December 13, 2006
Ants in the Garden, Ants in the House
It happens every year. Hordes of ants invade my kitchen when it’s cold and wet outside. They enter my home in search of food, water and shelter. Hold the panic button! A good cleanup and barriers can reduce household ant populations while still allowing ants to play their important and useful part in the environment.
Ants help control insect populations including termites (they think termite eggs are a nutritious treat). They are scavengers and an important part of the cycle of decomposition, breaking down organic materials to enrich our soil. Ants that nest in soil help turn and aerate it as much as earthworms.
Identify the type of ant you have and make sure it is not a termite. Ants are often confused with termites, especially during swarming when winged ant forms are mistaken for winged termites. Ants have narrow waists and bent antennae. Termites have broad abdomens with no waist and straight, beaded antennae. Ants’ hind wings are smaller than front wings. Termites have front and hind wings the same size.
The most common problem ant in our area is the dark brown 1/8-inch long, Argentine ant (Linepithema humile). Ants belong to the insect order Hymenoptera and are close relatives of bees and wasps. We usually see worker ants, the most numerous of the three castes: worker, queen and male.
Sprays don’t work
Since only a small amount of an ant colony's workers forage at any one time, pesticide sprays and dusts leave most of a colony intact and actually worsen the problem, causing the colony to split into multiple colonies.
Indoor remedies: clean, exclude and bait
After thouroughly cleaning and frequently wiping counters for several days, the kitchen ants have moved on to greener pastures. As long as they stay out of my kitchen I can coexist with these fascinating and beneficial insects.
Use a spray bottle filled with soapy water to wipe down kitchen and food storage surfaces and remove ant scent markers: chemical trails left by scout worker ants. Store food in screw top jars or other tightly sealed containers. If you must leave pet food out, create a moat by setting your pet’s food dish inside a shallow plate filled with water. If you can’t wash dishes immediately, rinse, then soak them in soapy water. Dispose of food waste and clean trash containers daily.
To eliminate an indoor nest, suck ants up in a HEPA vacuum and dispose of the bag immediately.
Borate, Borax or boric acid can be helpful if used properly and only when needed. Mop floors with one cup of borax per gallon of hot water. Make your own fresh borax or boric acid baits with 1 teaspoon (or less) of boric acid, one tablespoon of honey and one tablespoon peanut butter. Put in small vials or lids where you have seen ants. There are commercial baits that contain borate or boric acid. Keep all baits out of the reach of children, pets and wildlife.
Close visible entry holes with caulking. Fix leaky faucets, eliminate standing water. Check flower pots for ant colonies. Water indoor plants well and if ants are visible, flush them out of the soil with water or move them outside.
Outdoor remedies
Keep wood piles away from the house.
Trim shrubs and all plant material away from the outside of the house. Prune branches that are touching the ground or other trees.
Ants are attracted to scale insects and aphids and milk them for their sugary honeydew. Control the scale or aphids and use sticky barriers such as “Tanglefoot” around the base of trees.
Resources
Marin Master Gardeners Help Desk in Novato, (415) 499-4204
UC Online Integrated Pest Management Program “Pest Notes,” http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/
Sign up for the Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides monthly newsletter of helpful tips at http://www.pesticide.org/
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November 29, 2006
What are allelopathic plants?
Number 6 in the list of top 10 Stupid Garden Mistakes Anyone Could Make: Planted an allelopathic pepper tree
The days diminish in length as we approach winter solstice. Novato’s street tree mini-lights left from last year are fully exposed as the young sycamores drop their leaves. Shopkeepers dress their windows to entice trade and home fronts are decked with lights against the long nights.
The holidays’ relentless cheer and emphasis on conspicuous consumption can have special poignance for grieving families, normally self-sufficient singletons and lonely isolated seniors.
Pink nerine blossoms linger as narcissus leaves grow tall, right on schedule for December blossom; and so the sun dies and will be reborn.
Part of a continuing series of columns:
Number 6 in the list of top 10 Stupid Garden Mistakes Anyone Could Make: Planted an allelopathic pepper tree
As a new arrival to California I was properly awed by native Redwoods, shouting with joy and tears as I hugged my first. I enjoyed afternoon shadows flickering on tall eucalyptus and was intrigued by gnarled, willow-like pepper trees. I was determined to have a pepper tree in my own garden someday. I didn’t know anything about the rich habitat that had been displaced by eucalyptus or the damage caused by pepper trees to foundations or water pipes. Never heard of allelopathy, a relatively new study.
If you’ve ever visited the Mojave desert you noticed creosote bushes. They grow in perfect round shapes, sometimes shelter small wildflowers or cactus in their shade and are evenly spaced in their growing areas with bare circles surrounding them. You can smell rain in the desert before it arrives with the distinctive herbal odor of wet creosote from miles away. Creosote roots produce a chemical that inhibits the growth of most other plants around it.
Simply defined, allelopathy is a plant interaction through chemicals released by one plant into the environment that can harm or benefit another plant. It can involve plant chemical reactions with mycorrhizae (soil fungus) or nutrients.
Another good example is the Black Walnut, native to eastern North America and plentiful in my neighborhood. It produces a substance called juglone that interferes with plants in the nightshade family (such as tomatoes), causing wilting and yellowing foliage. On the other hand, fescue grass is allelopathic to the Black Walnut.
If you’ve ever tried to grow anything underneath an oleander you have met the allelopathic flavonoid called catechin that is produced by its roots as well as by the common garden plant called foxglove.
Allelopathic plants can be useful. In the search for environmentally friendly methods of weed abatement, extracts of oleander have been used in studies to inhibit weed growth in corn fields and to eliminate the invasive giant reed grass, Arundo donax.
Everyone is familiar with eucalyptus forests in California. Many native plants are easily crowded out and inhibited by eucalyptus’ allelopathic chemical terpenes and acids that tend to persist in the soil long after trees are removed.
I planted a California pepper tree about ten years ago as a thin stick. It now easily reaches 25 to 30 feet high with a trunk over twelve inches in diameter. Its roots rise to the surface, nothing grows directly underneath it, not just because it steals water where it can but because it is literally poisoning the earth. This was a serious mistake in our small yard.
What can I do now? Remove it? My family has become attached and would not be pleased. I’ve planted a few sturdy shrubs outside its dripline. The ground beneath remains dry for the summer when it sheds leaves that crunch underfoot releasing a sharp scent. It is great to hide under its pendulous branches and leaves in the hammock placed beneath the tree.
Untrimmed pepper trees tend to form long, somewhat brittle branches that often break off in storms. Trimming will limit its growth and prevent it from damaging the entire yard.
How I wish I’d planted a slower-growing and well behaved arbutus (madrone) or crape myrtle.
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November 22, 2006
Giving Thanks, Saying Goodbye
A touch of frost and yellow leaves appear overnight on the Texas umbrella tree. Birds pop out from the leaves, hang upside-down from branches, tap wet earth in search of seeds and insects.
My broken bones have healed and I can hike again. I’m walking, walking, walking the St. Francis Church labyrinth. I’m saying goodbye to Fred Santangelo, my children’s first generation Italian-American grandfather, WWII veteran, golfer and Mojave desert gardener who died this Veteran’s Day.
It’s a gray day with scudding mashed potato clouds. When I reach the labyrinth center and pause, the clouds part for a deep patch of turquoise sky, sunlight graces a rolling hilltop in the distance.
