Do plants typically 'adapt' to their environment?

14 years ago

Not zonal, but soil conditions.

Reason I ask: We have a roadside Adopt-a-Spot that was UGLY with only plain sand and some other crap for fill. ("other" is defined as things like: a dead cat, and brake shoes, metal springs...that sorta thing).

Anyway, we amended the area with about 4-6" of good loam about 2 years ago, then I had the local landscaper toss on his grass clippings, and I raided the neighborhood on leaf-compost pickup day. It's nice & weedy now. The perennials that we've planted there (drought & crappy-soil tolerant types such as cosmos, gaillardia, ditch lilies, Irises, yarrow...stuff like that) are (knock on wood) so far doing ok.

Given the nature of compost, knowing that I have to add new stuff to my own beds at home to replenish it...if I do nothing (or very little in the way of amending it again), will everything eventually die off, or will they adapt to their conditions? Or just exist in a pathetic state for the rest of their lives?

Thoughts?

Comments (15)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
14 years ago
i am going to guess ... that you are going to get an argument about your choice of word 'adopt' .... versus whether or not a plant can 'tolerate' a given location ...

moving past that ..... as far as i am concerned.. daylily .... beyond the common ditch lily ... is more than able to take just about any conditions .... and grow like the weeds they are .... and as they increase.. choke out just about anything else .... i grow them on pure yellow sand.. with no supplemental water [or anything else like compost, fert, TLC] after the first year.... and i couldnt beat them back with a steamroller if i wanted to ....

part of the problem as i read the facts is that you have a lot of open ground in between plants .. in a space where you dont want to spend half the summer weeding ....

also.. here in MI .... chickory is a gorgeous roadside native[?] .... probably an invasive.. lol

in other words.. your choice of plants may the the root of the problem ... foo foo garden plants.. just might not be the optimum choice on the roadside ...

good luck

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link
mmqchdygg
Original Author
14 years ago
well, fwiw, it's not just 'roadside' and doesn't get the brunt of things like salt & plowing. It is near the airport, but is still in our 'business development' which gets a lot of foot traffic. Someone actually donated a garden gnome to it this year when we weren't looking. Have had lots of comments circulate back to the office from Rotary & other business clientele about how nice it looks- which makes me happy because it's my pet project, and I didn't WANT it to look like just your average roadside blah planting (which it was before we 'adopted it.')
It's about 60' long, and maybe 45 deep, triangular shape...unfortunately the best pix I have are these...
1. the sidewalk is to the left, and the "v" in the fence is off the right frame. 2nd pic is from the opposite end. There are several forsythias in the space, and a smallish "tree" of some sort in the center- see 3rd pic...not sure what it is...the breaks in the soil for individual 'beds' and pathways was the 'design' that I put in place. the yews were there; I moved a couple of them. Because of all the foot traffic, I was shooting for something that people could enjoy on their lunch-break, and even go "into" if they wanted to see things up close.

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tiffy_z5_6_can
14 years ago
You are off to a great start with the plants you chose. Looks nice!!

I think that a simple compost mulch every spring would suffice. Those plants are tough as are many others. The mulching would keep the weeds down and feed the soil to feed the plants.

The tulips are pretty but remember that they aren't generally tough plants. I find they require some bone meal every year to keep on blooming and even at that they decline every year and with time need to be replaced.

But there's lots of perennials that do well in crappy soil including Echinacea, Rudbeckia, Baptisia, Bee Balm :O), Heliopsis, Buddleias, Lynchnis, Hostas, etc. Otherwise, I would have no gardens. Sometimes we think soil is crappy simple because of the fact that there appears to be no organic-nice-deep-brown/black-loamy appearance to it, yet it contains all that is needed.
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
14 years ago
yur right.. i read adopt a SPOT .... as HIGHWAY .... though i still dont understand how you have all this in the soil:

dead cat, and brake shoes, metal springs

anyway.. great start... ken

PS: plants do NOT adapt... sans millenia to accomplish it... they 'tolerate' what is provided ....
mmqchdygg
Original Author
14 years ago
LOL on the soil "conditions"...

