Page 61 - Sonoma County Gazette 3-19

The Transition March is generally the time when we transition from
the winter garden to our spring/summer gardens, though weather can still fluctuate enormously. Overall, the days are longer and warmer, the rains are spaced apart more and the nights are less cold. Also, we can get out and enjoy our gardens – no more leaving for work in the dark and getting home in the dark. By March, everything is burgeoning and ready to take off.
Go for a walk. Getting out into natural
areas or other gardens in spring is bound
to stimulate your gardening spirit. March
is the beginning of full-on spring in our area, and seeing how nature composes and uses different elements, colors, texture,
and forms, can really inspire how you use similar plants in your own garden. Visiting other gardens likewise expands your perception of what can be done, and maybe suggest something new.
Did you know? There are 18 types of manzanitas (Arctostaphylos) that grow naturally in Sonoma County. Four of those are known only from the County and are rare. Most flower from December to May. How many have you seen in the wild?
The Bay Area also has lots of gardens
open to the public, and almost every other
week there are organized private garden
tours hosted by some organization. Seeing is believing. You may look around and find new garden friends and come back home thinking, “I’m going to try that in my garden!”
Pause and evaluate. March represents the last “easy” chance to make changes in our landscapes and gardens, before the dry season. There’s still time to do transplanting, new planting, and revisions, since the weather is cool and the ground moist from rains. Visually scan your landscape. Are there things that bothered you last year that can be altered? Are there empty spaces that need something? Are there landscape chores that you wished you didn’t have to do? Would removing or adding make it better? How can your space be more what you want?
Roots. Many plants benefit from a long, cool season to get their roots growing. By March we are getting to the end of that period, so prioritize getting bare root plants and most California natives and many drought-tolerant plants in now,
so when the summer hits, they’ll be poised to maximize the limited irrigation water they’ll get. This would include shrubs
Many of the best plants may not show much character in a nursery container. As they mature over months and years, they can become the stars in your garden. There are so many incredible plants in this category. Try something new; a great native deciduous vine with fascinating flowers at this season is the native pipe-vine, Aristolochia californica which can scramble through a shrub, cover fences (especially wire) or serve as a ground cover. The leaves produced just after flowering, are the primary food for the Pipevine swallowtail butterfly, Battus philenor, which will love you for it.
like manzanitas (Arctostaphylos), California lilacs (Ceanothus), rock roses (Cistus), Matilija poppy (Romneya), lavenders, ornamental “grasses,” dry-growing sages (Salvia), roses, and many fruit trees and vines.
It’s worth learning about the incredible diversity of plants available, and experimenting with ones that make sense in your garden, even if you have to wait for months or years for them to show their promise. Consider planting now for spring 2020 and beyond. With our Planet Horticulture garden projects, we strike a balance to consider what will satisfy clients upon project completion, short term, and what will please and delight them over time.
Garden Evolution Great gardens are
not static. They are always changing and
maturing and evolving. We like the quote,
“Gardening is the slowest moving of the
performing arts.” The performance lasts
for as long as you garden. In the spring,
during the prime planting season, retail nurseries are filled with beautifully grown, tantalizing plants of all types wanting you to take them home. What
do you really want or need? When considering options, many plants featured in nurseries are what are in bloom in their containers, “prime” plants ready to fly off the shelf. Most of these plants will offer immediate satisfaction. Many plants sold are essentially disposable; looks great now and for a few weeks, then meant to be thrown away (think Poinsettia, Easter lilies, many “color spot” items). A great garden can include these fillers, but will also consider longer- term planning.
Roger Raiche and David McCrory of Planet Horticulture is a design-build landscape contractor team that specializes in custom designed gardens in Sonoma County and throughout the Bay Area. They have been developing gardens together for the past 20+ years and are known for combining the art and science of horticulture and their unique supernatural garden style. The team is also known for their longtime conservation and education work at The Cedars outside of Cazadero, CA. www.planethorticulture.com
3/19 - www.sonomacountygazette.com - 61