The first Thanksgiving in America was a feast before the long eastern winter settled in. It consisted of seasonal autumn bounty, organic and locally grown . In Novato, we gather in the last tomatoes, clean up and plant winter crops in our year-round vegetable gardens.
Two very different cultures collided in New England of the 1600s. For a brief time they shared common cause along with common ground.
As one of thousands of descendants of Miles Standish, a Mayflower passenger who settled at Plymouth, I approach the history with mixed emotions. He was considered short of stature, short tempered, a fierce mercenary soldier and commander. He formed alliances with indigenous leaders and also killed many native people.
The lasting harvest of our melting pot country is its people, its diverse, intertwined, intermarried cultures, something the early European settlers could not have foreseen. If my heritage is a “Heinz 57” variety, my children’s is even more varied.
Many of the WWII generation of Americans that are passing grew up on self-sustaining farms as Fred did before he moved to a small city in Ohio. Today we reconsider the notion of sustainability as it applies to an increasingly urbanized world. We learn the hidden costs of transporting mass produced food and increasingly value seasonal, organic, locally produced food.
The baton passes from one generation to the next. We consider what is best to take with us on our continued journey. We plant in remembrance of others, perhaps a single long-lived tree to help heal the earth or their favorites whether hot chile peppers, roses or hollyhocks. Our hollyhocks in our garden grow from seeds from Papa Fred’s flowers. My Kansas farm-raised mother showed us how she used to turn hollyhock flowers inside out to make hollyhock fairies when she was a girl.
The last time I saw Fred, an avid golfer, his favorite occupation was watching the hummingbirds and finches that came to feeders at his window by his bedside. He asked the children to sit by him while I pruned his beloved roses that bloomed in the same window in the brutal, sun-drenched desert climate.
We give thanks every day, though some are given so much and some have so little. We hope one day to leave the earth when our days are long in number with people we love around us.
Whatever we are given, we are grateful for our brief passage on planet earth and those moments when we can enjoy tumbling clouds that part on turquoise skies.
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November 15, 2006
Number 7 in the list of top 10 Stupid Garden Mistakes Anyone Could Make: Removed mature scale-infested citrus without trying alternatives
Investigate alternatives before you remove sick or infested plants
Part of a continuing series of columns:
Number 7 in the list of top 10 Stupid Garden Mistakes Anyone Could Make: Removed mature scale-infested citrus without trying alternatives
How sick or infested are your plants? Fully investigate Integrated (intelligent) Pest Management (IPM) options before you remove plants or apply pesticide.
When I became the owner of an established garden I inherited its problems as well as its blessings and inwardly groaned because the landscaping had been neglected. Anyone could see there was a great deal of work ahead.
The previous owner seemed enamored of cactus, rose and citrus varieties with more and longer thorns than I thought possible. Cactus and many roses were given away or moved to the middle of perennial beds where they would present less danger to our two small children.
I took a hard look at a 10-foot tall row of citrus. I like citrus fruit, adore their fragrant flowers and appreciated the screen their glossy green leaves provided. Citrus are particularly vulnerable to scale and I did spot scale and ant “scale farmers.”
Scale are often first noticed as nail-head sized brown bumps clustered along stems. In their young form they may be white, transparent or green and can still move on minute legs. Mealybug is somewhat similar and appears as white, flattened bumps that form cottony clusters.
I worked in the plant business for a number of years and had seen the damage scale infestation can do. I thinned out the plants, sprayed them off with soapy water and waited through winter and spring. No flowers whatsoever, more scale, more ants.
Since traditional pesticides can’t eliminate scale which spreads easily to nearby plants, I was very cavalier about cutting the infested citrus down.
Here are three IPM methods I wish I’d tried first:
1. After a positive bug identification, natural predators such as parasitic wasps or mealybug destroyers could have been introduced.
2. Remove the ant scale farmers. Ants help to spread scale. Regular hosing off with mildly soapy water will often be enough to discourage them.
3. Non-toxic horticultural or dormant oils will smother scale and mealybug. Don’t apply the oil unless you have a severe problem. Horticultural oil also smothers beneficial bugs and bug predators that eat scale and mealybugs.
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November 8, 2006
Identify Potential problems before you make changes
Number 8 in the list of top 10 Stupid Garden Mistakes Anyone Could Make: Planted near water stealing aggressive roots (not to mention invasive plants.)
The tiny tree frog was spotted in the bromeliad again, thought it had gone away. We are enjoying plenty of sweet late tomatoes. Think I’ll try to plant sweet peas so they will bloom in late winter/early spring. Plant bok choy and chard for an entire year of harvest. Kale adds an unusual touch all winter.
Part of a continuing series of columns:
Number 8 in the list of top 10 Stupid Garden Mistakes Anyone Could Make: Planted near water stealing aggressive roots (not to mention invasive plants.)
Prevention:
Look at the bigger picture, learn what conditions and plants you and your neighbors have before you make changes.
As a new homeowner, I planted with enthusiasm but nothing would thrive in a semi-shade corner. One area I nicknamed the death spot. I moved the plants, tried different varieties. Unusually frequent watering was needed despite good mulching.
Evil Plants: Privet and Loquat
Millions of unwanted seedlings sprouted from seeds dropped from neighboring overhanging branches of two types of trees. If left in the ground they quickly formed deep roots. I have learned about these evil plants, privet and loquat, that both appear on the California Invasive Plant Council’s list and USDA list of “Invasive and Noxious Weeds.”
Privet hedges may be tree sized, with one to two inch pointed green leaves. Its flower panicles are white strongly scented and allergy triggering in spring, followed by pepper-sized blue seeds.
Tropical looking loquat trees have long 12-inch fuzzy, deep green leaves, insignificant flowers and small orange fruit with large brown seeds. Loquats are sweet and somewhat astringent.
These particular varieties are native to Asia, California Privet Ligustrum ovalifolium and the loquat Eriobotrya japonica. I had been nurturing these “cuckoo’s eggs” in my garden that were stealing water from my young plantings.
Planted for their decorative value and hardiness, privet and loquat seeds have since spread far from their original locations. They are found all over the older settled areas of Novato and into riparian areas, outcompeting native plants.
Loquat and privet will tolerate relatively dry conditions. Their root systems are particularly aggressive and travel long distances along the surface of the ground. These monstrous plants will even climb up into flower pots or planter boxes. Like other invasive weed plants they suck up all available water, reproduce quickly and form a dense monoculture shading out other plants. Note: Pepper trees, acacia and eucalyptus share similar habits.
The two-step cure:
Remove the problem plants
All loquats and privets have been removed from our property. Educate your neighbors; over the years our neighbors have also grown tired of pulling up countless weed seedlings. They want to have a more interesting garden and introduce some sunshine. They are removing, thinning or severely pruning their privets and loquats.
Not all privets or loquats are considered invasive. I don’t know about the other loquats, but I will make a strong argument for all flowering privets eventually making the invasive list. They are prolific self-seeders and extremely hardy. Like the monster that refuses to die, seedlings and roots continue to sprout for years even after the parent has been removed.
Choose the right plants for the location
It took me a long time to realize I couldn’t have a traditional shade garden in this location. The area near remaining aggressive roots is now interspersed with succulents and no-summer-water natives: native ferns, native ornamental grasses, mahonia (Oregon grape), spring blooming ribes (currant) and douglas iris. Weed seedling numbers have been decreasing; the new plants are thriving. I’m very happy with the new look that is also low-to-no maintenance. Even the former dead zone is recovering.
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October 25, 2006 Part 2
Garden Warrior Safety
Number 9 in the list of top 10 Stupid Garden Mistakes Anyone Could Make: Ignore basic safety rules.