Dead Cat: behind the fence is a short street off a road that runs parallel on the other side. Ergo, someone doesn't have a cat anymore. Cat was there when I started the project. Assume hit by a car, and probably just didn't die instantly. Poor thing :(

Brake shoes & springs: this is city-owned property- businesses 'adopt' spots to beautify...but in order to put in this "Ext" of the road, they simply filled it in. Unfortunately, I've heard this is not uncommon to use 'dirty fill' instead of 'clean fill' (which I suppose is why people put up signs that say "Clean fill wanted."

*Shrug*
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
14 years ago
sedum august joy and matrona are bulletproof plants that enjoy full sun.. and need little water.. once established ... nor anything else ....

i was also thinking you need some vertical aspects in your area ....

ken
Cher
14 years ago
Looks nice what you have. The Sedum is an excellent choice mentioned above and grows in anything. Save some money and when someone's Sedum comes up in the Spring, cut them all back and put all the cuttings straight in the ground and you have free plants. Won't hurt the plants you cut from and actually will make them fuller.

In addtion if you know anyone with Cone Flowers or Black Eyed Susans that have taken seeds this year. Maybe add those towards the back for a little height and a little more color also. These are all plants that require little care.

Also check your city to see if they give free mulch. Even better if they are like mine and deliver it, but put it on thick so weeds don't come through it. A dump truck could back up to different areas there and dump it right in if the city delivers.
CH
tiffy_z5_6_can
14 years ago
Under the following garden I found 6 opened old gallon cans of paint, 22 cinder blocks, various pieces of painted wood, an old screen door, 3 railroad ties with creosote still on them, aerosol cans, etc. I think your garden is going to look great!

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mxk3 z5b_MI
14 years ago
Tiffy - that is gorgeous! Very soothing to the eye.
diggerdee zone 6 CT
14 years ago
Tiff - what? No dead cat?

:)
Dee
MissMyGardens
14 years ago
Around here I call it the "adopt a triangle" program with local businesses sponsoring little spaces where they put yield islands.

Yours is bigger than my garden beds...LOL.

Love that you took on a "beautification" project. You're the Lady Bird of New Hampshire now! :)

Leslie
calistoga_al ca 15 usda 9
14 years ago
I would recycle the junk and bury the cat. On a recent vacation in France, I was impressed with the plantings in the highway "round abouts" as well as the keeping the roadside grass trimmed, even on the country lanes. Thanks for your efforts. Al
mmqchdygg
Original Author
14 years ago
tiff- that is a gorgeous space! Love the use of rocks & hosta together!
triciami5
14 years ago
We need more people like you. The best I can do is my front yard, alot of people enjoy it and c ompliment me when I am out there. I love doing it and am happy others enjoy it too. Tricia
NHBabs z4b-5a NH
14 years ago
Good on you for taking on this task! It does look like you are off to a nice start. I'm not completely clear on what you are asking. A plant that needs certain conditions to grow well will always need those conditions, but some plants have a broader range of what can make them happy. Any garden will need some care. Mulch will break down and need replenishing, but depending on the type, once a year or even every other year is enough. You can keep weeds down by mulching everything with mulch that is slower in breaking down. For instance, if you use pine needles (often easy to find here in NH piled on the curb at this time of year) on your beds and chipped wood (befriend your local tree service) on the paths, everything will be mulched inexpensively or for free with weed-seed-free mulch, but your planting and walking areas will look different. I have areas that I weed only once or twice a year due to lots of mulch and what has by now become rather dense planting. Your perennials will look best if dead headed at least after frost in the fall and old foliage is clipped down in the spring before new growth starts. (I'm assuming that our NH snow will cover old foliage much of the winter, and leaving foliage seems to reduce spring frost heaving here in central NH.) As Tiffy noted, tulips won't perennialize well (adapt) but daffodils will. Put in a few with bulb fertilizer the first year, and after that they will pretty much take care of themselves in my experience, increasing slowly in areas with less optimal conditions, and increasing quickly in areas with great conditions. You can do trial by fire with the perennials - some things will like your conditions and do fine, while others may not. Having started with plants that are tolerant of less than ideal garden conditions, you've bettered your chances that they will do well. The ones that don't can be replaced by those that seem to like the conditions you offer.

One thing I've learned from unfortunate experience with public plantings near the road - don't plant anything unusual or precious to you as things may disappear . . .

Do plants typically 'adapt' to their environment?

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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

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Do plants typically 'adapt' to their environment?

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