quick Google search. In another post I would like to explore the local companies that offer services of this sort. But that quote above is a perfect description of our approach.)

So I offer two photos from the month of October - a before and after shot of one small area that we were working on. (Plus the closeup of the same area at the top of the post.)

Ours is a chamise chaparral, meaning the dominant shrub is chamise (Adenostoma fasciculatum). Most of what you see to the left of Mr Rat is chamise, and that was what filled the bare spot in front of him too. A very helpful friend is hidden within the chamise, working away with a Japanese pruning saw, which we have found works better than the Sawsall with the pruning attachment.

When we coppice all the chamise, we remove well over 50% of the highly flammable vegetation. It grows back, and we have to decide what to do when that becomes a problem. The roots are good for erosion control.

I followed up by trimming all the dead wood from the manzanita. I do hope I haven't opened any wounds. I worked carefully with clean tools, a pruning saw and pair of sharp bypass pruners.


(Please click to enlarge.)

We love the very beautiful (and also highly flammable) manzanita. Our endemic species is Arctostaphylos tomentota crustacea, and now I am suspecting maybe there is another kind too, as I observe ever more closely and with longer experience. We are also favoring other fine endemic chaparral shrubs such as coffeeberry, toyon, some of the native black sage - sages are very flammable - monkey flower, and so on.

Where I have pruned the coffee berry (Rhamnus californica), the mature branches have died. However new growth is sprouting from the stumps. I have to figure out why it dies back when I prune it (and I have stopped pruning it in the meantime).

The branches of our manzanita grew among and were shaped by a thick tangle of other branches, and I do wonder if they feel lonely without their entwined companions. I mean in an ecological sense, of course! (Me, sentimental? Bah humbug!)

The best time to trim manzanita - and most native shrubs - is in summer, when they are dormant, and when the weather is dry, so there is less risk of infection through the open wounds.

With manzanita, the best advice is to just remove the dead wood - they are beautiful as they are without any help from us gardeners. Nursery-bought manzanita can take some formative pruning when young, but then you are advised to leave live branches alone.

Though it was October when I did the pruning, it has been very dry and sunny, and I hope I caught the tail end of the dormant period. We do what we can, when we can, and sometimes it isn't ideal.

Of course I have reservations and considerations about mucking about with Mother Nature. What is the effect on the habitat of removing so much of the natural vegetation? How are we altering the balance of nature? These are questions to research, hopefully for future posts. In the meantime - there is a lot more manzanita to make gorgeous.