Editing The Garden

Posted on February 1, 2012 by Ann Lovejoy
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Knowing When To Let Go

The past decade has been full of challenging weather events, from massive snowfall, ice  and wind storms to heavy rain and flooding. Summers have been equally difficult, with cool, cloudy months giving way to sudden heat and drought.

All this is not news, of course, but the list is worth a moment’s review. What it all adds up to is remarkable and continuing stress for our plants. Even native trees and shrubs are affected by wild weather swings that ravage pampered garden beauties.

Resist Rescue Temptation

I get a lot of questions about how to resuscitate plants that have had more winter than they can handle. I know, it really is tempting to coddle frail, weather-worn plants. However, the result is rarely worth the extra work involved in garden rescue missions. First we modify the soil, perhaps root pruning and resetting a collapsing belle. We spread compost and top dress with aged manure. We add stakes to hold the failing stems upright, finally creating a web of ties like a cat’s cradle.

Perhaps we brew special blends of humic acids and kelp extract, adding a dash of mineral elixir and an aspirin tablet. Such a concoction may work wonders on tomatoes and roses (it does, in fact) but rarely suffices to restore a frost bitten tropical perennial. It may limp along for a while, looking awful all summer, but in the end, our treasure is clearly headed for the big compost heap in the sky.

Giving It All Up For Love

Does that mean we shouldn’t grow the borderline hardy plants we love? No, of course not. Love is always worth pursuing, and never wasted. However, after many years, I have come to feel that my time is better spent on cherishing hardy, independent plants that don’t need me very much. Plants that can’t take the highs, the lows, and the swings between are least painfully considered as annuals.

Some may be quite expensive annuals, but if you really love the look of a particular ginger or New Zealand flax, for example, you may consider their price as money well spent. For the cost of a fine dinner that lasts a few hours, you can enjoy a beloved plant for at least 6 months, and if we’re lucky, perhaps a few years. Pro-rated on a dollars-per-hour-of-pleasure basis, that costly plant is a bargain, not to mention the health benefit accrued in the act of planting.

An Annual Investment in Joy

Thus, we can face the annual task of removing the dead and dying with renewed strength and courage. While recycling expensive former plants into the compost heap, why not focus on past pleasure as well as pleasure to come. Yes, the plant is a goner, but wasn’t it lovely? And won’t it’s replacement bring you joy as well, should you choose to try, try again?

If you do replant, ask yourself whether a new location might give your fragile beloved a better chance to shine. For me, the issue is not longer whether I can coax a plant to survive, but whether or not I can successfully help it thrive. I no longer want to work so hard, and I get new and deeper pleasure from observing happy, healthy plants that joyfully make a home in my garden with very little input from me.

Tougher Loving

My new approach is still surprising to my dear Friday Tidies, the noble volunteers who have helped me create several acres of glorious gardens around our public library. We meet, as might seem clear, on Friday mornings all year round to keep these public gardens gorgeous. The Friday of the big snow this January was the first time in almost 15 years that we had to cancel, which says a lot for our weather karma.

My gallant crew is used to me going to great lengths to save often unpromising plants. For years, I used a wide, sometimes ridiculous range of tactics to keep plants alive that might truly be better off dead. Now, when asked what to do with this dwindling perennial or that faltering shrub, I am apt to say, “Oh, let’s just dig it out and try something else.” The Tidies eye each other nervously and rush away to do it before I have time to change my mind.

Comfort In Compost

I almost never do have second thoughts about such decisions these days. Some of my newfound peace with change and decay is probably due to having spent a year in mourning for the loss of my husband. A marriage that ends in death perforce brings the topic close to the heart. What I know now is that death is far from the worst thing that can happen to a person or a plant. I realize that my view of compost is perhaps a bit romantic (boggling as the thought may be), yet it really is comforting to think in terms of recycling, not utter ending.

Mary Oliver wrote a poem called Heron Rises From The Dark Summer Pond in which she thinks how unlikely it is that “death is a hole in the ground.” As I planted this week, I realized that for gardeners, a hole in the ground is not about ending but about hopeful beginning.

This year, I intend to move forward joyfully and fearlessly, looking back with love and compassion. Out with the old, gently and sweetly, making respectful room for something new. Onward.

Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments

Winter Rains Bring Soggy Lawns

Posted on January 25, 2012 by Ann Lovejoy
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Time To Make Your Rain Garden?

Last week, snow and high winds kept most of us home, snug indoors while nature ran wild outside. Here on Bainbridge Island, we had over six inches of snow, layered with ice, making for treacherous roads.

