Spring’s Garden - Nature Therapy
Ready or not, it’s here, budding, flowering and pushing through to the warmth of the Sun while showers drench the soil making the roots strong. This is the time when this writer tries hard to identify all the different native flowers most people like to call weeds as they don’t fit into their personally controlled gardens and landscapes. They pop up nilly-willy, resilient and wild.
In our information age there are now photo apps to identify plants, saving long hours of old- fashioned book research. Sometimes it can be a frustrating hit or miss but overall: Wow! The aesthetics are there to be tapped into even if unfamiliar. We fantasize over how to create a garden only using some of these gorgeous and hardy native flowers and shrubs as they never stop giving seasonally. They need little to no care, adapting to whatever is happening weather-wise and to the soil where they are. Wildlife including birds and bees know their nutritious secrets from the ages.
Sowing wildflowers in spring gardens is nature's therapy at it's finest. The best seed company is LeBallister’s in Santa Rosa. They are very knowledgeable and helpful. More and more native shrubs and trees are being cultivated and sold in Nurseries. But most natives want to remain wild, their seeds transported by birds and the elements for Nature’s gorgeous palette of a spread we see over our remaining fields and wild untamed places which attracts world-wide attention.
And so no to any more destruction of these places and yes to developers and individuals for making wise decisions on how to value, preserve and cultivate them. This is the essence of Deva Gardening. We design gardens in harmony and integration with Nature and energetically in dominion rather than domination. That doesn’t mean we don’t destroy. By that we mean take things out which don’t work and shouldn’t be there to begin with. Destruction is such an integral part of creation.
Onwards to what to do in Spring Gardens:
Everything having to do with clean-up, soil preparation, irrigation regulation and planting. Our clay soil is moist and malleable, with heat it becomes like concrete, extremely hard to dig into. And yet, not good to dig into it when it is too wet and it destroys its nutrients becoming gluey. So, there is an art to understanding our soils and when to plant and when to wait. Depending on what is being planted is how to amend the soil. Soil booster bought in bags at Sonoma Mission Gardens is one good one. Whatever magic is in that concoction plants seem to love and thrive with it as long as it is mixed up with the native clay 50-50 as it is quite rich.
Last year we sod installed a classic lawn in May, too late. It was totally dependent on its irrigation system to root. We left the site after completing the work and the irrigation system failed to no one’s notice. So, we had to replace it. Then with the heavy watering the raccoons loved it too much, rolling it back to eat the grubs. Another replacement. Yikes!
March is a good time to seed a lawn versus sod it, as the showers help it to grow naturally. We think the best lawn is a no-mow lawn. Agrostis pallens is a true California native grass. Originally designed as a golf course turf replacement, this native meadow grass works great for greens and roughs. This means you can mow parts of it to 2" and leave other areas long and meadowy. It grows naturally to 16" high un-mown and pairs great with poppies & wildflowers.
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