Jewel-like wet hummingbirds wink in the garden, fiery pistache leaves drift down, minute yellow-brown birds pick at sage seeds. I’m birdwatching out my windows, foot propped up on the windowsill with two broken toes. I feel so stupid.
Number 9 in the list of top 10 Stupid Garden Mistakes Anyone Could Make: Ignore basic safety rules.
I was tired and impatient and instead of pushing a fully loaded yardwaste container onto the street, I pulled it toward me. It lurched down the curb and its wheel landed smack on my foot. Luckily my teenage son was home and could help me into the house. I’ve been through this before so I knew the drill and confirmed it with my healthcare professional: ice and elevate, then tape the toes up and hobble around for a few weeks.
The moral of the story? Take your time and do things right.
Gardeners should know some basic first aid. We work with sharp tools, potentially poisonous substances and get ourselves into predicaments with ladders and heavy lifting. Either I or someone close to me has been injured by failing to follow these commonsense safety tips for garden warriors. Some were done in ignorance or haste, some out of sheer stubbornness.
Get your tetanus shots renewed
Gardeners are particularly vulnerable to Clostridium tetani, tetanus infections aka “lockjaw.” When was the last time you had a tetanus shot? Don’t remember? Check your medical records, get a booster shot every ten years. Tetanus is a completely preventable, possibly fatal bacterial infection that enters the body through punctures, cuts and abrasions. Tetananus bacteria live everywhere including our garden soil. People over 50 account for a large percentage of tetanus infections because they haven’t gotten their boosters.
Wear garden gloves
Put on those gloves! Here’s where an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Cuts or thorn pricks that become infected by bacteria or fungus may be painful and take months to heal. For most garden tasks thick cloth or leather gloves are adequate protection. There are some great sturdy garden gloves available that will formfit to your hand, making it easier to feel what you are doing and reach into small spaces.
Rose thorns are especially troublesome. When pruning roses, either wear thick longsleeve shirts, add-on rose gauntlets or wear extra-long specialty rose gloves that cover to the elbow.
Pay attention
You may be working with a handsaw, lopper, pruning shear, mower, chipper, hedge trimmer or chainsaw. Keep your eyes on what you are cutting and if using a hand saw or knife cut away from yourself and not towards. It only takes a micro-second distraction and you’ve cut something you didn’t intend to such as fingers or powercords. Don’t use garden tools when you are tired, ill or when there are distractions like active pets or children around.
Read instructions and follow them
Ladders, power tools and pesticides come with instructions for their safe use, storage and disposal. Manufacturers include instructions for your safety and to protect themselves from liability.
- It may seem tempting to stand on the top step of a ladder when what you you need is a taller ladder. You know what happened to Humpty Dumpty.
- Prevent tragic burns or poisonings to yourself, pets or children due to improper use or storage of chemicals. Even substances labeled “organic” or “natural” require special care.
Cover up
West Nile, Lyme disease, stinging insects, biting spiders, sunburn, skin cancer, allergies, stones or branches poking you in the eye, oh my! Of course, you are already wearing gloves. Consider the location, hour and weather when you are working. Cover up and wear insect repellent at dawn and dusk, the prime hours of mosquito activity. Midday is the best time to avoid pollen but may require hat or sunscreen. When mowing, weed whacking, working around shrubs or pruning trees consider some form of eye protection from flying stones and whipping branches. When working in brush or near riparian areas cover up, wear insect repellent and check yourself afterward for ticks.
Lift properly
You know: bend your knees, don’t use your back, don’t strain. Let professionals do the big jobs. Let levers and pulleys assist with lifting; the wheelbarrow and wagon assist with hauling.
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October 25, 2006 Part 1
Why Call Before You Dig?
Number 10 in the list of top 10 Stupid Garden Mistakes Anyone Could Make: Plant over underground utility lines.
Stupid Gardening Mistakes
When I first planted my landscaping ten years ago I made many mistakes. Its design and shape have evolved and will continue to change.
Number 10 in the list of top 10 Stupid Garden Mistakes Anyone Could Make: Plant over underground utility lines.
The first thing a gardener should do when you begin planning is to call PG&E, water and sanitary districts and have them mark your gas, water and sewer underground lines. Utility companies promote their free “call before you dig” campaign for a reason. They want to prevent accidents, like explosions or electrocution, caused by punctures from garden tools or machinery.
I did have the utility lines marked but I ignored an important rule for gardeners, know the growth habits of what you are planting and how big it will get when mature.
On Long Island, where I lived for many years, every yard featured birches. I planted three slender birches in our Novato front yard that have filled in and now reach towards overhead power lines.
While birches survive heat and low watering, they shed their leaves during heat waves and burn easily. We appreciate the privacy they provide in the summer but do not like it when they are bare in the winter months. Birch trees want water, a lot of water. Their roots are notoriously aggressive. These natural clumpers have spread from their root base. Their roots are now wrapped around and in our sewer lines and cause periodic problems.
We brought a ten-year-old palm that was about two feet high from Berkeley. I took it out of its flower pot and planted it next to the driveway near the corner of the house. Today that palm is about twenty feet tall, each frond is easily six feet wide.
Palms, depending on the type, can grow quite tall. That cute little palm has been identified as a Washingtonia. It will reach 75 to 90 feet in height when mature and will soon need professional pruning. Palms have very shallow roots and during a long wet season in high winds, they can fall over. Our little palm tree is now about two feet wide at the base, fifteen feet wide at the crown and its roots are wrapped around the gas line. What would happen to the gas line if the palm fell over in an earthquake?
What to do?
I will call the utilities, have them remark the lines including depth, then very carefully dig these naughty plants out by hand. Power tools or even small machinery can damage underground utility lines. Believe me, I’ve consulted with professional landscapers.
Good replacements for the birches would be smaller shrubs, preferably natives, set well back from the sewer line. My choice is ceonothus, (California lilac). C. ‘Concha’ is a dependable bloomer, can be trained as a hedge, reaches six to nine feet fairly quickly and tolerates clay soil better than many. Ceonothus will have the advantage of preferring no summer water when established and will provide the year-round privacy that is needed in that part of the yard.
I will replace the palm with a phormium, being careful not to choose one of the giant flax varieties. Flax’s one to two inch wide and often colorful leaves will provide the punctuation I originally intended in that sunny space. I also want something that is extremely low maintenance, that will look attractive year round. Spotted around town: Phormium cookianum ‘Cream Delight’ grows 3 feet tall sprawls to 6 feet wide (this will help cover an otherwise bare spot) striped cream, green and red; ‘Dazzler’ is more upright, grows to 3 feet tall, striped maroon and scarlet.
Resources:
Underground Service Alert (USA)/PG&E “Call Before you Dig” 1 (800) 227-2600
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October 4, 2006
Spiders, Nasella Grass
Spiders have moved into the house, cobwebs everywhere. Most live only one season and they are moving in to extend their brief lifespans, perhaps to lay eggs that will hatch when the weather warms again. Crickets slow their chirping calls, smoke-haze lazy afternoon light presages winter rains and burnishes the autumn foliage of grapevines, golden ash, crimson maple and pistache. Star-filled night air nips and warns of coming frosts.
Spiders are welcome in the garden. Most of the spiders in our garden are beneficial predators, helping to keep pest insects under control, reducing the population of mosquitoes. It is interesting to see them up close under a magnifying glass and try to count their eyes. Soft yet sturdy cobwebs are a main ingredient of tiny hummingbird nests, providing structure and insulation. Black widows are not interested in me, but may bite if disturbed. I exercise caution and wear gloves when I work around areas where I know the black widows live, like the woodpile and clay pot stacks located purposely away from the house.
