what not to plant & when

we are ramping up to add some low-voltage lighting and plants to our front yard. unfortunately we are a few years ahead of the curve, having turned off our sprinklers and killed our lawn back in 2007 (or earlier?). i can't remember. if you live in los angeles - the dwp has just increased the rebate offered to remove your turf. i'm helping an older neighbor get this done, and its exciting to see so many homes on our street taking advantage of this opportunity.


when we bought the house, it looked like this:



then we redid the driveway, built new fences, painted, let the hedge grow,... and let some years slip by to come to this:



(love the contrast from film to digital - also captured here!)

a good decade in and we are rethinking some spots. to be honest, i hand watered for the first half dozen summers, then settled on complete neglect. i realize it isn't everyone's cup of tea - but with a good layer of mulch in place i like the natural ramble of it all. not to mention all the wonderful insects and wildlife it attracts. and most of all it is low maintenance! (when we turned off the sprinklers, we also turned off the gardener who came with our home. and amazing man - but just wasn't an expense we thought a priority at the time. i still see him tending to the amazing back garden of our neighbor june. he is one of the last in los angeles.

my friend john picked up some plants for me at matilija nursery this week. (located in moorpark, it is a favorite along with theodore payne in sun valley and the grow native nursery at the va in westwood.) now is the best time of the year to plant here. the rains (we hope!) are on their way and the days are are getting cooler.

there are so many great native plants to chose from. and great books on the subject. we chose a selection that i know will do will in our yard - having them in place already - including California fuchsia and manzanita varieties.

i think if you are looking at drought tolerant, the more important consideration is what not to plant.

here is a great resource of plant that are pests in southern california. (i also love that it offers alternatives.)

the ones i see planted most often in the sfv the ubiquitous fountain and pampas grasses and broom varieties. (broom has invade the entire west coast - from canada down to mexico. it is so sad to see how it is wiped-out natives along the way. we actually spend a good amount of time every summer working to eradicate it from galiano, but it often feels like a lost cause.)

naively, we planted a peruvian pepper in our front yard soon after we moved in. it was early in my california-native education and sold under the deceptive name "california pepper". if we had to do it again, we would plant a native california sycamore in its place. (the sycamore is a high allergen tree - but still remains a favorite of mine.)

off to get those plants in the ground!


favorite books for the socal gardener (a mix of the inspirational and the practical)
Landscape for Living
California Native Plants for the Garden
Designing California Native Gardens
Gardens are for People
The California Native Landscape
The Sunset Western Garden Book
Gardens are for Living

rain rain

california is experiencing the worst drought in recent history. with rain in the forecast we are celebrating - but also cautiously aware of the dangers that can come with it. we are lucky to live in a very safe spot - with no fear of flooding or mudslides. our ground is thirsty - and the rain is quickly absorbed. we need it so very badly - and know that even a full few days of rain will not be enough. water conservation is at the forefront. we have worked with our local school to reduce the asphalt substantially to have the little rain we get enhance groundwater levels. at home, we have removed our lawn and replaced it with drought tolerant native plants.

and in anticipation of the rain, we have installed a rain barrel on one corner of the house. (the first of a series we hope to install.) it is convenient to our bedroom patio, where i have my collection of potted succulents. the goal is to use this convenient captured rain to water them. it will also help offset pooling in the chicken run, adjacent to this area. (we wouldn't use this water on edibles. i'm not confident about what other particulates might be captured, along with the water, off our tar and rock roof.)



we purchased this kit, and were gifted a food grade barrel from our friend john, an expert in water-wise systems.

installation was easy. d completed the project in about 20 minutes. (installation instructions can be found on the la stormwater site.)

in theory, we could capture 3,738 gallons of water with this storm! (roof footprint sqft x rainfall inches x 0.623) in our dreams, we install these.

now bring on the rain...






how to capture rainwater

rainwater harvesting

::

it feels like the home stretch. and the calendar reflects it...



savoring the moments i can. lots of cut flowers. (from the garden and elsewhere.)



dreaming of an island summer...

spring planting

These are D's instructions on how to fold paper pots (circa 2009). We use them to start seedlings for our garden, and are busy folding them today.



We are a little late with planting this year - but I think we will make it. I've spent the last couple of weekends contemplating how to keep the chickens out of the raised beds. We have just run chicken wire around in the past - but it was looking a little shabby so I wanted to go with wattle - but would have to purchase the supplies. (Or wait for my friend John's tree to grow up again!) While D was thinning and trying to propagate our bamboo last weekend, he suggested I try a wattle-fashioned fence out of it. Here is what we have right now. I'm not exactly sure about it. But it was easy. And it was free. So we will see how it holds up.



We've got tomatoes, zucchini, persian cucumbers in, and lettuce, basil, cilantro onions seeded. Also trying a go at luffa this year. We will start peppers, eggplant today. Peas and Beans to come... The girls also seeded their cut-flower garden last weekend. The chooks had a go at it, so time will tell.

