The book “Gardening in Summer-Dry Climates” (Timber Press, 2020), among its many attributes, is a guide to designing gardens for maximum utilization of rainwater in climates like our own. The forward-thinking approach that is offered does not focus on irrigation or even mention it, although it will clearly be needed for water delivery, even if only for the first year or two where many of the drought-tolerant plants discussed in the book are concerned. Instead, the focus of authors Nora Harlow and Saxon Holt is on rainwater harvesting and storage.
Using barrels to collect rainwater from rain gutters is the simplest water-harvesting technology while drainage systems or porous hardscapes, including driveways, that channel rainfall into underground cisterns is a more complex matter. In any event, it may well be that future architectural and garden designs will include the collection and storage of rainwater as a standard feature. The Tree People headquarters garden at Coldwater Canyon and Mulholland Drive has been designed with rainwater harvesting in mind.
Once a design that incorporates rainwater storage is in place and water-thrifty dry climate species have been planted, there is the matter of maintaining the garden or, perhaps, just leaving it more or less alone. Here, the authors bring to our attention what they designate as a “revolutionary idea” in garden maintenance – the laissez-faire approach.
“What brings any garden to life,” the authors write, “is the conscious decision to let go a little, to step back and let nature assert itself, welcoming change and a bit of wildness.” In this respect, visits to botanical gardens are educational since there you see familiar plants in all their glory. They have grown to what seems like immense size when they have simply been freed from the frenetic use of pruning shears to manage their natural development.
The authors then decry the entire concept of landscape maintenance. “It is possible that the most life-negating aspect of modern landscapes is the whole idea of landscape maintenance. Landscape maintenance implies – no, insists – that landscapes must be maintained as originally designed, whatever the costs and losses.”
Their critique continues as follows: “In the service of what is called maintenance, most residential front yards and almost all commercial landscapes are bullied into submission, preserving the outlines of their original design but with no sign of life” and “soil is blown until nothing resembling garden soil remains.”
Ah, yes, the blower. It really is an infernal machine when it comes to gardens. Leaves should never, ever be blown off the soil surface since their decomposition enriches the soil and sustains the microorganisms that thrive there. As the authors remind us, continual blowing destroys these microorganisms that aerate the soil and break down mineral compounds into elements that can then be absorbed by plants’ feeder roots, located in the top few inches of earth. Soil that continually suffers “the slings and arrows of outrageous blowing” eventually turns into a kind of pavement that is bereft of life.
Instead, the authors advocate for “a garden that allows for change” and “is never finished.” Then, “if you let them, plants continue to arrange and rearrange themselves, spreading into each other and negotiating for what they need to survive. Sometimes the combinations of textures and colors created by the garden itself, or by its resident wildlife, are those that you may never have considered.”
I remember once looking at a slope at a condominium complex in Santa Clarita. Most of the plants in the original landscape were struggling but one volunteer species was thriving. This happy plant had seeded itself with the help of birds, no doubt, all over the slope. The identity of this plant was firethorn (Pyracantha), known for being covered at this time of year with fiery red or orange fruit. Thanks to the firethorn, the slope had been transformed into a vibrant bird sanctuary as avian creatures gathered to feast on its fruit. Were it not for the firethorn’s presence, the slope would have been unremarkable and dull.
The profiles of more than 500 water-thrifty plants are included in “Gardening in Summer-Dry Climates.” One of them is a dwarf bottlebrush, Callistemon viminalis ‘Little John.’ This has become one of the most popular plants for a low hedge since it grows three or four feet tall and is resplendent with scarlet bottlebrush flowers throughout the year. Its blue-green foliage is an added bonus. ‘Little John’ is a plant that makes an ideal informal hedge and is a perfect selection for laissez-faire maintenance since clipping it into a symmetrical shape, much less shearing it as a formal hedge, drastically curtails its flower production.
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One of the greatest horticultural myths is that indoor plants significantly improve air quality by absorbing contaminants known as VOC’s (volatile organic compounds) found in paint, fabrics, veneers, and many cleaning products. The source of the myth is a study conducted by NASA in 1989. It’s not that NASA’s data were wrong; it’s rather that the larger picture was left out. Yes, plants absorb VOCs. However, the quantity is so insignificant that it is not worth noting. A major flaw in the NASA study was the use of a closed chamber to measure plants’ absorption of VOCs. In the average home or office, the ventilation system is such that an even greater quantity of VOCs are eliminated by natural airflow.
In an interview with National Geographic, Michael Waring, an environmental engineer and indoor air quality expert at Drexel University, put it this way: “Plants, though they do remove VOCs, remove them at such a slow rate that they can’t compete with the air exchange mechanisms already happening in buildings.” According to Drexel, you would need a tropical forest of indoor plants to make a significant dent in air quality, something like ten plants per square foot or 1,000 plants for every 100 square feet of indoor space.
Yes, plants are growing in the International Space Station that circles the globe. Some of them produce food and some are for beauty, but they do not significantly purify space station air. Of course, even though we can now put the myth of plants’ air purification to rest, the beneficial influence they exert on our mood remains beyond dispute.
Tip of the Week: Joe Ortega, who gardens in Wilmington, offered the following suggestion for turning poorly drained soil into soil so perfect that it supports the growth of plumerias, those tropical beauties that demand quick-draining soil in order to thrive. The fact that they flourish in Hawaii’s airy volcanic rock is a testimony to the porous soil that they prefer. “I have 23 different colors of plumerias,” Ortega wrote, “with clay soil that was corrected through application of gypsum. Since my mother-in-law who lives in Redlands loves plumerias, we fixed her soil this way also. The plumerias also love used coffee grounds, dried banana peels (crushed) and worm castings. I hope this information is helpful to you and your readers.”
Please send questions, comments, and photos to Joshua@perfectplants.com.
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This low-water gardening technique suggests leaving your plants alone - OCRegister
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