We try to coexist with spiders. When we find them in the house we make a point to move them back into the garden where their work is better appreciated. My husband is insistent that we rescue our household spiders. He uses a cup and paper. Put a cup or jar over the spider, slip a piece of paper under the spider between wall and cup, then slide the cup off the wall while holding the paper on top, bring the cup outside and release.
I keep cobwebs brushed away from outside window frames and doorways. When my daughter starts to name the doorway inhabitants I know it is time to get out the broom. Spiders are discouraged by frequent sweeping and will look for a more hospitable location.
Cooler weather also brings the return of hiking season.
Here are two Marin Open Space Ranger led hikes in Novato:
Indian Tree Open Space: A shaded upward climb leads to a redwood stand. Friday October 6, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Meet at Vineyard Rd. Trailhead at the west end of Vineyard Road.
Oaks of Marin: Compare oak species and their role in the ecosystem. Saturday October 28 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Meet at the San Andreas Trailhead near the end of San Andreas off San Marin.
Hi Jeanne,
LOVE your column in the paper! I was reading your Lazy Gardener column (April 6, 2005) online and you mentioned a stand of our state grass, Purple Needlegrass (Nasella pulchra) that you saw on a hike. I believe you said it was high up on Mt. Burdell - on a trail that you picked up at the Simmons Trailhead. Assuming that I could find that Trailhead, could you please tell me approximately where in relation to the start of it I would be able to find Nasella pulchra on the trail? 1/4 mile in, 1/2 mile?
Sincerely,
Sue G.
As I recall, the Nasella was at the top of a hillside at least a half-mile, maybe even at mile two or three along the hike. Some of the hike was on switchback trails and involved some vertical ascent though it wasn't a difficult climb. The closer you get to the top with bare ground and exposed serpentine without much topsoil, the more likely you are to see native grasses and wildflowers as little else will grow there.
Some native plant nurseries carry nasella. That would be a good way to become familiar with it.
I'm not conversant enough with the trails to tell you exactly where to find it, but either the California Native Plant Society hike leaders should be able to help or the Marin Open Space rangers. They are the true experts and know the trails well, I'm strictly amateur.
Check out their websites and go on a ranger led hike. They each have hikes several times a week. The rangers are incredibly knowledgeable, the other hikers friendly and the hikes are always fun.
Resources:
California Native Plant Society, www.cnps.org Marin Chapter
Marin Open Space District, www.marinopenspace.org
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Fall Home and Garden
Coexisting with Deer
We are privleged to live in an area with vast open spaces that is home to wildlife that was here before we moved in. Free running creeks provide highways for hungry deer when the water is low. How do we learn to live with Bambi and his mother when they continue to eat our beloved and tenderly nurtured gardens? They are both smarter and more stupid than we think. We can use this to our advantage by considering deer when we garden. We also have to be realistic and acknowledge that they will sample our plantings but the plants will normally recover.
Deer are hungry in the fall. Their food is scarce late in the dry season. They will eat anything you plant. If you have deer in your neighborhood they will find your tender young plants and demolish them as though they were deer hors d’oervres.
Deer sleep under the windows of Roy and Lucille’s home in Ignacio near the golf course. Other neighbors tell of a splendid three-point buck sleeping in their ferns. Roy says, “We have a symbiotic relationship with the deer. We use them for trimming the lawn and isotoma.” Azealeas and Japanese maples in their shade garden were “covered with net for the first two years. After that the deer leave them alone.” Their front yard is a healthy mix of ornamental grasses and Mediterranean plants.
Charlotte Torgovitsky, Marin Art and Garden Center Garden Education Director says that the cultivated gardens at the Marin Art and Garden Center with the exception of the Rose Garden are completely open to deer who are considered permanent residents. Much of her own habitat garden near Deer Island is open to deer. “Nursery plants, when they are new put out, entice deer with their lush tender growth. Once established and hardened off, deer are not as interested.”
So what planting methods work if you have deer for neighbors?
First try to plant in the fall, a month or so after the winter rains arrive. At that point there is plenty of food for deer. Protect young trees with netting or wire so they can become established.
Repellents
Use deer repellent when setting out new plantings. Charlotte scatters blood meal and human hair scraps when setting out new plants. Birds will also use the hair scraps to build nests.
Strong smells, bad tastes, predator urine work when first applied though deer often become accustomed to the odors which need frequent reapplication. In addition, new growth is not protected. Coyote urine, egg meal and rotten-egg based products are reportedly the most successful requiring as little as once a month application. One drawback is that some products smell really bad to humans when first applied.
Katherine Grace Endicott’s recipe for deer repellent calls for 5 eggs to one cup water in a blender, Bob Tanem recommends 2 eggs, 1 cup each skim milk and water and “spreader sticker” available from garden centers.
Scare Tactics
Scare tactics like sound, scarecrows and strobelights have limited effectiveness. Deer learn they are no real threat.
Deer Fence
Deer fencing is the most effective deer deterrent.
Wood and metal deer fencing should be a minimum of 7 to 8 feet high. Deer can jump up to 10 feet if they get a running start. Fencing is not supportive of wildlife habitat, inhibits small animal migration and travel corridors, and should be used in limited areas where you grow roses or vegetables or desire privacy. Solid walls of wood fencing keeps out everything and endangers wildlife such as salamanders and red-spotted frogs. Traditional wood or metal fencing is highly visible which detracts from rural ambiance and cost may be prohibitive. The least expensive fencing, chain link, can be used to support vines such as lonicera (honeysuckle) and has openings for small creatures to pass through.
Roy has two parallel rows of 5 foot-tall combination wood and wire fencing with widely spaced boards. Located between his shaded fountain area and open space to protect his roses. Birds are welcome visitors to the fountain but deer will not enter an area they think they can’t escape from. The narrow spacing between the fences doesn’t allow them to get a running start.
Electric deer fence
Deer learn to run through quickly and push through electrified wires. Shock is minimized by their insulating fur. Wires are easily broken by fallen vegetation. This method is best used on large lots or farms with few deer.
Black mesh polypropylene fence
Charlotte keeps deer out of the tender young plants in her propagation area as well as her vegetable and fruit garden. She recommends Benner’s Garden Fencing that can be ordered online. Made of sturdy black, grid-like polypropylene, the 7.5 foot high fencing is barely visible from twenty feet away. Deer have poor depth perception and can’t tell how high it is when they run into it. She and her son Anders Bjorn were able to install 1/2 acre of posts and netting in less than three days. Medium grade netting will support 450 pounds of pressure. “The labor is easy, and it blends into the background.” Post inserts are easy to install. PVC posts fit into a metal insert that can be pounded into the ground without digging holes or using cement. Heavy perimeter fencing lasts from 15 to 20 years.
Test the strength of any deer fencing before purchasing. Most companies will supply a small sample.
Resources:
“Deer Resistant Planting” by Bob Tanem
“Northern California Gardening” by Katherine Grace Endicott
Benner’s Gardens Deer Fence: 1 (800) 244-3337, www.BennersGardens.com
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Deer resistant, Fire resistant, non-invasive plants
Uneducated deer will eat anything. Deer are particulary attracted to soft new growth or new plantings, they are more hungry when there are many in one area, they are most hungry at the end of the dry season. No plant is deer proof.
