Simple Suggestion # 237... Water less, mulch more

The south side of our house is our yard's hot spot, ridiculously hot in the summer. It's got its own micro climate, situated in the fifteen or so feet between two bungalows and with a rock path where we dug a channel to funnel water away from the foundations. With the sun beating on the side of our house, the temperatures can reach the 40's C (100's F) when really, they're in the high 20's and low 30's (80's-90's). In spite of that, in the soil along our foundation I continue to plant nasturtiums every year because their bright flower faces make me happy -- and they're tasty in salads, too.

Of course, yard hot spots require a fair bit of water, especially in the near-drought conditions in Alberta this summer. I've been running along the south side of our house with my watering can almost daily, ensuring that the nasturtiums have enough to drink. But today's a cooler day, so I took a little time to reduce my watering efforts by adding more mulch to the nasturtium beds.

The nasturtiums below are pretty happy -- when I planted them back in May, there was a layer of leaves on top of their bed that got mixed into the soil.

But their friends to the west didn't have that luxury as the wind blows everything into the east corner and sweeps the west bed clean, leaving bare soil. These plants are smaller, and a bit sunburnt.

What I really should have done was dig some leaves into all the soil before I planted. Note to self: do that in the fall. For now, though, I added some damp and matted leaves around all these plants as I still have bags of them from last fall for use in my compost pile.

Here are the beds, happily mulched.

Watering efforts won't be so frequent now, and I'm betting the slightly sunburnt look of the west bed will dissipate over time. Mulching gives soil and plant roots protection from the sun, adds organic matter for the plants to absorb, makes it harder for weeds to take root, and prevents moisture from evaporating as quickly.

All of these are reasons my city is presently pushing a grasscycling campaign -- if people leave grass clippings on their lawns rather than bagging them up and sending them to the landfill, they're effectively applying a layer of moisture-retaining, nitrogen rich mulch that will improve the health of their grass (and the city won't have to spend so much effort taking hundreds of thousands of bags to the composting facility). Here's a recent video of our mayor promoting grasscycling. I love that he doesn't take himself too seriously and can ham it up for a good cause!

Mulch can be made of almost anything organic -- even weeds (stripped of their seed heads) can be placed around plants to hold in the soil's moisture. Sometimes, as I weed, I leave the unwanted seedless plants on the soil to mulch and give added nutrients.

Do you have any yard hot spots? If so, mulching can cool them down, cut weeds, and save water. I'll post pictures from these efforts later in the summer, so you can see what I mean...

Happy mulching!

Simple Suggestion # 219... Let sleeping plants lie

Every fall I see them, neighbours out hacking down their perennials before the snow flies, stuffing the dead leaves and stalks into garbage bags for the city to haul to its composting facilities. Those same neighbours probably look at my messy, un-hacked yard and think, what a lazy gardener she is!

Well, yes and no. Yes, in that I refuse to cut my plants down to the ground in the autumn -- but that's because I know that perennials fare better through the year's cold seasons if they are protected by last summer's decomposing growth. No, in that it all gets cleaned up in the spring when it's not so necessary for protecting my bushes and bulbs through the winter.

Raking autumn leaves out of my flower beds is also something I won't do because they are free, natural mulch. The layer of detritus that so many people pack up and toss makes a good winter home for numerous beneficial insects like ground beetles and the cheery little lady bugs that get rid of nasty, plant eating aphids and others of their ilk. Until heavy snow cover arrives, birds are always poking around in the mulch looking for a bite, and our local jack rabbits often nibble their way through. The chickadees, grosbeaks and nuthatches pick grains from the seed heads that they like, and play hide and seek in the stuff that's still standing. Of course, if you don't like nature paying you visits, it's best to get rid of all those plant leftovers. (Don't forget the benefits of winter composting, though!)

I know, leaving those plants sticking up all over the place makes a yard look messy -- but once there's a snowfall, the bumps and branches are a lot more interesting to look at than flat snowdrifts. And who really cares what the neighbours think? Once spring rolls around, cabin fever and the excess energy all gardeners get from garden hibernation will make it easy to get out and clear space for new growth. Plus, fall's already full compost bins will have shrunk through the winter to make space for a few more stalks and leaves that can later find their composted way into the summer garden, or be made into compost tea-fertilizer. The yard will look happier than ever come summer, and if the neighbours happen to wonder why, well, that's a perfect chance to educate them!

