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Environmentally Friendly Garden Plantings
June 18, 2007

Continuing last week’s green journal action, I am in the process of creating a healthy and environmentally friendly garden. After the hard labor of turning and some general natural enrichment of our rocky, clay soil (great for pottery not so good for plants), we are now in the plant selection and putting roots to the soil stage. When we landscaped our front yard several years ago, we were novices and selected plantings purely based on color and aesthetics. Sadly, the majority of our annuals were eaten to stubs by local deer – OVERNIGHT! The remaining plants slowly withered due to dryness, sun exposure or lack of sun exposure. Over the years, we’ve gradually learned some lessons on wise garden planning.

One of the greatest things about smart planting is it is by nature, environmentally friendly. Plants grow and thrive in areas where it best suits their needs. To a recreational gardener like me, native planting is just the fancy term for following nature’s lead. Growing native plants or even transplants from areas with similar climates will generally require less maintenance. These plants are accustomed to the area’s soil condition so frequent fertilization is not necessary. Once situated, these locally suited plants generally require less water or irrigation. With another dry summer predicted (in California), this is definitely an advantage. Additionally, native plants tend to be more pest resistance which reduces the need (and urge) to use unnecessary pesticides; natural hardiness will help the overall garden thrive as weak plants attract pests and can spread disease to other plantings.

For our back garden, I did some research online as well as talked to some local nurseries to get a list of California native plants. Because California has such a wide range of terrain, the native plant list depends on where you live. For a comprehensive list and more details on native plants, visit California Native Plant Society
However, a short list includes:
–Perennials: ferns, rose snapdragons, columbines, wild ginger, California aster, fuschia, and poppy, bleeding heart, purple stonecrop, golden rod
–Grasses: pacific reed grass, thin grass, sedge, horsetail, California fescue, June grass, deer grass,
–Trees and shrubs: California buckeye, red and white alder, oak, desert olive, coffee berry, manzanita, coastal sage, brewer, hazel

In addition to native plants, we also considered drought resistant and hardy plants that thrive in our area. While on our walks, we took note of what grew well in our neighborhood. Because we have a young child and a curious dog, we were careful to stay away from certain plants like Oleander and Poinsettias. We are lucky to have two mature fruit trees, which gives wonderful shade for play, rest and year round fruit; so for the shadier part of the garden, we selected a variety of ferns and fuschias, which tend to stay green and lush year round. Sage, lavender and rosemary, are drought and deer resistant, attract hummingbirds and great for our borders. We also transplanted some existing succulents into pots and plan on getting some horsetails to soften our fence wall. Unable to control our yearning for a few showy flowers, we did plant a couple new rosebushes, hydrangeas, star jasmine and some colorful annuals around the planting beds. To help with natural pest control, we included a generous scattering of marigolds, which naturally release a pest repellent. These choices do require additional (organic) fertilization but tend to grow well in our neighborhood. My daughter and her little friends have thoroughly enjoyed this process and may become the next generation of organic gardeners.

Copyright 2007 Organicpicks