Novato has many communities that are considered urban-wildland interface. Part of the wonder of living near a wild area is making responsible plant choices. The California Invasive Plant Council lists invasive plants that should not be planted near open space or alongside creeks. The Novato Fire Department has recommendations for non-pyrophytic plants also called fire resistant planting.
If we compare the lists and walk around our neighborhoods to see which plants have successfully resisted deer depradations, we can come up with a short list of successful plants for most areas of Novato.
Bulbs: Many bulb plants are deer resistant. Narcissus are recommended as both deer and gopher resistant. Ornamental Alliums (prefer some summer water) and Tulbagia violacea (Society Garlic prefers dry feet) will tolerate sun, shade, moist or dry conditions.
Vines: Campsis radicans (trumpet vine), Wisteria
Hedges: Screening for privacy can be created using a staggered, well spaced mix of trees, shrubs and groundcovers Hedges and espaliers are by nature pyrophytic and to be avoided in a designated special fire zone.
Ornamental or bunch grasses
Ornamental Grasses are deer resistant. Grasses, unless well irrigated, are not considered fire resistant. Used sparingly in an open landscape plan they can be a gorgeous accent, adding the feeling of movement to the garden. Here are a few favorites.
Small: Festuca glauca (dwarf blue fescue)
Medium: Carex buchanii (Leatherleaf sedge), Muhlenbergia (native deer grass)
Large: Miscanthus sinensis (silver feather grass) esp. ‘Morning Light’, Calamagrostis ‘Karl Forster’,
A word of caution: Pennisetum Purple Fountain Grass and Tennuisima “Mexican Feather Grass” has the potential to become invasive due to profuse seed production and airborne dispersion. Do not plant this near open space or creeks.
Dry sun or part-sun areas
Succulents
Aeonium, Agave, Aloe, Echeverias (Hens & Chicks), and Sedum (Stonecrop), Some prefer shelter from hottest sun.
Iceplant can become invasive. Grow overhanging a retaining wall or confined by pavement.
Perennials:
Agapanthus
Artemesia caucasica
Asters
Baccharis pilularis prostratus (Dwarf coyote bush)
California poppies
Coleonema pulchra (breath of heavven)
Dietes (fortnight lilies, African iris),
Erysiumum linifolium (wallflower)
Hemericalis (daylily)
Kniphofia (Red hot poker).
Lantana
Lavender esp. English and French
Mimulus (monkey flower),
Penstemon
Phormium (flax)
Salvias
Teucrium (dwarf varieties)
Verbena
Groundcovers:
Achillea tomentosa
Arctostaphylus hookeri (Monterey Carpet)
Arctotheca calendula
Myoporum parviflorium
Santolina (Lavender cotton)
Epilobium (California Fuchsia)
Shrubs:
Arctostapholus uva ursi (bearberry);
Atriplex semibaccats (Australian Saltbush)
Berberis (barberry)
Ceonothus griseus horizontalis (Carmel Creeper) and C. gloriosus (Point Reyes Ceonothus), C. ‘Dark Star’
Garrya eliptica (silk tassel)
Heteromeles arbutifolia (toyon)
Rhamnus californica (coffeeberry)
Teucrium fruticans (bush germander)
Westringia
Trees:
Arbutus unedo (strawberry tree)
Cercis occidentalis (Western Redbud)
Cerocarpus butiloides (Mountain mahogany)
Chinese Pistache
Dodonaea viscosa (hopseed bush)
Fraxinus angustifolia (ash)
Oaks:Quercus species such as lobata or douglasii
Rhamnus alaternus (Italian Buckthorn)
Robinia pseudoacacia (locust)
Dry shade, part-shade areas
Perennials:
Heuchera (Coral Bells)
Iris douglassiana
Pacific Coast iris
Mimulus
Penstemon
Ferns: Dryopteris, sword
Groundcover:
Coprosma kirkii (Creeping Crocosma)
Mahonia repens
Thymus praecox articus (Creeping thyme),
Shrubs:
Carpenteria californica (Bush anemone)
Mahonia aquifolium (Oregon grapeholly)
Rhus integrifolia (Lemonade berry)
Trees:
Cornus nuttallii (Pacific dogwood).
Moist, well drained areas
Bulbs: Alstroemeria (Peruvian Lily),Cyclamen
Eastern Dogwoods
Ferns
Helictotrichon sempervirens (Blue Oat Grass)
Japanese iris
Liriope (Turf Lily)
Lonicera (honeysuckle)
Maples
Resources
California Invasive Plant Council, www.cal-ipc.org
Deer Resistant Planting by Bob Tanem, www.bobtanem.com
Sunset Western Garden Book, List of Deer Resistant Plants
Firewise Plant List, www.firesafemarin.org
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, www.firesafe.com/firescape.html
Novato Fire Department www.novatofire.org
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Fall Garden Checklist
- Feed
Feed spring flowering shrubs, lawns. Choose an organic, naturally slow release product or feed by mulching or digging in compost. Do not feed native plants with anything other than mulch or compost. Alfalfa pellets (purchase at Arena Feed on Redwood) sprinkled around the roses or on the lawn will work wonders.
- Seed
Collect wildflower seed. Best time to plant native wildflower seed is after first rains. Collect seed from your summer vegetable, perennial or annual garden favorites to start next year.
Start seeds for winter veggies from seed now, to plant in October.
- Plant
Spring bulbs. Everyone has room for a few (or more) narcissus, avoided by both deer and gophers.
Cool season lettuce seed or other greens directly in soil.
Winter veggies like broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage and root crops like carrot, parsnip, beet, radish.
Fall is the best time to plant natives, perennials, shrubs. Cool weather and winter rains give them time to form strong root systems before next year’s dry season and hot weather.
Local Native Plant Nurseries
Call ahead to verify hours.
Brian George Landscapes and Nursery (weekends only) (415) 897-0517, Gage Lane in Novato,
Buckeye Nursery, (707) 559-7081, 2405 Old Adobe Road off East Washington, Petaluma
* Well worth the drive! California Flora Nursery, (707) 528-8113, Somers and D Streets, Fulton, www.calfloranursery.com
Mostly Natives Nursery, (707) 878-2009, 27235 Highway One, Tomales, www.mostlynatives.com
North Coast Native Nursery (707) 769-1230, 2710 Chileno Valley Road, Petaluma, www.northcoastnatienursery.com
- Cleanup
Roses and camellias
Clean up fallen, damaged leaves or flowers on the plant and around the soil of roses and camellias. Dispose in household trash and do not compost.
Perennials, shrubs, trees
Protect your trees from wind damage. Prune out any dead twigs or branches. Clean out the dead and dried portions around the base of ornamental grasses. Add disease free trimmings to compost or use for mulch. To mulch in place, cut up or chip clippings and green waste and leave where you found them.
Lawn
Dethatch/aerate your lawn. Improves drainage. Prevents formation of undesirable fungus (mushrooms).
- Divide
Large perennial clumps such as Shasta daisies or society garlic or overcrowded bearded iris. Share them with your neighbors or the Novato Garden Club that meets at the Margaret Todd Senior Center second Wednesdays at 11 a.m. Contact: 892-2067.
- Weed
Stay on top of weeding, raking. Rains will arrive soon and sprout any seeds or weeds you leave in place.
Apply a corn gluten based pre-emergent before the rainy season.
- Mulch: Why mulch in the winter?
Prevent weed seeds from sprouting, make it easier to pull them out if they do sprout.
Prevents erosion of hillsides.
