Tag Archives: Earth Day

Earth Day, edible flowers, gardening with children, gardening with kids, pet-able plants, scented foliage plants

Earth Day – Kids Can Make a Difference

Scarlett Biles playing in my garden

Start summer early with the kids by planting a fruit tree, flower, vegetable or native shrub now. Planting something is having confidence in the future. Earth Day is almost here. It celebrates the natural beauty of our planet, our clean air and reminds us of what we can do to keep it healthy. Always on April 22nd, Earth Day is a day of education about environmental issues and is now a global celebration. Our connection to the earth is one of the most valuable lessons we can share with our children.

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.

Adelyn Biles displays her art in the garden

Finding things to do in the garden is easy. You probably already have some edible flowers in your garden. Tuberous begonia petals 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.

Flowers that kids can cut will be interesting for them, too, especially when planted in their own garden. Cosmos, planted from six packs, provide instant color as well as attracting butterflies. Zinnias come in a rainbow of colors and are a favorite of swallowtail butterflies. Another easy to grow flower for cutting is the snapdragon.

Besides flowers, fragrant foliage plants like lemon basil, lemon verbena, lime thyme, orange mint and other herbs engage the senses and can be included in a kid’s garden.

The Easter Bunny – artist Adelyn Biles

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 which are soft and furry, artemisia ?Powis Castle? or fountain grass.

All kids love lady bugs. Make your garden a more inviting place for these and other 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.

Kid friendly gardens should not contain plants that are poisonous. Sounds like a no brainer but even some of our common natives like the berries of snowberry and the leaves of Western azalea are poisonous. Non-toxic plants include abelia, abutilon, liriope, butterfly bush, Hens and Chicks, columbine, coneflowers, coreopsis and black-eyed Susan. Better to check the poison control website if in doubt. http://www.calpoison.org and search “plants”.

Scarlett playing with the hot dog bun before lunch in the garden

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.

Get a kid into gardening and nature and they’ll be good stewards of the land for a lifetime. Plus you?ll have a lot of fun in the process.

Arbor Day, fertilizing, mulching

April: For Everything there is a Season

crabapple_Pink_ProfusionSeems like just about everything is in bloom. Sure there are many plants and trees who?s season is still a ways off but the flowers of early spring really get our attention. Longer days trigger both flora and fauna to reproduce. Being that it?s the beginning of April I thought I?d give you a heads up on what to do in the garden this month. That way you can budget your time and enjoy the beauty around you and still get your chores done.

Earth Day is coming up on Saturday, April 18th and National Arbor day is April 24th. What better way to celebrate in your own backyard than to planrhodie_early_pinkt a tree, shrub, flower or edible? I?m enjoying the succession of flowering trees in my own yard. First came the plums, then the flowering crabapple and now the Forest Pansy Redbud. My crape myrtle will bloom by summer but I think I?ll plant another tree that will bloom in May to celebrate, maybe a late-blooming Kousa dogwood.

Planting a tree is having confidence in the future. Like the saying goes, ?The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The second best time is now.? In case you were wondering, Arbor Week in California was celebrated mid-March. That?s because each state observes Arbor Day based on the best tree-planting time in their area. On the first Arbor Day, April 10,1872, an estimated one million trees were planted. Make yours the one million and one tree planted.

Other to-do?s for this month include:

Fertilize -Take advantage of the moist soil to fertilize your garden. Lawns and groundcovers are beginning their spring growth spurt and new leaves on trees, shrubs and perennials are starting to emerge. Your citrus may be looking yellow from lack of nitrogen which has leached out of the soil through the winter season and they may be lacking in iron. Feed them with organic citrus or fruit tree fertilizer. Perennials benefit from both a fresh layer of compost and a light application of balanced fertilizer. They respond to the phosphorus from bone meal especially in the spring for root growth, stem sturdiness and flower development. Make sure you keep fertilizer off the foliage and crown of the plants or wash it off with the hose. Wait to feed azaleas, camellias and rhododendrons until after they bloom and you see new leaves emerging.

Transplant – If you need to move any plants in the garden that have outgrown their space or are not growing with other plants of the same water usage now is a good time. Plants are full of growth hormones and recover quickly from transplant shock. As you plant new additions to the garden add organic matter to the soil. If your garden’s soil is sandy, organic matter enriches it and allows it to hold water more efficiently. If your soil tends toward clay, organic matter will loosen it up and improve drainage. In well-amended soil, plants grow deep roots, are hardier for cold, more resistant to disease and more drought tolerant. Organic matter such as compost, planting mix and well-rotted manure boosts nutrition and improves soil structure.

Spread fresh compost or bark mulch around all your plants to help plants get off to a strong start. Good soil is the secret to successful gardening. The first principle of organic gardening is to feed the soil and it will feed the plant. Remember that all gardening used to be organic. Layer 2-3″ of compost or bark chips on top of the soil and let it slowly decompose and filter down into the earth. Bark nuggets and shredded bark do not increase your soil’s fertility like compost or bark chips but they do conserve moisture and help keep weeds at bay.

Check for aphids – They are out in full force sucking plant juices from the tender new leaves of everything from roses to hellebore to Japanese maples. A strong spray from the hose may be enough to dislodge them. If they still persist, you can spray organic insecticidal soap, neem oil or horticultural oil to kill them. As with all pesticide sprays, do this early in the morning or later when they are not in the sun. Be sure to test first to make sure the spray doesn’t burn the new growth and always mix according to the directions.

Ants can also bring aphids up into trees and shrubs such as camellias, citrus and roses. Ants feed off honeydew secreted by aphids, scale and other plant-juice sucking insects. Ants also protect these pests from natural predators. To keep them off, wrap trunks with a 1-2″ wide strip of masking tape and coat with a sticky barrier like Tanglefoot. Keep the barriers free of dirt and check them periodically for breaks. Reapply when necessary.

The most important to-do for early spring is to take time out and enjoy your garden and our beautiful surroundings. Those last few weeds will be there tomorrow but you’ll never get another today.