beneficial insects, gardening with children, gardening with kids

Fun Stuff to do with Kids in Summer

There?s never a dull moment when kids are around. With active imaginations they can make up a game wherever they happen to be. Two little girls, Adelyn and Scarlett come to my house to visit me and my dog, Sherman. We use scented markers to draw what?s outside the window, make jewelry from construction paper, create art projects from styrofoam and colored popsicle sticks, carve pumpkins in the fall and explore the forest. There are always hummingbirds to watch, songbirds to identify and flowers to smell.

Adelyn enjoying her new nature book

Last summer I gave each girl a new nature photo album filled with pictures of plants, frogs, birds and butterflies as well as family? taken around my house. Adelyn was three she got her first nature book and being that she?s five now she needed an update. This was Scarlett?s first book. Scarlett is nearly three. Now that they have a brand new little sister we?ll make another for Lorelei when she gets older. The book is one of those inexpensive four by six inch photo albums with sleeves for photos. Maybe the chipmunks will pose for a photo. There are quite a few in my garden. t?s fun to watch the girls run around and identify birds and flowers from the pictures in their book.

Later this spring the black-headed grosbeaks will return but for now Adelyn and her little sister Scarlett can find juncos, chickadees, purple and gold finches and nuthatches in their nature books. The flowers are the easiest to find as they don?t fly away and later the blue hydrangeas will be blooming.

Scarlett & Adelyn with pumpkin collection pre-carving

In October we carved pumpkins out on the patio. The girls drew on them with markers and their Uncle Matt and their father Matt did the carving. Lots of stories were shared and pictures drawn later inside at my drafting table. Little Scarlett goes right to the harmonica to entertain everyone. She?s getting better each time but was pretty good even the first time she picked it up.

Adelyn and Sherman at the nursery

A few months ago Adelyn, Sherman and I went to a nursery to look at all the plants. We had a great time smelling all the flowers and I pointed out the plants with scented foliage too. The nursery cat followed us down every aisle teasing the dog. Sherman has a cat at home so he?s pretty harmless. I had to laugh when Adelyn told me later over lunch that she thought the nursery would be boring but it was anything but.

Although I don?t have full sun we are going to try our hand at growing carrots this spring in the purple pot I gave her for Christmas. That trowel will be super helpful, too. I think both of the girls would like to harvest some of those Rainbow Carrots I see in Renee?s Garden collection. The French Baby Carrots might be a big hit also.

Scarlett serenading lady bugs

Both girls love lady bugs. Make your garden a more inviting place for these beneficial insects by planting lots of flowers and herbs to attract them. Lady bugs will patrol your plants looking for tiny insects and their eggs.
Flowers with umbrella shaped clusters of small flowers such as cosmos, zinnia, black-eyed Susan and yarrow are favorites of butterflies.

Edible flowers are fun for kids to grow, too. Some common ones to try are tuberous begonia petals that taste like lemon. Calendulas are spicy as are carnations and marigolds. Dianthus are clove-flavored, nasturtiums give a hint of horseradish and violas, pansies, hollyhock, squash blossoms and Johnny-jump-ups taste like mild lettuce. You can also freeze flowers like violas, fuchsias, geranium, stock and thyme in ice cubes.

Pet-able plants are a sure hit with kids. Usually we tell them, “Don’t touch”, so to actually have someone encourage this is a rare treat. If your own garden doesn’t have plants that look and feel so soft that you can’t resist petting them, consider adding lamb?s ears, artemisia ?Powis Castle? or fountain grass.

Adelyn with her drawing

In a garden, children can breathe fresh air, discover bugs and watch things grow. And, of course, a garden offers kids and everyone else fresh, tasty homegrown food. What better place for kids to play than in a place where they can use their hands and connect with the earth? Where else can they make a plan for a plot of land and learn the lessons of hope and wonder, suspense and patience and even success and failure? In a garden you can have conversations about life and even death in a way that doesn’t seem so sad.

To share one?s excitement and knowledge of the outdoor world with a child is fun and rewarding. The wonder on a young person?s face as they discover a swallowtail butterfly, a flower just starting to open or a bird feeding in the garden is priceless. And be sure to leave some time after a busy day out in the garden for kids to draw what they?ve enjoyed outside. I have my friend Adelyn?s drawings on my wall so we both remember the fun we have in the garden.

sustainable design, sustainable gardening, water saving techniques, watering

What Makes for a Sustainable Garden?

The redbud are just starting to show color in my yard. Flowering plum, tulip magnolia, manzanita, forsythia, flowering currant and quince are blooming in many a garden. Even the deciduous trees and plants that look bare now are starting to grow new roots deep underground. It’s time to plan this year’s garden. Think about how you can blend artistry with ecology.

Garden to attract birds, bees, butterflies and other beneficial insects

A landscape developed with sustainable practices will improve the environment by conserving resources. It will require less maintenance and fertilizing, be balanced with our climate in mind and use less pesticides and water. Most of all it will be visually pleasing with lots of flowers. bees and butterflies.