However, we never lost power, making this the first major storm I can recall in over 30 years when we did not. What a lovely treat to be “stuck” at home for several days, yet be warm and able to do whatever we liked. I read and knit and cleaned closets and had a splendid time, but by the third day, I was itching to go out. However, the garden was far to wet to permit gardening. Drat!

A Soggy Aftermath

As the snow and ice melted, runoff poured in merry little streams down the driveway and through the garden. Heavy rains deepened the streams into gushing waterfalls that tumbled down the hill, spreading at last into a rather pretty lake. That’s where the rain garden will go, when the soil dries out enough to dig.

When winter rains continue in force, it’s easy to see if you could benefit from a rain garden. Planted with natives and allies that love wet winters and dry summers, rain gardens capture excess water that might flood basements or leave lawns soggy.

Runaway Runoff

Pavement, roofs, and most lawns create runoff that can make yards unusable all winter. The key to reducing runoff is my favorite soil amendment; compost. Compost-enriched rain gardens absorb water like sponges, then let it percolate slowly into the soil. Compost can also make your existing garden beds and borders more absorbent.

Like forest duff, compost can store many times its weight in water. Adding it to the garden improves the texture and biotic quality of our soil. Compost top dressing even prevents weed seeds from germinating. To accomplish all this and increase the permeability of beds and borders, add 2-3 inches of compost every spring and fall.

Why Lawns Get Soggy

Lawns are often almost as impermeable as a concrete sidewalk, which sheds up to 85% of rainfall or irrigation. To change that situation, rake half-an-inch of compost over the lawn every spring and fall. Over time, this increases soil permeability and reduces lawn’s need for summer watering dramatically. (It also eliminates thatch without all the bother of aerating.)

If you still get puddles after a few seasons of adding compost, your property will benefit from a rain garden. Where to put it? A sunny, fairly flat, unused lawn is ideal, as long as the chosen spot is not
1) on or near your septic field,
2) uphill from your home or well,
3) right under a large tree, or
4) above undergrounded utility lines.

Designing A Working Rain Garden

Place your rain garden at least 10 feet from the house or outbuildings to keep foundations dry. Though it may seem counterintuitive, avoid places where water puddles, since you already have a drainage problem there. The idea is to promote water absorption, not persistent puddling that might harbor mosquitoes.

What should it look like? Some rain gardens are long and skinny, like a mock stream bed, perhaps running along a fence or tumbling between garden beds. Most often, they are given naturalistic shapes, but if your garden is formal in design, your rain garden can be formally shaped as well.

Give It The Drainage Test

Check the drainage on your chosen spot by digging several test holes about a foot deep. Fill them with water; if it vanishes quickly, terrific. If it lingers all day, find another spot.

How big should a rain garden be? There are several good sources for determining how much runoff you need to capture. Check your local library for books on rain garden design, or visit online sites (see below for a good one). The idea is figure out the amount of runoff from your roof and driveway, allowing for the slope of the land and more.

Or Just Do It

If you don’t care for math or just want to give the idea a try, a rain garden of pretty much any size will improve a soggy yard. As a baseline, start with about 100 square feet of rain garden, see how the situation changes, and add more if you need it.

Make your rain garden at least two feet deep, with a flat bottom and sloping sides. With the removed soil, build a low berm behind your rain garden to keep high water in place. For overflow, slip unperforated drainage pipe through the berm into a catchbasin or “streambed” of crushed rock.

Fill the bed with 2-4 inches of clean crushed gravel (1-inch or bigger) or 6 inches of coarse woodchips (not bark), topped with 4-6 inches of compost. Top dress with 2-3 inches of shredded wood or leaves. Your rain garden should still be significantly lower than the surrounding lawn or borders.

Ready To Plant

Now you can plant with perennials, grasses, and shrubs. Well planted rain gardens can be as attractive as any ornamental bed. To make a handsome planting, combine water iris, Japanese anemones, bog sage, hostas, and daylilies with carexes, feather reed grasses (Calamagrostis), maiden grasses (Miscanthus, and sea oats (Chasmanthium latifolium). For structure, tuck in some spirea, flowering quince, and twiggy dogwoods, with a chokecherry or vine maple for summer shade.

A mature rain garden needs minimal weeding and no watering. Annual mulching with compost, shredded leaves, or ground wood (not bark) will keep soil open and receptive. Check your rain garden after especially heavy rains to be sure it is working properly. If it is frequently overwhelmed, increase the size of your rain garden or make another bed.

For more information, visit Pierce County’s very useful website (www.pierce.wsu.edu), where a complete rain garden manual is available as a free download.