Happy Spring.

::

I shared my breakfast this a.m. (freshly baked scone and a latte) with a beautiful bouquet of roses gathered for me from a nearby community garden.







i am working with this group to secure an agreement so that they are able to keep working the land they've been on for the last 15 years. they are a great group. and i am excited things are moving forward.

how great would it be to spread community gardens throughout un/underused ag yards on our campuses?

cut

it's the time of the year when i am filling all the containers in the house with flowers







from our garden... and from others...

happy saturday :)

::

modern macrame

sunshine on my shoulder

happy friday.

looking up.

our matilija is about to bloom. they are one of my favourite flowers. pure joy. too fragile to make it is a cut flower. best enjoyed with a cup of coffee on a sunny saturday morning.

today i have the coffee. and the sunshine. perhaps next weekend will bring the bloom.

just because

we have planted a cutting garden in one of our raised beds this year. brings us all great joy. love that the girls keep bringing me single flowers.

november garden

it has taken me a long time to really understand that fall sort of equals spring in socal. it is my favourite time of year in the garden. our drought tolerant plants start to look alive again!

the pic on the top is of ornamental gourds. i had hoped they would be grown, dried and ready to transform into bird houses by the holidays. (i have carried this image in my memory bank since i first saw it.) we will see.

outside.

happy friday!

friday rush-hour

time is moving much too quickly. we are over-scheduled again this week. as i feel out my new school garden responsibilities my days fill up too fast.

i am ready for july. the island. and a slower pace.

until then we are trying to spend as much time outside as possible. with the rains of the winter came a flourishing spring garden.



the longer days are coming. i can feel the stretch as we play with friends on our front steps.



my "to do" list is growing.

breath. happy weekend.

matilija

is it wrong for a plant to bring me so much joy? every morning this week there has been a newly opened saucer sized poppy greeting me.

::week.end::

tried to spend more time in our garden today. in and out between birthday parties, gardening classes, soccer games, grocery shopping and a trip to menchies.

right now

it is the kind of weekend that is starting to blur at the edges. there is a lot to say - i want to talk about school gardens and all the amazing connections i am making. the things i am learning. "food access". "capacity building". "implementation strategies". i am fascinated and excited by it all.

but it will have to wait. right now, i want to just listen to my kids' giggles. and get ready for bed.

happy weekend!

dig in!

if you are in the LA area and are in any way connected to a school garden (or a community garden) - come by! it will be worth your while!

feels like spring around here

it is cool. and breezy. but sunny. and all seem to be happy about it. (including me.)

all three hens are laying again. and my greens are happy and seemingly oblivious to the triple digit temps that will be their demise in another couple of months.

until then...

here we grow again

half started in the house in origami pots - half directly sown.

direct
Kale Squire
Baby Mesclun Lettuces "Cut and Come Again"
Japanese Spinach "Oriental Giant"
Nasturtium "Fiesta Blend"
Dill "Bouquet"
Swiss Chard "Red and White Mix"

potted
Pea "Sugar Snap"
Flowering Vine "Purple Hyacinth Bean" (this is actually to cover a trellis by the shed)
Butterfly Snapdragons "Chantilly"
Climbing Nasturtiums "Spitfire"
Container Tomato "Super Bush"
Cantaloupe "Hearts of Gold"

Still looking for a pole bean - and some artichoke plants. (the chooks destroyed our huge one. so sad!) D has also build a larger bed that I plan on using as a cut-flower garden - as dictated by the girls who have a habit of picking every flower they can for the dinner table. I am also going to try more lettuces in an old wine crate as microgreens. (I have been sprouting in a jar but thought I'd try in dirt as I read it is safer.)

I am even more unsure what I am doing this time. I have had no luck with greens in our summer garden. This was to be our winter garden - but I got delayed building a fence to keep the chooks out. We will see what happens. The mesclun is coming in nicely - I just hope it lasts a while.

I am trying to stick to the notion of only growing what we will eat. I find it tricky. All those seed packets thrill me!

How does your garden grow?

planting ideas

i always know that there will be good finds at the goodwill when i find a stack of vintage sunset books ... got me thinking about our garden.



it is cooler (only in the 90s!) and a holiday from school, so we have spent the day working in the yard. thinking about fall - and all the goodness it brings to our garden.



i took a bunch of succulent cuttings from a neighbor in exchange for tending her garden while she went on elderhostel to san francisco. i let them dry out and have stuck them in the ground - safely away from the chickens. (still want to go for a succulent wall. found the perfect foundation for it.)

thanks for all the bday wishes. it was well spent visiting theodore payne with two of my favourite people. then with those i love most eating at a new favourite restaurant. (love finding spots like this close to home.) then on to cake with my freighbours. i am a lucky girl.

happy fall!