Insulates roots against extreme cold.
Decomposes slowly and enriches the soil.
Do keep mulch pulled away from the base of plants to prevent the spread of disease. Ideal depth is between two to four inches.
Sonoma Compost “Early Mulch”
Inexpensive Sonoma Compost “Early Mulch” is a preferred alternative to the high priced, mat forming, highly flammable shredded redwood “gorilla hair.” Early Mulch is available coarse or screened, allows water to drain through, decomposes slowly and provides great background color and texture in landscaping applications. Useful for hillside erosion control. (707) 578-5459, www.sonomacompost.com
Free wood chips
Novato Corporation Yard, 550 Davidson St. Self-service.
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Organic Fertilizers
How can a you tell if you are purchasing a truly non-toxic, organic product for your garden, landscape or lawn?
You are concerned about your family’s health, your pet’s well-being and the effect of your purchasing decision on your community.
Know your soil
First,you will want to invest some time in getting to know your garden soil. Is it mostly clay, sand or loam? Is it more or less acidic?
You could use a soil test kit. You can also walk into your local nursery or garden center, tell them where you live, how long it takes for water to drain into the soil and what kinds of plants are successful. Experienced staff should be able to guess pretty closely what type of soil you have. After discussing your landscaping plans, they will be able to make general recommendations for soil amendment.
Build your soil
Second, gardening organically means that you will be improving the soil gradually, building its structure and microbiotic life. Amending with healthy compost (decomposed organic matter) improves aearation and water retention. Functioning very much like a healthy human body, healthy soil contains nutrients, micro-organisms, beneficial bacteria, mycorrhizae and helps supply air and water to plant roots.
A soil enriching compost or fertilizer will include a mix of aged manure, guano, decomposed plant material, beneficial myicroorganisms and may also include worm compost or seaweed.
Additives may include sand, peat moss, trace elements, blood meal, bone meal, gypsum or rock dust.
Sloat’s Loam Builder, Grab N’ Gro Mango Mulch or Sonoma Compost are good examples of enriched organic compost. Build your soil and you will have a healthy garden.
Mycorrhizae: the good fungus
The word "mycorrhizae" literally means "fungus-roots" and defines the mutually beneficial relationship between specialized soil fungi (mycorrhizal fungi) and plant roots.
About 95% of the world’s land plants form the mycorrhizal relationship in their native habitats. It’s estimated that mycorrhizal fungal filaments explore a thousand times more soil volume compared to roots alone.
Worms: the wonderful digester
Worm compost is a component of many organic soil amendments and fertilizers. It is rich in both heathy micro-organisms and mycorrhizal fungus. In a process called vermicomposting, worms digest organic materials. Nutrients are changed by the worms digestive system into forms which can be used by plants.
Worm compost is highly valued by organic and biointensive gardeners. The biointensive method focuses on maximum yields from the minimum area of land, while simultaneously improving the soil. The goal of the method is long term sustainability.
Worm bins and vermiculture can make a great project for families and schools. While any compost pile will attract worms, the best processors are the red worm Eisenia fetida. You can order red worms through Suburban Habitat on Grant Ave.
How to read labels of fertilizers and weed suppressants
In order to make the best purchase possible you will need to read product labels. Read the cautions on package labels. Read the contents. N=Nitrogen, P=Potassium, K=Phosphorus.
Code words in product names
Avoid all products with the suffix -cide at the end. It is Latin for “killer.” Avoid all products that are labled “broad spectrum” or chemical “Weed and Feed” products.
Corn gluten is a pre-emergent (best applied before the rainy season and the spring growing season) It is a natural, safe product to use as a weed suppressant. It can be applied alone or in combination with an organic fertilizer.
Organic fertilizers must specify which nutrient(s) is organic and it must be identified as either synthetic and/or natural, by percentage. For example: 20% of Nitrogen organic (6% synthetic, 14% organic). When a fertilizer is labeled "organic", it means it contains carbon atoms. It can be naturally produced from plant or animal tissue or synthetically manufactured.
Urea, used to provide nitrogen, can be organically produced or manufactured synthetically.
Signal words on labels
The signal word on the label tells how toxic a product is. Signal words to look for are danger (highly toxic), warning (moderately toxic), and caution (slightly toxic). The Consumers Union’s Guide to Environmental Labels at www.eco-labels.org has information on many commonly used labels and how to interpret them.
Brands and stores
Purchase products from a store that you trust and from knowledgeable staff. There are many new organic products and brands on the market designed for general use or specific plants or soil conditions. E.B. Stone, Fox Farm “Peace of Mind,” MaxSea, Safer, MiracleGro Organic Choice to name a few. Each garden center features several lines often including their own name label.
OMRI
Commercial fertilizers, composts and mulches may be labled with an OMRI Listing. The Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI) is a nonprofit that specializes in the review of substances for use in organic production, processing, and handling. OMRI's Board of Directors is broadly representative of the industry segments with members distributed among certifiers, farmers, suppliers, processors, handlers, consumer organizations, and animal welfare and environmental groups.
Consumer’s Union
While some environmental labels including "Organic" and "Green Seal" are backed by strict independent certification, others are unregulated, making claims such as "non-toxic" and "all natural." The Consumers Union’s Guide to Environmental Labels at www.eco-labels.org has information on many commonly used labels.
USDA: United States Department of Agriculture
100% Organic
Can only contain organically produced ingredients.
Organic
95% of the ingredients must be organically grown. 5% must come from non-organic ingredients that have been approved on the National List.
Made With Organic Ingredients
At least 70% organic ingredients, three of which must be listed on the back of the package. 30% of the non-organic ingredients must be ingredients that have been approved on the National List.
Resources
Red worms:
Suburban Habitat, 866 Grant Ave., Novato, (415) 898-7678, www.suburbanhabitat.com.
Organic certification:
www.omri.org
www.ams.usda.gov
Sonoma Compost,
(707) 578-5459, www.sonomacompost.com
Mango Mulch
Green Point Nursery, wholesale and retail at 275 Olive at Atherton in Novato (415) 892-2442. Owner Jim Ballestreri sells Mango Mulch ready-to-use in bags for $7.50/cubic foot. He will also arrange for bulk delivery. Open weekdays only, 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m
Mango Mulch is also available at Cottage Gardens in Petaluma and Green Jeans in Mill Valley
Grab ‘N Gro (707) 575-7275, 2759 Llano Rd, Santa Rosa, www.grabngro.com.
Local Retail Nurseries: Feature organic products
Armstrong Garden Center (415) 878-0493, 1430 S. Novato Blvd. at Rowland, www.Armstrong.com
California Bay Nursery (415) 883-6383, 399 Entrada Way in Ignacio, www.calbaynurseries.com
Sloat Garden Center (415) 897-2169, 2000 Novato Blvd. at Wilson, www.sloatgardens.com
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August 30, 2006 Permeable Hardscaping is the Cool solution: Hardscape/Heat Islands/Permeable Pavement
Before you rip out any landscape plantings and replace it with hardscape or paving you should consider the cooling effect of plants: “Evapotranspiration [from plants] can result in peak summer temperature reductions of 2 to 9°F (1° to 5°C),” US EPA. You can also consider permeable paving alternatives that are cooler than traditional concrete or asphalt. Impervious paving causes water runoff and contributes directly to flooding, pervious paving allows water to drain into the soil and recharges our water table.