Posted in composting, Drainage | 4 Comments

Cold Comfort For Plants

Posted on January 18, 2012 by Ann Lovejoy
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Yes Baby It’s Cold Outside

January can be the month of truth for Northwestern gardeners. Early winter can open so mildly that we forget our proximity to Alaska. Indeed, a given January may be as gentle as June (which really doesn’t say much for a Northwestern June). However, January can also be a month of wild wind and sudden cold snaps.

Not knowing which kind of January is coming keeps us on our toes. As the New Year evolves, gardeners get a bit fidgety, eying the calendar as if January were a gift from an eccentric uncle with a highly unreliable sense of humor. Today, for example, I woke to four inches of snow, yet the forecast calls for warm rain tomorrow. Hmmm.

Tried But Not True

One difficulty is that many traditional plant protections are utterly suitable for truly cold winters yet can create problems in more moderate years. For instance, if we suspect a chilly winter is coming, we may carefully bundle all our tender shrubs in straw and swaddle our roses in burlap and heavy plastic wraps.

If we guess wrong, warm winter days can encourage a deadly crop of root rots, molds, and mildews. We may also uncover the plants when frost danger is past, only to discover that we have made a lovely winter home for mice, who regard tender roots and shoots as splendid snacks.

Try This Instead

When cold fronts threaten, here are a few hot tips for safe and temporary plant protection.  First, cover the bottom foot or so of any new plants and all tender shrubs like tea roses, mounding aged manure and compost over the graft point for extra protection. Stash a few bags of both manure and compost someplace where they won’t freeze, for just such an occasion.  Large trash bags full of well dried leaves and dry bales of straw are equally valuable for last minute protection.

The thrifty gardener will also make full use of the holiday trees that are tossed out at the New Year. Trim off the long side branches and heap them lightly over newly planted perennials or early blooming bulbs. The branches will catch the cold and supply a few precious degrees of frost protection for tender plants that tend to get nipped in the bud.

Row Cover For Trees?

If you have fruit trees or magnolias that often lose their bloom to sharp frosts, invest in a few large sheets of Reemay or any lightweight, translucent plant cloth. Toss one over each tree when the cold blue Northerns are due, tying a few stones into the fabric’s corners for ballast. Even if the wind whips the cloth around, you’ll generally end up with more unfrosted buds than if the trees are left unprotected.

In a pinch, even an old bed sheet or quilt can make the difference between a dead plant and a shaken but still living one. You don’t want to burden small plants with heavy blankets that, coupled with the weight of sodden Northwestern snow, might crush their stems and branches. Still, a light covering can conserve a surprising amount of warmth. Quite often, just a few degrees will be enough to keep borderline tender plants on this side of heaven.

What’s In The Pantry?

Like good cooks, good gardeners keep their storage cupboards well stocked. Just/ as cooks never know when company might come, gardeners can’t know when temperatures might plummet overnight. If you are well prepared, the unexpected is more of an annoyance than cause for panic.

Do, however, remove the less attractive of your emergency coverings as soon as the weather improves. Otherwise, you run the risk of having your garden look like a rummage sale run wild. Should the weather fluctuate, you may simply decide to tie up all those flapping sheets with large velvet ribbons in tasteful colors (plaids are nice with snow). After all, there could be a change in the weather any day….

Tool of Which Trade?

Gardeners in uncertain climates like ours need to have a few good tricks up their sleeves so they can cope with any sort of weather. First on your emergency list is a good stockpile of assorted useful materials such as dry leaves and old sheets which you can stash in the basement or garage. One of my favorite emergency rations is inexpensive foam pipe insulation in 2-4 foot lengths. It’s quite handy for moving roses and other prickly plants (think cactus) at any time; just slip a length of foam over thorny stems and presto, no more scratched and bleeding shoulders.

When a cold snap threatens, I slip pieces foam on all my tender shrubs. Pipe insulation makes a terrific jacket for long rose canes. Stack two or three pieces together for those big climbers like ‘Mermaid’ or Lady Banks roses that suffer dreadfully in a prolonged freeze. Pipe insulation also keeps deer from rubbing bark off young fruit trees. (Usually.)

Posted in fall/winter crops, Garden Prep, Sustainable Gardening | Tagged | 2 Comments

What To Eat When Wild Winds Wail

Posted on January 11, 2012 by Ann Lovejoy
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Speedy, Hearty Winter Soups That Satisfy

When wild winds wail and drenching downpours make the armchair look especially attractive, it’s time to plan, not plant. While dreaming into this year’s garden, why not make some splendid soup? On chilly days, nothing is more warming, of both body and heart, then a fragrant pot of homemade soup.

