Hello again, Westside Gardeners!
As spring approaches, I would like to share some of my own secrets to better your garden. When amending the native soil, I like to mix a compost and sand loam blend with 5 to 10 percent screened manure, complete organic fertilizer and green sand, which is high in trace elements.
An integral part of luscious gardens is muck, which is a fancy name for rotted manure. Some of my best plants I ever grew came from the stuff. Something to remember, if you have a garden and a dollar, spend $0.90 on soil and $0.10 on plants.
Place plant material carefully. Don’t plant bully plants beside wimpy plants. Install scented plants on a slope or berm above the garden. That way the fragrant air pools down below. I really enjoy the different scents mixing.
Unify your plantings. I like to mass plantings that are roughly the same size. For example in a shaded protected area, plant a forest of Japanese Maple, though all different types, it still looks like one forest.
Keep up with problem patrol. I tour my garden for 10 minutes everyday. When I see issues, I approach it organically first, then go to chemical controls as the last resort.
If you catch the first flush of weeds during Spring and before going to seed, it’s remarkable how easy weed control is the rest of the year. I also plant densely to exclude weeds and help my neighbors with their weed control.
During the spring, passionate gardeners have one thing in common, a need for plants in their lives. Often gardens are filled with horticultural gems collected from specialty nurseries, botanical garden plant sales, and friends’ backyards.
True masters are those who put plants together in such artful ways that appear unstudied, almost spontaneous, as though planted by nature.
Use a simple color palette. Choose a perennial with your favorite flower color and use lots of it. For example purple, pinks, plus bits of blue here and there. Some yellow for punch and lots of pure whites to divide colors and add sparkle.
Most of all, enjoy yourselves and have peace within your gardens. Every garden is an unending story. Just keep adding chapters.