So if you didn't get your yard cleaned up before the first snowfall, fret not. You're only gardening like God does (going back to #3 of these Simple Suggestions), and actually doing your garden and its creatures a favour!

Looking for more Simple Suggestions? Click here.

Gardening like God does, Part IV

I love rainy days, though they're not the best for running around my yard taking pictures. I'm pretty wet at the moment... but I wanted to show you all the lovely things happening outside.

If you've been following my moodlings for a while, you'll know that I've moved from being a wanna-be tidy gardener with things planted in orderly rows and beds, to gardening like God does. In other words, I've turned too much of my yard into garden and I don't have enough time to whip it all into perfect organization... nor do I feel that neatness is necessary any more. What I have realized is that God doesn't plant things in tidy rows and beds, or grow perfect green rectangles of lawn without weeds, or worry about last year's left-over organic materials (read: natural mulch) strewn around plants and under bushes. She and He just lets the seeds fall where they may, and rejoices when they bloom. So that's what I'm doing, and I must admit that it makes me happier than worrying when something isn't planted in the right place. Since I was small, I was told to bloom where I'm planted, and I'm adopting the same principle for my garden.

Oh, I pull weeds, alright. I have TONS of little elm seeds, dandelions, and creeping charlies, plus I've noticed that clover, daisies, delphiniums and other things need to be pulled up all the time to make space for the stuff that wouldn't otherwise have a chance against the "I-can-grow-anywhere-anytime" bullies (though I must admit I'm having a change of heart about clover on my lawn -- it's green and kinda pretty, Shadow the puppy loves to roll in it, and it fixes nitrogen in the soil, so I think I'll let it stay put). Between maintaining our vegetable garden and weeding everywhere else too, I have plenty to keep me busy. So letting things grow where God plants them only makes sense (if they're not bully plants that want to take over the entire place) -- and I've never had happier bees or birds! They seem to love all the layers in the landscape, tall and short stuff mixed together in one glorious mess, where it's fun to hide and feed.

What makes me happiest is that my daughter has stopped saying, "Mom, don't you think we should clean up the yard?" In early spring, before everything grows, it's hard not to feel that way, except that I know there are plenty of plants under last year's detritus that will grow and hide the leaves and dead-looking stuff. And that dead-looking stuff is actually improving soil conditions by holding in moisture and feeding microorganisms that in turn, will feed the plants.

But what I love most of all are the surprises God gives me. This year, it's flame-like gaillardia, or blanket flowers, that have popped up in several places. The phlox that a friend gave me three years ago has finally decided to bloom. The rhubarb was looking sickly last year, but it's going gangbusters now, and there are purple headed chives and multi-coloured columbine all over the place. My lupins are all purple this year too (where did the pink ones go? or are they still planning to bloom?) and I've never had a lot of luck with growing echinacea, but one has appeared out of nowhere near some daisies. Best of all, there are lots of lilies, rudbeckia,  bergamot, nasturtiums, asters and poppies still to come.

Don't get me wrong -- I love gardens of all kinds, and am very impressed by neatly manicured yards and the huge amount of work that goes into keeping them so perfectly tidy. I have a few friends and relatives whose well-kept yards put mine to shame. But I'm also grateful that I have so many flowers to enjoy, growing right where they've reseeded themselves, right where God and the birds and the wind planted them.

All tucked in... gardening like God does, part II

Last week our meteorologist reported that we were in for an evening of "wintery mix" weather, so I roused myself and one of my daughters from early hibernation, and we went out to put the front yard to bed. The back yard and vegetable plots have been settled in for their long winter's nap for a while, but the front yard, like the child who never wants to go to sleep, needed a little more attention. It was just a matter of raking the last of the leaves and tucking them in around the perennials so that no earth showed. A little tricky with my vertigo-spinny head... I had to be careful not to rake myself into the leaf piles!

I've learned a lot about gardening in the eight years we've lived here, mostly through what other people would call laziness, or maybe even mistaken thinking. But the practice of letting the leaves fall as they may -- like God does -- and leaving them in the border beds in my back yard -- because I had too much yard work to do everywhere else -- showed me that the beds with ordinary leaf mulch did much better than the beds without. I used to be one of those people who liked to see the dirt around my plants... but now I see that there certainly aren't as many weeds in the leaf-mulched beds as in the ones I kept raked, and the plants grow better because they don't dry out so quickly and have a bit of natural compost -- also known as fertilizer -- with them at all times.

