This Year's New Natives
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
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one year of native plant gardening in the Sacramento Valley
Comments (18)Sorry if I came off as so negative with my advice, certainly you have gained a wealth of personal experience that has now elevated you from a "newbie" gardenener to one more experienced with the trials and tribulations of invasive weeds, and poor winter drainage. A bit more about using Roundup in case you didn't know: 1. Works best when bermuda grass has not been cut back, but is full and lots of surface foliage 2. Apply when bermuda grass is in active growth(usually once it has hit 75F temps for a couple of weeks 3. Roundup works best when you have consistent warm weather so that it actively gets translocated to the roots 4. When bermuda grass is invading from the neighbors gardens, you need to do regular weed patrol to keep on top of runners that spring up from under the fence, probably at least every couple of weeks About the annual bluegrass: 1. If you are planting out small seedlings that can't effectively compete with weeds, try cutting an 18 square of weed fabric and pinning down at the edges around any new seedlings, this is what is typically done with revegeatation seedlings/trees planted out in grasslands, they need help creating a clear zone so that they can get large enough to compete with the weeds/grasses 2. Mulching deeply to keep bare soil from being exposed greatly helps with inhibiting weed seeds that need light to germinate, such as the annual blue grass 3. If you are trying to reseed poppies and other wildflowers, you can keep smaller areas weedfree and scatter saved seed, but will need to be vigilant about weeding seedlings of weeds as they come up Watering new plantings; 1. Standing with the hose and giving things a splash of water just isn't enough with valley heat and small seedlings with their limited roots 2. Better to give things a really good soak twice a day if starting seedlings when the weather is still hot, and use mulch to minimize soil evaporation 3. You might consider creating temporary shade structures using bamboo stakes and shade cloth if you can't resist starting seedlings outside the ideal fall planting window 4. Ideal time to plant out small sized native species is in the fall, once it starts to cool off enough in your area that you won't be getting any more 75F and above days, this makes a huge difference in heat and water stress for small plants Drainage issues 1. You are absolutely right that if you didn't know how poorly drained your intended garden was going to be, you wouldn't have known that it would be a problem. 2. You now know that it may be worth investigating first before you start planting; ie, look to see if there are rain gutters or downspouts off the roof, where they drain, if there is enough slope to the ground that water can drain away, etc. It may also be helpful to ask the neighbors, landlord, former tenants, when you have a chance to do so, if there are any drainage problems with the site Weeds; 1. You now have the experience to be a better judge of whether your intended garden area is surrounded by weeds, and if so, you now also know that it is always a good idea to try and get rid of the stored seed bank before you start planting 2. Getting rid of entrenched weeds may mean using Roundup at the right time of year to effectively kill them(and use the full strength applications and repeat usage after clearing away killed weeds, watering for at least a couple of weeks to initiate new growth, wait until weed regrowth is at least a couple of inches and spray again. You may need to do this 3 or 4 times over 3 to 4 months to get rid of all the weeds. 3. It may be useful to cultivate/disturb the soil several times to expose weed seeds to light, hoe them off or spray with herbicide, and repeat several times if you suspect you have a real weed problem. This could even mean that you don't plant your garden until 3 to 4 months of weed treatment. Dogs and new plants 1. it may be preaching to the choir, but small plants and dogs who aren't trained to be careful around small plants, or don't get enough walks/excercise to keep from being bored when left alone all day, are not a good mix with new plantings, especially at small vulnerable sizes. It only makes sense to give the plants some protection from dogs if you can't mitigate their behavior, dogs will do what dogs want to do without work on your part. Maybe I have just been lucky with the dogs I have owned, but I started training them very young to be careful around the garden, and not destroy young or old plants. I also had the time to take them on long walks every day, and burn off all that excess energy, which is important when you have a labrador retriever. Now if I could just train the raccoons not to damage plants in my garden.. You have gotten some valuable experience in gardening by the "trial by fire" method, but it can also be useful to ask questions when you aren't clear on the methods, take classes, and keep reading up. Obviously there isn't just one way to garden, and I certainly don't claim to know all the answers, but over 40 years of gardening, over 30 years of them professionally, mean that I do have a very good handle on how to handle weeds, drainage, soil amendmending, etc to fit within the budgets and efforts of my clients, and can tailor solutions that will work within different circumstances. It is always about tradeoffs, and I am not against using weedcloth as a first line of defense to be set underneath deep mulch when I can't eliminate the weeds in the first place, it has been my only workable method to minimize bermuda grass and Oxalis pes-capri infestations when I didn't have the time or budgets necessary to really control them before new landscape plantings....See MoreNative Pecans are Terrible this Year
Comments (13)We don't spray ours either, most of them are huge old trees that have never had anything done to them. Sitting here at the computer, I just saw one of those walking crows land in the driveway. Squawking and walking, that's all he is doing. Oh well, the pecans make great compost. I have to gather and store them in a bin separate from the ones DH runs. He doesn't have the patience to wait 2 years for them to break down. Looking out this window I see that the front flower bed is being overrun with orange daylilies again. I'm going to have to dig out that whole thing. Look for orange daylilies at the next swap again, friends. Cheryl...See MoreShare your New Year's Eve Dinner and New Year's Day Meals.......
