Tag Archives: sustainable gardening

destination nurseries, Pacific Northwest, Puget Sound, Vashon Island, Whidbey Island

Gardens around The Puget Sound

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My summer travel season started this year in the Puget Sound in the Pacific Northwest. My sister lives on Fox Island overlooking the sound with a breathtaking view of Mt. Rainier. There are so many gardens and nurseries in this area I hardly know where to start when I come up here. Any destination was sure to provide lush landscapes and a cornucopia of colorful flowers.

clematis_tangerine_alstroemeria2green island at the southern end of Puget Sound. After the ferry docked we headed south to visit The Country Store and Gardens. This nursery in the heart of the island boasts mature plantings on a 10 acre site with the nursery featuring rare and and unusual plants along with a wide selection of perennials, shrubs and blueberries.

The flowers of a deep, dark purple clematis mingled with a rich pink, climbing cabbage rose both growing on a long trellis surrounding the front porch of the store. A dead fruit tree was left to provide support for another midnight purple clematis blooming above a bed of deep red Lucifer crocosmia.  I'll remember this exciting pairing for a future design where the spreading crocosmia won't be a problem.

This nursery propagates many of their plants from their own stock. Mature specimens of ornamental grape, lace-cap hydrangeas, tangerine colored alstroemeria, hellebore and heuchera grew in the perennial beds bordered by sections of cut logs. We enjoyed the sweet scent of Summer Ice daphne and admired the velvet red blossoms of Serotina honeysuckle before moving on to our next destination.

swallowtail_on_hydrangea2The Pacific Northwest is famous for their lavender fields. The soil and climate here really agrees with this plant.
Lavender Hill Farm is just one of many lavender growing concerns on the island. On a hill overlooking the picturesque Quartermaster Harbor, several lavender varieties are grown.

You can pick some for yourself or buy some already harvested. Sitting under an apple tree, a young worker introduced herself as Audrey and told me the farm grows several French lavender varieties. Grosso is grown for the long stems and fat flower buds, Provence for intense fragrance and Melissa and Coconut Ice for their pink flower buds. It's a beautiful spot with sailboats docked below in the tiny harbor.

Next stop, famous in the nursery world, was Dig Nursery. I've seen it mentioned in Pacific Horticulture and Sunset Dig_Nursery_waterfeature2magazines. The plants here are displayed in very unique ways making this destination nursery something to be experienced. Massive gabion pillars made of heavy wire fencing and river rocks provide the base for rusted ornamental iron trellises and arbors. More rusted iron is fashioned into hanging planters overflowing with flowers, succulents and grasses.

Repurposed cyclone fence sections provided a perfectly drained platform for more succulents, native plants, herbs and grasses. Several pots of unique black daylilies caught our attention as did the large collection of Darlingtonia and other carnivorous plants. In the shade section, a lime-green lace cap hydrangea was offered for sale with mopheads, Japanese forest grass and hellebore. We wondered if the resting Swallowtail butterfly came with the pot of hydrangeas.

Another ferry another island. This time the ferry takes us to Whidbey Island. Here there are flowers blooming everywhere. Hanging baskets of purple and lilac supertunia, lobelia and red ivy geraniums grace every light pole. The container plantings burst with color. White rugosa roses grow on a split rail fence overlooking the harbor in Langley.

Meerkerk_Gardens2One of our stops on the island is Meerkerk Rhododendron Garden. At this time of year we thought the show would be over but we were pleasantly surprised to find several very specimens still blooming. There are so many kinds of rhododendrons here and we were drawn to one called Golfer with silver fuzzy leaves. Another one had velvety rusty red leaves that sparkled backlit by the late afternoon sun.

The perennial beds were filled with lilac oriental poppy, dahlia, campanula, lavender and shasta daisy. A 30 ft white dogwood shone like a beacon surrounded by the deep green fir trees. Bordering the curving paths, oregano and moss covered fieldstone beckoned one to linger and admire the smaller jewels of the garden.