Your goal may be a more drought tolerant garden but which plants are right for your yard? What plants will be more likely to withstand disease and pest damage? What kind of irrigation system should be installed to provide for the needs of the landscape in the most efficient way possible? Is it time to convert your sprinkler system to smart drip, inline drip emitters and micro-irrigation?

Where do you put the compost bin so you can return garden waste and kitchen waste back to the garden while recycling nutrients within the landscape? How do you keep the soil healthy? There are many components in designing and installing a sustainable landscape that is just right for your garden.

Start with a smart design. Utilize permeable paving like gravel or pavers to help manage runoff, giving the soil more time to absorb rainfall and recharge the ground water. Maybe you need a rain garden or small planted basin to catch and filter rainwater and keep it onsite.

Planting bed of plants with similar watering needs.

Group plants in your garden according to their water needs. Now?s the time to transplant if necessary to achieve this. Some maybe can survive on rainfall alone after their second or third season while the perennial beds and vegetable garden will require a different schedule. Water slowly, deeply and infrequently so there is no runoff. Water in early morning or evening to maximize absorption.

Plant deciduous trees to provide cooling shade in the summer and allow sunlight to warm the house in winter. Trees and shrubs clean the air of nitrogen, sulfur dioxide, ozone and carbon monoxide. They breathe in carbon dioxide, a major greenhouse gas, use the carbon to grow, then exhale oxygen. They retain more carbon than they lose so every tree you plant helps reduce your carbon footprint on the planet.

Feed and shelter birds, butterflies and other wildlife in your landscape. Plant perennials such as echinacea, lavender, penstemon or salvia, ceanothus and other native plants to attract pollinators like bees and hummingbirds. Plant flowers that attract beneficial insects to help control harmful insects and use organic pesticides.

Make your soil a priority by adding compost each year. Mulch your soil to keep down weeds and conserve water and use organic fertilizers, manure and fish emulsion that feed the soil. Compost the green and brown waste your garden produces like fallen leaves, weeds without seeds, grass clippings, spent flowers and vegetables.
Stay ahead of weeds, pulling them before they set seed and spread.

Take steps each year to encourage a beautiful, sustainable landscape and make your corner of the world part of the solution.

Cornus, Flowering trees, wildlife gardening

Choosing & Growing Flowering Dogwoods

A couple weeks ago in a column about allergy free landscaping, I mentioned dogwood being a good tree choice as their pollen is not wind borne. Their showy flowers are pollinated by insects rather than by the wind. Producing less pollen, their pollen is large and heavy, sticking to insects rather than becoming airborne and leading to sneezing, runny noses and watery eyes. With dogwoods about to burst into bloom I thought I?d share some information about growing this iconic tree.

California native cornus nuttallii

There are four main species of dogwood trees. From the Himalayas in China comes cornus capitata. Korea is home to cornus kousa. Cornus florida is native to the east coast and the west coast is home to cornus nuttallii or the Western dogwood.

Our native Western dogwood is unfortunately prone to leaf spot fungal diseases. Their large snow white flowers are especially brilliant along the shady forested roads along Yosemite valley. They are a little temperamental in the garden before they reach the age of 10 years but after that they tolerate seasonal flooding, flower and grow fine with little care.

Eastern flowering dogwood

We are all familiar with the Eastern dogwood that blooms early in the spring. It?s beautiful but rain and wind can cut short the flowering season many a year and the root system is prone to disease. The kousa dogwood is a more drought tolerant, disease resistant and a tougher plant all around. Large, showy flowers open after the tree has leafed out and remain for a long time. This makes it good for hybridizing with other varieties.

The Stella series is a mix of a florida on kousa dogwood roots. Vesuvius series is a cross of our native nuttallii with a florida as is Eddie?s White Wonder. There is also a nuttullii-kousa cross called Venus that displays huge flowers and gets its disease resistance from the kousa roots. All these cultivars strive to produce a tree with superior disease resistance and huge, long lasting blooms.

Cornus capitata ‘Mountain Moon’

Deciduous dogwoods don?t like wet feet especially in the winter. That?s how they develop fungal disease. But there?s an evergreen dogwood that can handle moisture all year round.? Cornus capitata Mountain Moon is a tough tree that can handle strong winds and isn?t bothered by any pests or diseases. They enjoy lots of organic matter as do all dogwoods. Huge flowers up to 6? wide can last from late spring into early summer. After flowering, the fruits begin to form and grow into red balls about the size of large strawberries. This is the reason is it also known as the Himalayan Strawberry Tree.

Dogwoods attract a variety of wildlife. All sorts of critters use this tree for food and shelter. The giant silk moth and several species of butterflies favor dogwoods as host plants. The spring flowers provide nectar to bees and other pollinating insects. Robin and sparrow are just two of the bird species than build nests on the horizontal branches and many others seek shelter in the leaves. The high calcium, high fat, fleshy red fruits are eaten by 35 species of birds including titmice, juncos and waxwings. They are edible but bland and tasteless to us. Birds love them.

Many people think of dogwoods as an understory tree but this location is often too shady. Grow them in a full or partial sun location that gets afternoon shade after 4:00 PM. Add a couple of extra drip emitters or inline drip tubing to your irrigation system and they?ll be happy.

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