The hot spell we had this summer is a foretaste of our future. Walks around the block are a revelation as to which plants were damaged by the heat and which were not. Some tender plants look as though crisped by a blow torch. Established native plants suffered least and exotic tropicals, semi-tropical or temperate plants were cooked the most.An interesting thing to note is where the damage occurs. Foliage closest to reflected heat from pavement, walls and buildings were hardest hit.
While downtown residents sweltered in 115 degree temperatures, official temperature records for Novato indicated highs of 100 or 105. If you live near creeks or in a more rural area with trees or fields, your highest temperature may have been cooler still. This is a good example of the “Heat Island Effect.” Visitors to cities like Phoenix or Tucson are well familiar with increased temperature changes caused in large part by the high percentage of the landscape that has been covered by paving and roofing. In major metropolitan cities as much as 90% of the land is covered. You could feel the heat radiating from the sidewalks during a late night walk in downtown Novato during the heatwave
The United States Environmental Protection Agency takes this seriously. Numerous studies include years of recorded climate change due to urbanization. The EPA Heat Island website lists some “Cool Pavement” suggestions including the use of permeable (pervious or porous) pavement for roads, parking lots and walkways. Porous pavements have been called “the holy grail of environmental site design” and “potentially the most important development in urban watersheds since the invention of the automobile”.
Large areas of pavement divert water from your landscape into storm drains and can adversely affect the drainage around your house. The Marin County Stormwater Pollution Prevention Program (MCSTOPPP) recommends the use of permeable paving for two reasons: one to prevent stormwater runnoff that contributes to flooding, and two to prevent water pollution of our creeks, reservoirs and bay.
The MCSTOPPP guide to “Creating Pervious Surfaces for New Development and Redevelopment” is useful for building professionals as well as homeowners. Porous asphalt, permeable concrete, brick, cobbles and gravel are rated for success by soil type and typical layered construction is described and illustrated. If I read the chart correctly, my area in Novato with clay soil would be best paved with gravel instead of porous asphalt or concrete.
Some homeowners may combine concrete with pavers or gravel. A partial concrete driveway with gravel between the wheel tracks is a good example. Slate steppingstones set in decomposed granite is a beautiful, low maintenance alternative to concrete pathways in the landscape. An attractive patio can be created with groundcovers planted in between slate or stone pavers.
A permeable hardscape is the “cool” solution. Ask your contractor about permeable or pervious materials. If feng shui includes the healthy movement of wind and water in harmony with the landscape then permeable hardscape has good chi.
Resources:
Environmental Protection Agency: Heat Island Effect http://www.epa.gov/hiri/index.html.
Marin County Stormwater Pollution Prevention Program www.mcstoppp.org link to Resources for New Development Construction
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August 23, 2006 Heard it in the Summer Garden
If naked ladies are in bloom, then summer must be waning, marked by pink, sweetly fragrant Amaryllis belladonna, beautiful lady, a South African native.
I’m housesitting in Indian Valley. On a fog drip morning I take the dog for a walk. We pass small brown and white birds carrying dried grass into a hole in a fence post. He pauses, stares. Hoofs thump, a white-tailed fawn bounds up the dry creek.
It’s a late season for blackberries, my fingers quickly become purple stained, more small birds are thrashing about, feasting in the vines. I send the children to the henhouse where they look for blue and green eggs. The red and gold chickens bok, bok, bok, eager for handouts.
Wind sighs through pines in the afternoon, rattles oak leaves, rustles miscanthus grass and strokes the lawn. Blue jays scrap and shriek through the air; children’s voices whisper, laugh and tease; balls thwack, wheels scrape, hawks cry and peacocks mew.
Hummingbird wings thrum as they dart past in their tireless pursuit of nectar, whistle in aerial dive displays. Apples and plums knock leaves and branches as they plop to the ground. Mmm, pie tonight. Footsteps crunch on a gravel path, clatter across cobblestones. An unearthly screeching at dusk could be peacock or turkey, nearby horses whicker and snort.
The garden is never silent.
Nightfall brings on the cricket chorus. On open window nights their pulsing rhythms sooth our restless dreams. A night heron croaks, an owl hoots, its wing ghosts overhead. In August in the time of the Persied meteor showers we look for dark areas away from city lights to better see the shooting stars. We lie on the earth telling stories to pass the time as we wait for our eyes to adjust to the darkness and the hour to grow later.
“Chi” is the flow of energy through the garden, feng shui can be translated as wind and water, harmony with nature. Sound is the unseen element of the garden that implies the movement of living beings, the movement of air, of life. Nature breathes chi.
A garden with good feng shui welcomes living beings, is filled with bird song, may be home to the moving water of a small fountain or a delicate wind chime.
There’s a time and place for power tools but they block all other sounds. Lawn mowers and yard blowers are not harmonious. Rake, broom and hand trimmers provide good exercise and create better harmony. The sounds made by rake tines and broom whisks are pleasing to the ear. Hands on gardening is good strength training for the body and soul, reducing stress and increasing longevity.
Loud music closes the mind to the surrounding natural world. Take the headphones off, turn the volume down, listen to the silence and begin to number the background sounds you notice. When the kids are whining, the chores seem insurmountable, stop, go outside, take a hike or walk around the block, be silent and stand still in a quiet place for a few minutes. Ask them, ask yourself, “What do you hear?” You will be amazed at the amount of life that is hidden in the background of our daily life. What sounds would you like to hear in your garden?
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August 9, 2006
Waipuna and Hydro Mechanical Obliteration weed smackdown
Veronica V. and myself met at Phoenix Lake in Ross with creek protectors, native plant advocates, open space managers, park rangers, farmers and Sacramento waste management directors for a presentation on “New Technologies for Non-Chemical Control of Invasive Weeds on Public Lands and Watersheds” in recognition of California Invasive Weeds Awareness Week.
Dan Glusencamp. President, California Invasive Pest Plant Council underscored the importance of prevention, early detection, and rapid response against invasive plants as excellent investments for California. “Invasive plants are symptoms of a sick system.” Co-sponsor of the presentation, The Marin/Sonoma Weed Management area is a divers coalition. “Those who make their living from the land and those who love plant diversity have found common cause.”
Growing three to five times faster than natives, invasive plant species are the second-greatest threat to endangered species, after habitat destruction. Scotch broom is one of many invasives such as yellow star thistle, pampas grass, English ivy or eucalyptus found in Novato’s open space hills and trailsides. They are low in nutrition, crowd out native plants, increase fire fuel load and are often water hogs.
Janet Klein, Vegetation Ecologist of the Marin Municipal Water District, explained that in the Phoenix Lake weed management area, broom is managed primarily by mowing. Unmown, broom reaches six feet tall within two years. Broom shoots seed 12 yards and can spread to 70 acres a year. Hand pulling is difficult and time consuming. Goats have been tested but will not eat broom. The use of the chemical pesticide Roundup or glyphosphate can’t be used near the drinking water reservoir because of its potential toxicity to humans.
Stacy Carlson, Marin County Agricultural Commisioner, introduced us to two new promising technologies as the “first step of future alternatives so that we can leave pesticides behind.“
Hydro Mechanical Obliteration (HMO) is a high-pressure water system. Up to 5,600 psi and 1.9 to 3.2 gallons of water per minute cuts tall grass, cattails, pampas, donax, bamboo, ivy and can even remove trees and rototill. We watched as Cameron Colson directed high-pressure cold water onto a ten-by-twenty foot swath of thirty-inch tall grass and broom. Within less than 30 seconds the soil was churned, roots ripped out of the ground and plants pulped. Gasps from the crowd! We could not believe our eyes and bent down to feel the still relatively dry soil and liquified plant material. An added bonus: the process can increase the amount of healthful bacteria in the soil.