Another highlight of my tour of gardens was a visit to Chocolate Flower Farm in Langley. If you like deep burgundy, chocolate, black, midnight blue, deep magenta or mahogany flowers and foliage like I do you would  also be amazed by this garden. There is so much to share about this special place that I plant to write about all it's treasures in another column. Stay tuned.

As I left to fly back to California and the redwoods I thought that in some ways this temperate rain forest is not so different from ours. It's a little greener up here during the summer and the daylight from 5am to 10 pm makes the plants bloom like crazy, but there's no place like home.
 

gardening tips, mulching, organic fertilizers, organic gardening, organic weed control, trees,shrubs,vines,perennials

Early Summer Tips

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hydrangeas2 3Some things in the garden need to be planned out in advance while others happen by chance. For instance, this year when our spring rains stopped dead in their tracks I gave up adding any more acidifier to my hydrangeas. You need to change the pH of the soil around hydrangeas well before they set buds. I like mother nature to water for me early in the season and she didn't cooperate.  As luck would have it, the flowers this year are majestic purple, mauve and magenta where before they were sky blue. Frankly, I'm thrilled with this years color palette. Hooray for serendipity.

Early summer is the right time, however, for many other garden activities that you don't want to leave to chance.

Many plants, both vegetable and ornamental, are bothered by aphids and other sucking insects as well as foliage and flower eating bugs.   From cucumber beetles, flea beetles, stink bugs, weevils, curculios to borers , the list of trouble makers is endless. .  To help deter them mix up some pepper spray in your kitchen.  
    1 tablespoon hot pepper sauce or 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
    6 cloves garlic, crushed
    1 quart warm tap water
Let stand I hour, strain and spray plants either in the morning or evening.

Apply the second fertilizer application for the year to your citrus and fruit trees. The last one should be immediately after harvest.  Apply the fertilizer to the soil around the drip line of the tree where feeder roots are located and scratch into the surface. Water in well. As with all fertilizers, make sure the trees are moist before you fertilize. Young trees in their first, second or third growing season should receive half the rate of established trees.

If your fruit trees are starting to produce too heavily, remove excess immature fruits.  Doing so allows remaining fruit more room to grow and prevents branches from breaking under the weight.  When apples, pears and stone fruits such as apricots, nectarines, peaches and plums reach 1/2' in diameter, pick some off, leaving the remaining fruits spaces 6-10" apart along the branch.  Later, to protect your ripening fruit, enclose the tree with bird netting,  hang strips of mylar flash tape near brach tips or substitute old CD's.

If you battle dandelions and don't want to use chemical weed killers around pets and children, get out the white vinegar from the cupboard. On a hot sunny day spray straight white vinegar directly on the weed. This method will kill whatever it touches so direct the spray carefully. If the dandelion is in the lawn, wait a week, pour some water on the dead spot to dilute any lasting effects of the vinegar. Then poke a bunch a holes and drop in some grass seed. Sprinkle a bit of fertilizer where the seed is planted and keep the area moist. In three weeks you won't remember where the dead spot was and the dandelion will be long gone.

Another garden to-do this month includes summer pruning of wisteria. To increase flowering next spring and keep these vines under control cut new growth back to within 6" of the main branch. If you want to extend the height or length of the vine, select some of the new streamer-like stems and tie them to a support in the direction you wish to train the plant.

To encourage continued bloom on annuals, perennials and shrubs, remove faded flowers before they start to form seeds.  Make sure you remove the entire flower head and the base where seeds form ( such as the bulbous part of dahlia, petunia or fuchsia flowers) and not just the petals.  Cut the stem down to where leaves start.  The season has just started and you'll be enjoying lots more flowers in the months to come if you deadhead regularly.  
    
Another maintenance tip is to shear spring blooming perennials to keep them full and compact.  Candytuft, phlox subulata, aubrieta and other low growing perennials benefit if you cut off spent bloom and an inch or two of growth.  Other perennials and shrubs that benefit from the same treatment to keep them compact are erysimum, lavender and Pink breath of heaven.

Also re-apply mulch if it's getting thin in spots. Check ties on trees to make sure they aren't cutting into the bark. Cultivate lightly around trees to discourage weeds and allow water to penetrate.