So when you walk past my front yard, you may think that I'm a lazy gardener... but the fact of the matter is that it took more effort to put the garden to bed with leaf mulch than it does to rake it all out. I raked those leaves together more often this year than I ever have... put that front yard to bed three times, and then the wind -- petulant child! -- came and undid everything! But this weekend, we got a bit of that wintery mix to stick those leaves to the soil, and hopefully, they'll stay put as part of the lasagna gardening technique I hope to employ out there on a more permanent basis. Next spring, those leaves will keep moisture in the earth and enrich it as they break down over a shorter time period than wood chips or commercial mulch. And guess what? Next fall, God and the trees will give me another layer of free, natural mulch!

God and St. Francis talk about lawns

I wish I knew who wrote the wonderful piece below. I'd like to shake their hand and give them some organically grown vegetables from my garden!

GOD: Frank, you know all about gardens and nature. What in the world is going on down there on the planet? What happened to the dandelions, violets, thistles and stuff I started eons ago? I had a perfect, no maintenance garden plan. Those plants grow in any type of soil, withstand drought and multiply with abandon. The nectar from the long lasting blossoms attracts butterflies, honey bees and flocks of songbirds. I expected to see a vast garden of colors by now. But all I see are these green rectangles.

ST. FRANCIS: It's the tribes that settled there, Lord. The Suburbanites. They started calling your flowers "weeds" and went to great lengths to kill them and replace them with grass.

GOD: Grass? But it's so boring. It's not colorful. It doesn't attract butterflies, birds and bees, only grubs and sod worms. It's sensitive to temperatures. Do these Suburbanites really want all that grass growing there?

ST. FRANCIS: Apparently so, Lord. They go to great pains to grow it and keep it green. They begin each spring by fertilizing grass and poisoning any other plant that crops up in the lawn.

GOD: The spring rains and warm weather probably make grass grow really fast. That must make the Suburbanites happy.

ST. FRANCIS: Apparently not, Lord. As soon as it grows a little, they cut it - sometimes twice a week.

GOD: They cut it? Do they then bail it like hay?

ST. FRANCIS: Not exactly, Lord. Most of them rake it up and put it in bags.

GOD: They bag it? Why? Is it a cash crop? Do they sell it?

ST. FRANCIS: No Sir. Just the opposite. They pay to throw it away.

GOD: Now let me get this straight. They fertilize grass so it will grow. And when it does grow, they cut it off and pay to throw it away?

ST. FRANCIS: Yes, Ma'am.

GOD: These Suburbanites must be relieved in the summer when we cut back on the rain and turn up the heat. That surely slows the growth and saves them a lot of work.

ST. FRANCIS: You aren't going to believe this, Lord. When the grass stops growing so fast, they drag out hoses and pay more money to water it so they can continue to mow it and pay to get rid of it.

GOD: What nonsense! At least they kept some of the trees. That was a sheer stroke of genius, if I do say so myself. The trees grow leaves in the spring to provide beauty and shade in the summer. In the autumn they fall to the ground and form a natural blanket to keep moisture in the soil and protect the trees and bushes. Plus, as they rot, the leaves form compost to enhance the soil. It's a natural circle of life.

ST. FRANCIS: You better sit down, Lord. The Suburbanites have drawn a new circle. As soon as the leaves fall, they rake them into great piles and pay to have them hauled away.

GOD: No! What do they do to protect the shrub and tree roots in the winter and to keep the soil moist and loose?

ST. FRANCIS: After throwing away the leaves, they go out and buy something which they call mulch. They haul it home and spread it around in place of the leaves.

GOD: And where do they get this mulch?

ST. FRANCIS: They cut down trees and grind them up to make the mulch.

GOD: Enough. I don't want to think about this anymore. St. Catherine, you're in charge of the arts. What movie have you scheduled for us tonight?

ST. CATHERINE: Dumb and Dumber, Lord. It's a real stupid movie about ...

GOD: Never mind, I think I just heard the whole story from St. Francis!

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