All posts by Jan Nelson

I am a landscape designer and consultant in the Santa Cruz mountains in California. I write a weekly gardening column for the Press Banner newspaper. I am also a Calif. Advanced Certified Nursery Professional and managed The Plantworks Nursery in Ben Lomond, Ca. for 20 years.
Design trends

Plant California Natives Now

Bush poppies are fast growing and need no irrigation once established. ( Really )

With cooler weather and some rain, fall weather is here in the Santa Cruz Mountains. If you’re thinking about what plants you might want to add to your garden this planting season, California native plants are well suited to planting at this time of year, acclimating to their new homes without much stress. Here are some ideas to get you started.

By planting now, roots of new plants have a chance to grow during fall and most of the winter without having to supply nourishment to the leafy portion of the plant. Roots of deciduous plants still grow even after plants drop their foliage as long as the ground temperature is above 50 degrees. Cooler day and night temperatures slowly harden off the top of the plant to prepare for the cold days of winter.

Another reason that fall is the “no-fail” planting season is because plants put in the ground in fall need less water to establish. The plants themselves use less water since photosynthesis is slowed by shorter days even if it’s occasionally warm. Evaporation rates slow down also during fall so moisture in the soil lasts longer as well. Sometimes we get lucky with fall and winter rains perfectly spaced so the ground never completely dries out. As of October 17, 2024 NOAA predicts equal chance of above or below normal precipitation due to a weal La Niña forecast for out area. One can only hope we get our share.

Plants that thrive in dry, shady spots benefit especially from fall planting as they need established root systems before next year’s dry season. Dry shade sometimes occurs in places beyond the reach of the hose but also under native oaks. To protect the health of native oaks, it’s a requirement that plants underneath thrive with little or no summer irrigation.

King Edward VII flowering currant

Plants of proven success under these conditions include native currants and gooseberry. Red flowering currant is a show stopper capable of controlling erosion. In the spring, the long, flower clusters of this deciduous shrub will dominate your garden. There are many selections to choose from so if the huge white flowers appeal to you ‘White Icicle’ will be beautiful in your landscape. ‘Barrie Coate’ and ‘King Edward VII’ have spectacular deep red flower clusters and ‘’Spring Showers’’ has 8″ long pink ones. Grow in full sun to partial shade. This California native requires little water once established and is a valuable nectar source for hummingbirds.

Some other good California native shrubs for erosion control are western redbud, mountain mahogany, western mock orange, lemonade berry, toyon, snowberry, matilija poppy and western elderberry. Rbes viburnifolium, creeping mahonia, snowberry, ceanothus maritimus and ‘Anchor Bay’s are good groundcover selections.

Smaller natives that put down deep roots are yarrow, coast aster, California fuchsia, wild grape, mimulus, buckwheat, wild rose, sage and salvia.

Bush poppy (dendromecon rigid) is another native found right here in our area and needs no irrigation at all once established. Beautiful bright yellow, poppy-like flowers cover the plant in spring. Bush poppies are fast growing reaching 6 feet tall. They can be propagated from cuttings taken in summer and are pest and disease free.

Remember when setting plants on a steep slope to arrange them in staggered rows. Make an individual terrace for each plant and create a basin or low spot behind each one (not around the stem) to catch water. Set the crowns of the plants high so they won’t become saturated and rot after watering and make sure mulch does not build up around the stem.

Design trends

Time to Plant Erosion Mix & Cover Crops

These lupine self sowed in Bonny Doon after the fire but you can create your own field of lupine, California poppy, brome, rye and barley by planting the Holdfast Native Blend.

It’s beginning to look a lot like….Fall. The weather is perfect, the soil still warm and the storm door is opening for those gentle autumn rains that do so much good for our gardens and the forest. I stopped by Mountain Feed & Farm Supply in Ben Lomond recently to see what kinds of seed they had for erosion control and cover crops and believe you me they are fully stocked. The knowledgable staff can help you decide which seed is best for your situation. They showed me about 20 different kinds of erosion control and cover crop seed as well as pasture and wildflower mixes, clovers and native seed mixes. One of their shop cats, who looks a lot like my Archer, is named Jan. How cool is that? Now’s the time to get that seed in the ground.

Often erosion control plants need to adapt to shallow, poor soil and cope with less than ideal conditional all while putting down dense, strong roots. Native shrubs are great for long-term control but they can take a few seasons to get established. Mountain Feed carries mixes like Holdfast Native Blend and Grasslands Native Perennial Blend. Some of the seed included in these mixes are California Brome, Wild Rye, California Poppy, Lupine, Barley, Ryegrass and Purple Needle Grass.

For those of you who raise chickens, there is a Chicken Pasture Mix with ryegrass, peas, oats, clover, flax, mustard and the legume Birdsfoot Trefoil. Horse owners might be interested in the Horse Dry Land Mix with perennial ryegrass, clover and orchard grass.

Planting a cover crop is another way to improve and retain your soil. Remember that every drop of rain that hits bare soil is destructive. Over 3000 years ago the Chinese protected their soil from erosion and increased fertility by planting cover crops. Early Nile Valley inhabitants also practiced this method of agriculture as did first century Romans. Lupines were planted in poor soil when no animal manure was to be had.