Don't be afraid to move a plant that is not working where its growing now. Make a note in your journal reminding yourself to transplant it sometime in the fall. Gardening is a dynamic and fluid process. Enjoy piecing  together pieces of the puzzle.
 

drought tolerant plants, garden design, low maintenance gardening, sustainable gardening

Sustainable Tips for the Landscape

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OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAWithout a doubt the most requested item I'm asked in the design process is to include low water use plants and solutions that are low maintenance. We live in the west where rainfall occurs predominantly from late fall through late spring in a good year and the amount and duration varies tremendously. Whether you live in the shade or the sun it's a smart idea to keep water costs down in the summer and preserve this natural resource.

We all want to do the right thing for the environment by reducing our carbon footprint and becoming good stewards of the land. We want to build our landscapes with green products and incorporate sustainable practices in the garden. A good way to do this is to create gardens that offer food and beauty for people and conserve water  while providing habitat and food for the rest of nature. A great place to learn more about the benefits of organic gardening, water conservation and sustainable healthy living is The Garden Faire this Saturday, June 22nd at Scotts Valley's Sky Park from 9am to 5pm.

In it's 8th year, The Garden Faire is a free-admission, educational event for the whole family with OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAknowledgable speakers, interactive demonstrations, food and beverage, live music, garden goods and plants for sale. This year The Faire will focus on the whole person offering a healthy rest stop with chair massage, reiki and a tea house.
This event is sponsored in part by both SLV and Scotts Valley Water Districts because they know the importance of sharing information about ways to conserve water.

What can you do right now to save water in your landscape? First choose wisely what you plant in the garden and how you water. Start with a smart design by evaluating how the space will be used and what plants will thrive with a minimum of care and pruning.  Select the best trees and place them to shade the south side of the house to reduce cooling costs. Supplement the soil by making soil health a priority. Examine your irrigation system and watering plan for efficiency and minimal waste.
    
helleborus_argutifolius2A time saving strategy is to group plants with similar moisture needs. This may sound like a no brainer but if you have just one prima donna in a bed of more drought tolerant plants, you'll be dragging the hose over there for just one plan or running the irrigation system longer to keep it happy.  If you find that some of your plants are not quite as low water as you'd like, move those to their own spot. Grow thirsty plants in the lowest areas of your garden where more water collects. In general, plants with large leaves usually require more water and transpire faster while drought tolerant plants typically have deep taproots and leaves that are smaller, silver, fuzzy or succulent.

Your method of irrigation helps conserve water. Hand watering where possible, especially new plantings, directs the water exactly where its needed and you can shut off the hose as soon as the plants receive enough water. A soaker hose is another efficient option that reduces evaporation during the watering process. An automatic irrigation system with a rain sensor, weather based controller or soil moisture sensors is the newest way to save water.

Plant  dry climate plants like tea tree ( leptospermum), lavender, rosemary and sage in open, sunny areas and shade the soil with drought tolerant ground covers like ceanothus, manzanita, oregano and thyme to conserve moisture. Try Corsican hellebore (helleborus argutifolius)for a tough, low water use plant in a shady area. Use less turf grass and more walkable ground covers where possible to keep the landscape looking green and fire safe.

To improve soil structure, plant deep rooted plants to break up heavy soils and add organic matter.  Using wood based mulch on garden beds helps contain moisture in the soil, too.  To provide soil with nitrogen, plant ceanothus, clover, legumes like beans, and peas and lupine. To supply minerals as compost or mulch plant chives, comfrey, garlic and white yarrow.

California natives or plants from similar climates in the world are low maintenance, low irrigation plants and usually need less tending, fertilizer and pruning. Like all plants they require a period of irrigation in order to become established. Even plants that require no irrigation after becoming established like Flannel Bush (Fremontodendron) will need some water for the first 2 summers, at least, and maybe even during the first winter if there is a long dry spell.  The rule of thumb to determine if a plant is established and self sufficient and therefore not requiring any more irrigation is when it has grown 2-3 times the size it was when planted or after is has been growing for 2 summers.