Comments (32)Angelaid, I love potato pancakes but I would say that is is my favourite version. There is no secret to making these pancakes. I've made them with mashed potatoes that I made specifically for making these pancakes and I've also made extra mashed potatoes for dinner and saved the leftovers for these pancakes. When I make them with the leftover mashed potatoes there is also butter in the mix. This is not a stiff or thick batter. I use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to scoop up the batter. Mere Blanc's Potato Pancakes From:www.thedailyspud.com with very minor changes. 2 small baking potatoes 1/4 cup milk 1/3 cup All-Purpose flour 2 eggs, separated 1-1/2 tablespoons heavy cream Pinch of salt Pepper Fresh chives (or green onions) Butter for frying Cook potatoes until tender Mash with a little milk. Let potatoes cool before adding the remaining milk, cream, flour, egg yolks, salt, pepper and chives. Beat Egg Whites until stiff. Fold into potato mixture. Do not over mix. This is a light but thick batter. Heat a griddle or skillet. ( I used a rectangle electric frying pan) . Brush with butter. Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup drop batter on to griddle. Cook until pancakes are brown and then flip. Serve with sour cream. Here is a link that might be useful: Potato Pancakes...See MoreFirst year native plants question
Comments (8)That sounds great, we have planted a lot almost all from 1 gallon plants except for a meyer lemon tree and a couple of Roy Hartmans Ceanonthus plants. It's a big long property with lots to plant and this is from memory but here goes ( I was heavily influenced by Topanga Canyon which I commute through every weekday) Doing pretty well so far - given the rain and all 5 Austin Griffiths Manzanita (three front, two in the back yard) 1 Louis Edmunds Manzanita (front) 7 Santa Cruz Buckwheat (front and back) 4 Hybrid Island Buckwheat (front and back yard) Lots of California Buckwheat (left hand side of backyard) Lots of San MIguel Buckwheat (left hand side of backyard) 5 or 6? Celestial Sage (front and back) yard 3 Dara's choice sage (front) 4 White Sage (back yard)2 2 Cleaveland Sage Right side yard 6 Margarita BOP ( front yard along a wall ) and back yard 2 Concha Ceanothus back yard (ok only one is doing well, the other one looks kind of sad and they are near each other - but from different nurseries) 2 Howard McMinn Manzanita (backyard) Tons of red New England flax, in the front and back 3 Ray Hartman Ceanontus (back woods) 3 Siempre Blue Ceanothus (Right Side yard) 1 Ceanothus Arborues (right side yard) 3 Blue Blossom Ceanothus (right side yard) 1 Meyer Lemon Tree (left hand side of backyard) Jury out Three Big Berry Corgi Manzanita (one died when a dog keep peeing on it in the front and the two are just kind of hanging out looking sad - I suspect they don't like clay. THey didn't come from a local source which may be the problem. The aforementioned Toyon all around the property including the woods, some are doing well, some not so much One redshanks (front yard) I think it's just a really slow grower but it hasn't grown much if at all in 2 months. Yikes, that is a long list, no wonder I am tired of planting......See More- 5 years agolast modified: 5 years ago
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