Blue Planet Garden Blog

Contained Natives

By Guest Blogger Troy McGregor

Placing natives in containers won’t win you many points for sustainability and some hard core native plant enthusiasts would happily throw me to the (mountain) lions for suggesting the idea. So why would I encourage you to try it? There are a number of reasons.

Many homeowners have limited space and others have no visible dirt at all. Maybe you’re tired of the heavy clays eating your compost and burping out that once sparkling little plant that would have preferred better drainage. Spring flowering bulbs and perennials that require summer dormancy can be relocated to a shady spot until the rains renew them. Containers allow you to take control of the soil and adjust it to suit the plants that you want to grow.

Pot size really depends on the size you expect your plant to grow to. My Coffeeberry (see picture below) looks a little out of scale in its current pot, but after a few seasons will have filled in nicely. Grasses and bulbs work well in smaller pots (at least 12”x12”) as you may want to lift and divide them after a few seasons to make more plants and renew their vigor.

Potting soil can be tricky as it needs to hold enough moisture during the warm months to keep the plants alive while draining reasonably well in the wet months. I tried a mixture from a soil yard that I thought was a winner but failed me miserably. It was mostly sand with some lava rock for drainage and coconut coir for moisture retention. What I didn’t realize was that the components were far too small which resulted in most of my plants drowning… in summer no less. After some research I added bark and pumice to the mix and now I have happy plants. I’ve attached a link (below) to a forum where this is discussed in greater detail. It’s a little long but well worth reading.

I’m sure I’m not the only gardener to make a boo-boo and mess up a plants cultural requirements…     “What’s with that fern turning brown in the sun?” Containers allow us to move plants into parts of the yard that make them happy and satisfy our need for a change of scenery.

Before and After

 

It's only January, but I'm already gleefully hijacking topics (or as I'm going to call it, post repurposing)  from fellow bloggers.  Today's theft comes courtesy of Steve Silk's blog Clatter Valley, where he hooked his readers up with TiltShiftMaker.  This fast and free service lets you upload a photo and have it tiltshifted, or miniaturized.  Idiotic, but addictive.

The picture at the top of the post is my backyard - I checked the color enhance box, so it is also much more saturated than the original photo.  Here are a few before and afters of some of the gardens I've designed so you can see the difference.  I'm showing after before the before, so the miniaturized version is first.

 

Kind of looks like a little game board and the statue is the playing piece.

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And now for are some afters, no befores.

 

My friend Ruth's garden with her in it, so you can see what a person looks like. (I bet she wishes we could miniaturize her gophers)

Photos taken from a distance that show more detail work better, which is a little counter-intuitive for garden photographers as we tend to prefer the intimate vignettes.  If you give this a try on your own blog, let me know and I'll drop by to admire your results.

One of Steve's post from his other blog, Gardening Gone Wild was the inspiration for my repurposed post on tone a few weeks ago , so if you are interested in what I'll be blogging on next Friday, just check one of Steve's sites on Monday and I guess you'll know.

When did microclimates become a fashion statement?

                                                                                  

A casual comment I made on Tina's blog In the Garden got me thinking about our obsession with microclimates in the West.  USDA zones 9a and 9b mean nothing to us, we are all about the 24 zones in the Sunset Western Garden Book, which is basically our gardening bible out here.  My design practice isn't that big, not more than 40 square miles, yet my clients' gardens cover three different zones.  Sounds manageable, but lately things are getting out of hand, as Californians seem to think taking a few steps out the back door puts them into another climate zone entirely, because, they are convinced their garden is hosting a vast collection of microclimates.  I put this in italics, because the word is usually emphasized in a very earnest way.

Is having a garden with a microclimate the new status symbol, now that none of us have portfolios or in some cases even jobs to brag about?  How many microclimates in your garden?  Just two?  I have three - so exhausting to manage, but worth it!  And just picture the poor out of state garden enthusiast who tries to get in on this conversation.  No microclimates at all?  Just the one big climate for everyone? 

I see.  Not very exclusive.

Thinking about this has allowed a truly disturbing thought to rear its ugly head - what if there aren't really 24 climate zones in the West, or any microclimates at all, and Sunset has performed the most successful hoax since the Bush administration convinced us of the existence of weapons of mass destruction?  Conspiracy theorists, feel free to chime in on this one.

Where's the love, people?

 Since I've become a regular visitor to fellow gardener's blogs, I've noticed a subtle prejudice against garden design - as if somehow a garden that begins on paper instead of beginning with a carload of impulse buys from the nursery lacks a true soul. I've read posts where bloggers "confess" to designing parts of their gardens, like it's a dirty little secret.  Now, unless the design includes a marijuana patch or a cockfighting arena, I'm not sure where this taboo comes from. 

I'm as guilty as the next person of the throw-it-in-the-wagon-I'll-figure-out-where-to-plant-it-when-I-get home approach to garden design (actual planting optional, Troy, the snowberry bush I bought from you in November continues to wilt sadly in its pot while it waits for a permanent home),  but when planning a major rennovation on a garden, taking some time to plan at least part of it can really pay off.

Here is a plan I completed for a client two weeks ago.

    

I'm feeling like a smarty pants today

Here is a fun fact you can trot out to stun and amaze your friends with at your next cocktail party.

When referring to the place, Mediterranean is spelled with a capitol M, as in "Muffy and I are jetting off to the Mediterranean to work on our tans."

When referring to plants, it is spelled with a lower case m, as in "Thanks to the excellent advice I have gleaned from garden blogs, I am replacing my water hogging perennials with drought tolerant mediterranean plants."

I learned this at a seminar during the San Francisco Flower and Garden Show given by one of the editors of Sunset Magazine.  And since Sunset is to gardeners in the West what Oprah is to the entire planet (THE ULTIMATE AUTHORITY) it must be true.

 

Field of lower case m mediterranean plants - specifically Lavandula x intermedia, taken at Clairmont Farms in Los Olivos, California.   .