Cover crops like bell beans, vetch and fava beans are especially valuable as they increase nitrogen levels in the soil in two ways. Atmospheric nitrogen can be “fixed” and left in the soil to fertilize subsequent crops. This is in addition to the nitrogen left from the foliage of the legume. Growing a cover crop also increases beneficial soil bacteria.

Cover crops are called green manure when they are chopped up and turned into the soil in spring before going to seed. The planting of legumes like peas and beans can actually increase nutrients in your soil giving you a net gain which is needed to offset what you take out of the soil when you harvest fruits, vegetables and flowers.

Now through the end of November is the best time to sow cover crops. You will need to irrigate lightly a couple times per week if it doesn’t rain. You can also wait to sow just before the rains start. Be careful about working overly wet soil, however, as you can ruin the structure of your soil.

Recent research now recommends planting a mixture of grasses and legumes. Annual cereal grasses such as oats, rye and barley germinated quickly to hold and shield the soil until the legumes take hold. Bell beans, fava beans and vetch, which are the best legumes for our area, grow slowly the first 3 months then take off growing 70-80% in the last 3 months. The ratio of grass seed to legumes can vary from 10% to 30%.

There are other legumes that fix nitrogen but nowhere near as efficiently as bell beans. Mustard causes competition with the fruit trees as bees will concentrate on the mustard flowers instead of the fruit tree flowers but is good in other situations. Mountain Feed carries a Bee-Friendly Cover Crop mix that includes several types of clover.

You don’t need to use inoculates on legume seed. Our soils have a native resident population of good bacteria that will break down the seed coat and encourage the plant roots to fix more nitrogen especially after cover cropping for a few years.

Work the soil lightly with a metal bow rake then broadcast 8-10 seeds per square foot. Weeds should be already cleared but this step doesn’t have to be perfect. Afterward the area should be raked again lightly 1-2 inches down and covered with 3-4 inches of straw. Wood chips would be fine, too. Mulch heavier if you have bird competition. Cover crops are vigorous and will come up through just about anything. Water in lightly.

If you plan to let your small vegetable garden lie fallow over the winter instead of planting it with a cover crop you can cover it with manure and straw.

Design trends

The Best Bulbs to Plant this Fall

Tulips grow in sun or light shade.

I read the bulb catalogs same as you do. They show oh so many bulbs that do well in the shade. As we know all too well, there are many degrees of shade in our gardens here in the Santa Cruz Mountains and their definition is not always what happens here. But hope springs eternal and every year I want to try something new. I have to admit however that fresh daffodil bulbs and tulips are reliable even if I have to plant the old ones like a Johnny Appleseed in sunny spots not on my property but for others to enjoy. This year I ordered late flowering daffodils bulbs as the early ones get beaten down by spring rain in my shady garden. I’ll let you know how this method worked out or if I’ll regret not having early ones when spring fever rolls around. Now that I think about it, maybe I’ll get some early ones, too, so if springs rains aren’t too heavy I won’t regret my decision.

I’m told that the small spring bulbs such as Snowdrops, Crocus, Scilla siberia, Chionodoxa are ideal for planting in shady areas at the base of shrubs or beneath large trees. Also I’m looking at Grape hyacinths and Leucojum for my shade but I’m not putting all my eggs in one basket as the saying goes.

There are a lot of squirrels here in my garden. I’ll have to outsmart them. Squirrels, mice and moles are observant and crafty. Once they discover newly planted bulbs, they’ll assume it’s food. Just disturbing the earth is a tip off for them. Daffodils and narcissus bulbs are toxic but if they dig them up then leave them exposed with just a nibble taken – so much for any spring flower display. Protect your bulbs with wire baskets or spray them with foul tasting repellent, letting the spray dry before planting. You can also bury the bulbs with ground up egg shells. Another way to foil squirrels is to plant the bulbs deeply, This only works if you have good drainage, however. Next year, if the squirrels start nibbling the foliage as it emerges try spraying it with a repellent like Squirrel Stopper.

The ground temperature is perfect to plant your bulbs. Most bulbs are pre-chilled before they are shipped. To make sure they have 12 to 16 weeks of chilling you can store your bulbs in the refrigerator set to around 40 degrees. Just be sure not to store them near any fruit as the released ethylene gas reduces bloom.

And in case you forget about them until after Christmas go ahead and plant them anyway. The stems will be shorter but that’s all. The flowers will still be beautiful.

Who doesn’t love daffodils? I got a collection of more shade tolerant daffodils. I’m thinking they have might shorter stems which help them recover after a spring rain without having to be staked up. Fragrant miniature Hawera narcissus falls into this category. They are animal proof like all daffodils and naturalizes easily, too.

There are so many types of tulips now. I’m always torn between classic Darwin tulips, parrot tulips and double flowering. They are all spectacular.There are the early blooming Fosteriana tulips and Lily flowering tulips which are elegant with graceful stems and goblet-shaped flowers with pointed reflexed petals. These are late bloomers and excellent for bouquets as are all tulips.
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Whatever you bulbs you choose to try this fall, you will be happy you planted some bulbs come spring. And to help them bloom again the following year fertilize them at the time of planting with bulb food or bone meal worked into the soil a couple inches at the bottom of the hole. Mature bulbs respond to an early spring feeding with the same fertilizer.