Cameron has successfully eradicated Bermuda grass by rototilling the soil two to three times in a year. Mainly used to create firebreaks and for soil improvement with same day results, selective use allows shrubs to remain in place.
Waipuna Hot Foam System is currently used near the river Thames in London, in Yellowstone Park and by the Bureau of Land Management. David Montero, a Novato resident, is the Public Works Superintendent of Corte Madera, the first city in California to adopt this method on all public access areas including schools, bike trails and parks. The application process is relatively “slow and is not efficient for use on roadways. It has been used successfully at San Clemente School, the Neil Cummins School and nearby park and is effective with two applications per year.”
We watched Ian Webster apply hot foam with a wand that resembled a carpet cleaner. Foam is composed of a corn/coconut sugar extract (it is not sweet or attractive to insects) and insulates hot water (to 207ºF) applied at walking speed.
Tree bark can be girdled at the base of the trunk and allowed to die in place for later removal. Hot foam penetrates the soil to two inches deep and does kill some seeds. Ian easily lifted large clumps of broom straight out of the ground. A weed patch treated the previous week was cleared of dead and loosened grass and brush in seconds by hand.
Further Info:
Cameron Colson, Hydro Mechanical Obliteration (408) 374-4935, www.californiacompliant.com
Ian Webster, (630) 514-1501, Waipuna Hot Foam, www.waipuna.com
California Invasive Plants Council www.cal-ipc.org
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August 2, 2006
Hot August Garden Tasks
Your garden survived the hot spell, but not without a lot of effort. Well-mulched plants were noticeably less stressed. Native shrubs dropped leaves and perennials died back to summer dormancy.
The abrupt transition to blast furnace toasted roses. Don’t compromise on fire safety but remember that if you trim back heavily during a heat wave, newly exposed leaves that were formerly shaded will also crisp up. Shade them if possible or try to wait for a few cooler days in a row.
Hot August in bloom: Crape myrtles, white-flowered magnolia, asters, penstemon, evening primrose, salvias, four o’clocks, hummingbird vine. Fragrant night bloomers: jessamin (Cestrum nocturnum), moonflower (Ipomea alba), Nicotiana alata ‘Grandiflora’.
Continue weeding (weeds steal water), mulch to keep roots cool, water deeply early in the morning, mow lawn high, build watering basins around vegetables and use drip or soaker hose. Midday watering is wasteful, it evaporates quickly, water beads up and burns tender leaves like a magnifying glass, especially disfiguring succulents.
This is our hottest, driest time with long hours of daylight, strong afternoon winds and extreme fire danger. Exercise caution when pruning, weed whacking, or mowing. Blades and rocks can create sparks, large brush piles can get hot enough to ignite.
Continue deadheading (remove spent blooms) flowers to extend bloom season. Leave Rosa rugosa rose hips on their stems for a bright orange fall display and to attract birds.
Watch vegetables or annuals carefully for stress and soak well when you do water. Don’t let tomato plants dry out or leaves will curl and they will be prone to blossom end rot. Sign of too much water: small zucchini drop off the plants.
Pick and dig most vegetables when young for best flavor and texture, pick cucumbers so they will keep producing. zucchini can swell into monster contest winners overnight and lose all flavor if left on the vine. Pick veggies and harvest herbs on cool mornings for the fullest flavor.
Prop up heavy fruit branches to prevent breaking. Late rains helped create a bumper plum and fig crop with enough to give to neighbors. It’s one of the best in ten years. I’m racing to pick them before the birds get to them.
Pick up windfall
To discourage ant colonies and deter rodents, pick up fallen fruit and dispose in your household waste. Do not dispose of fruit with pits in yard waste.
Dry Fruit
Oil cookie pans and dry pitted halved or sliced fruit in a slow oven of 200 degrees for six to eight hours or more, turn several times. In hot weather, a metal shed roof makes a great drying rack. Cover pitted fruit with cheesecloth and turn daily for several days.
Protect ornamental lilies from full sun and afternoon winds, stake. Plant autumn flowering bulbs like crocus and Spider lilies (Lycoris). Other than bulbs, do not transplant or plant at this time, your odds of success are not the best. That said if you do plant, monitor closely, protect from sunlight and water new plantings almost daily for the first few weeks.
Vacationing? If you don’t already have flowerpots on driplines and timers use wicks that can draw water from a reservoir or water container. Biodegradable gel packs can slow-release self-water. If you won’t be away for more than a week or two you can fill a tub with an inch or so of water and place your houseplants in the tub with some light coming from a window or skylight.
Looking Ahead
Year-round gardeners are already thinking ahead to winter seeds for root crops, onions, peas, lettuce and browsing bulb catalogs for fall planting of winter and spring bulbs.
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July 13, 2006
Creating Memories
We speak of summer vacations as defined by our travels. Our gardens also flavor our summer memories with al fresco dining with friends, water play, quiet nights lying on the earth starwatching and storytelling.
Children experience garden time in a way that differs from adults. When small we were closer to the ground, able to keep a close eye on insect and animal activity, whether a pill bug scuttling in the shade, bees dancing in the flowers, an earthworm pushing soil aside or a spider patiently wrapping a desperately struggling fly caught in its shimmering web.
The child who helps you deadhead petunias, marigold and salvia today is sitting on the earth, sweating a bit and complaining that her fingers are sticky. Later she gathers sticks for dinosaur traps, succulent leaves to feed dragons, grasses to mix into magic potions and makes mint tea with a bit of sugar from the kitchen.
Someday the scent of marigolds, of crushed herbs or the glitter of mica in broken stones will recall the long lazy days of summer.
The teen who cuts the lawn and trims hedges is grumbling while inhaling fragrant mown grass, brushing against lavender. He’s detached for a moment from the computer, getting exercise, earning a few bucks, tasting sun-warmed tomatoes plucked from the vine.
It’s not the labor we remember but the daydreaming, lost in cloudless blue-sky days or lying in the hammock watching clouds scud by, building and demolishing the shapes of our futures, spotting the red-headed woodpecker as it clambers around a tree trunk.
In much of California, it is a time of calm. Many native plants are summer dormant. In the perennial garden it is too hot and dry to plant or transplant without stress.
My adult eyes scan the garden, looking for signs of wilted foliage that will not recover in the cool of evening fog. I look out for perennials ready to set seed that should be deadheaded before they spread, fruit trees that need thinning. I’m momentarily arrested by brilliant yellow butterflies, hummingbird or dragonflies hovering, noting the shadow a hawk as it circles overhead.
After ten years of planting and training, it is time to concentrate on creating air space. Hedges need cutting back. I am thinning out manzanita and bottle brush at the base to expose their attractive mature trunks. Red manzanita trunks twist to an umbrella-like shade canopy, bottlebrush cascades like a graceful waterfall.
I’m renewing mulch in areas not yet grown over with groundcovers, making note of where I can tuck in more natives this fall, noticing that tomatoes need staking, picking bugs off the tomato plants. What is ripe today? Plums, maybe, if you like them firm and tart. What looks like a promising crop of figs have a way to go yet.
This is what you carry with you. The summers blend one into the other with the ladybugs return, the midsummer ghost stories, the clink of ice in a glass of iced tea. You remember the year of the sweetest snow peas, the perfect pumpkin, the year of the giant sunflowers, the year the stick of a tree you planted finally provided shade and you could move the hammock underneath, the year of the best figs ever.
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