One secret to great soup is to make it ahead and reheat it. Another is to cook soup slowly, for long, patient hours. When neither choice is possible, cooks need to get creative. Here are some quick, satisfying, and inexpensive soups that will taste terrific tonight.

Onions And Garlic And Leeks, Oh My!

WInter is not only chilly, it’s also the traditional time to experience colds and flu. Happily, the noble onion family is especially good at helping those who suffer from stuffy noses and sore throats. Indeed, when researchers learned that Mom was right and chicken soup actually can help help a cold, the benefit turned out to be largely due to the combination of steam and onions.

The entire onion family contains compounds that boost the immune system and help fight infection naturally. Since they also add savor and warmth to almost anything, why not harness those powerful antioxidants at every meal?

An Italian Variation On A Beloved Theme

If French onion soup is a family favorite, rich-tasting Italian Garlic Soup will also please. A snap to make, this sumptuously silky soup is lively with garlic and onions, both of which are famous as cold and flu chasers. The addition of raw garlic makes this soup especially lively but that step may be omitted if desired.

Italian Garlic Soup

8 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1/4 teaspoon dried hot pepper flakes
1 large onion, chopped
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 whole heads garlic, cloves peeled and lightly crushed
1 bunch spinach (about 8 ounces), stemmed
1 cup flat Italian parsley, stemmed
2 slices crusty rosemary- or herb-bread, toasted and cubed
2 tablespoons virgin olive oil
1 cup Asiago or Romano cheese, coarsely grated

In a soup pot, bring broth, hot pepper flakes, onion, salt, and all but 2 cloves of garlic to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium, cover pan and simmer for 15 minutes. Add spinach and parsley and cook until barely limp (2-3 minutes). With an immersion blender or in a food processor (in small batches), puree hot soup with olive oil and remaining raw garlic. Stir in 1/2 cup grated cheese and serve hot, garnished with toast and remaining cheese. Serves 4.

Bring On The Canadian Bacon

Potatoes are always comfort food, and savory Potato And Bacon Soup is especially welcome on a cold winter’s night. Lean Canadian bacon adds protein without much fat, but lean smoked ham is also excellent in this rich-tasting yet speedy soup.

Potato And Bacon Soup

4 medium potatoes, scrubbed and chopped
6 cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon thyme, chopped
1/2 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
2 teaspoons virgin olive oil
2 onions, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
8 ounces Canadian bacon or ham, diced
1/4 cup whole wheat or all purpose flour
1 quart chicken broth, hot
1 bunch kale, stemmed and shredded
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup sour cream or Greek yogurt

In a saucepan, combine potatoes, half the garlic, the thyme and 1/4 teaspoon salt and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until potatoes are barely fork tender (15-18 minutes). Remove from heat, let stand for 2 minutes, pour off foam and about half the broth and set aside. In a soup pot, heat oil over medium high heat with remaining garlic, onions, and celery. Sprinkle with remaining salt and pepper and cook, stirring, until tender (4-5 minutes). Add Canadian bacon or ham and potatoes, stir to coat, then sprinkle with flour, stirring for 1 minute. Stir in hot potato broth 1 cup at a time, stirring as soup thickens. Add chicken broth as needed to cover potatoes by 2 inches. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stir in kale, cover pan and wilt kale (2 minutes). Serve hot, garnished with pepper and sour cream. Serves 4.

A Soup of Seasonal Greens

A seasonal assortment of winter greens, whether Black Tuscan kale, Swiss chard, collard greens or spinach, gives this simple and flavorful Curried Chicken Rice Soup refreshing flavors and splendid nutritional value.

Curried Chicken Rice Soup

2 teaspoons canola or safflower oil
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken, chopped
1 large onion, cut in half and thinly sliced
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and diced
1/2 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
1-2 teaspoons curry powder (mild or hot)
2 tablespoons golden raisins
1/4 cup jasmine or basmati rice
1 quart chicken broth, hot
6 cups greens (kale, chard, collards, and/or spinach), chopped
1 cup cilantro, stemmed

Combine oil, chicken, and onion in a heavy pan over medium high heat. Cook, stirring often, until chicken is opaque (3-5 minutes). Add celery and sweet potato and cook until vegetables are soft (8-10 minutes). Add 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon curry powder, raisins, rice and broth. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and cook until rice is tender (18-20 minutes). Add greens, cover pan and cook until wilted (3-5 minutes). Adjust curry seasoning to taste, stir in cilantro and serve. Serves 4.

Posted in Recipes, Sustainable Living, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 2 Comments