Waterwise gardening

All the rain last week (hooray for that) meant lots less time outdoors (since it was pouring) and in the garden (actually being back at work is the main reason). But shifting from home garden thinking to work garden ideas isn't too much of a contrast -- it all blends together in how I think about plants, gardening, ecology, environmentally-friendly approaches to gardening, and observing and learning more about nature.

I've been thinking quite a bit this week about sustainable gardening, and what waterwise gardening in our climate really means. Talking this week with my colleagues about updates for our xeriscape garden has me mulling over my approach to sustainable gardening.

I guess because my first interest in plants was those living in 'wild' landscapes that were native to the Texas Hill Country where I grew up, followed by a fascination with weedy species from a summer spent with my family in upstate NY (and visiting frequently in NYC) as a young teenager, and fortified by the tremendous plant diversity in California, where I studied plant ecology as a graduate student, I'm looking at our home landscape/garden with an ecologist's eye to plant behavior and needs.

The standard (US) horticultural recommendation of an inch of water a week sort of seems nuts to me. Is this a lawn thing? My pampered vegetable garden, well, yes, maybe, but our trees, shrubs and perennials (mostly native or tough) will happily get by on a lot less water. Uh, what about all the plants out there in the 'wild'? No one's watering them.

And we certainly DON'T need an irrigation system to successfully garden, even in times of drought.

I think being a waterwise gardener means choosing plants that can withstand dry spells, and flourish without lots of supplemental water (I wrote this in a post last September and this in October). Here in the SE (United States), we can grow lots of great plants that fit that description. Many of our native plants are prized in Europe as normal landscape plants, so this doesn't mean our palette is restricted to cacti and succulents.

Beth Chatto's gravel garden in East Anglia, England (20 inches of rain/yr)

She uses lots of Mediterranean natives in this garden.

Long hot summer dry spells (3-4 weeks) are not uncommon here in the Southeast, so native plants exposed to these conditions (those that don't live along streams,rivers, in floodplains, or in the mountains) have various adaptive strategies to cope, either through different types of tolerance mechanisms or avoidance (by being dormant). Clues to drought-tolerance come from native habitat (grasslands, prairies, dry woods, shallow soils, rocky slopes, etc.), plant habit (deep tap roots or fibrous storage roots), leaf color and texture (gray leaves are reflective, waxy or thick leaves are water-loss resistant).

What really gets me cranky is our American/Southern focus on lawns. In our home garden, we have perfectly nice areas of Zoysia lawn, established many years ago, and greatly diminished in size since we moved in. They never get a bit of supplemental water from us, nor any fertilization, aeration, de-thatching or anything else resembling 'lawn care.' The clippings are left to decompose and renourish the lawn. The lawn patches that are most exposed to sun and on shallower soils have suffered during the drought, turning totally brown. But the rain last week has stimulated regrowth of tender young shoots, so maybe that area isn't ready to be turned into raised beds after all. Darn!

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..... and then there was one..

Yesterday, Linas set off for his new life at Plymouth University.

He and Pete loaded all of life's essentials; computer, guitars, amplifier, server, more computer stuff, more guitars, oh and some clothes, into the car. Actually it didn't all fit and Pete will drop some off next week when his work takes him down south.

A bit of a mix-up with the letting agents and we had a long wait out in the street. The house is 5 minutes from the university and the whole area has a campus feel with students wandering around and live Irish music floating up from one of the several nearby pubs. Ideal ..... if you're a student.

This is the house and LOOK, blue skies! It was actually really hot and my sources tell me it was the same in North Devon. Shame it's raining again today.

An easy 2 hour drive home, unlike the 4 hour slog home from Leicester to drop Vytas off at uni. Driving back down the Link road, Devon was bathed in a golden light. Coming down from the high rolling hills there were amazing views, reminiscent of Chinese watercolour landscapes. Spread out below could be seen the typical Devon patchwork of fields with each range of hills beyond being a misty golden grey fading away into the distance. Unfortunately this is a no stopping road and the only parking places were down in the valleys or surrounded by trees so I couldn't take pictures. The picture above was taken near home when it was getting dark and the golden light had gone.

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Bedroom Furniture, Bedroom Set

Bedroom Furniture Set 1 in Oak - Canopy Oak

Includes:

1 x Canopy Oaks Twin Size Bed in Oak (88-5271-400)
1 x Canopy Oaks Night Stand in Oak (88-5271-42)
1 x Canopy Oaks 5 Drawer Chest in Oak (88-5271-41)
1 x Canopy Oaks Double Dresser in Oak (88-5271-43)

Bundled set of items. Details

Bedroom Furniture Set in Golden Oak - South Shore Furniture

Product Description:

Your child will cherish South Shore's River Valley Collection for years to come; it can also be used to warmly welcome visitors in a guest bedroom. This unisex collection features a distinctive louver motif adorning the dresser, the night table, and the headboard. Bed with rounded legs that enhance the design.

Includes:

1 x Full / Queen Size Headboard (3481090)
1 x Night Table (3481062)
1 x Door Chest (3481037)
1 x Double Dresser and Mirror Set (3481-DM)

Bundled set of items. Details

Bedroom Furniture Set 1 in Light Oak - Braywick

Includes:

• 1 x Braywick Twin Size Bed in Light Oak (88-5272-400)



• 1 x Braywick Night Stand in Light Oak (88-5272-42)



• 1 x Braywick Drawer Chest in Light Oak (88-5272-41)
  


• 1 x Braywick Double Dresser in Light Oak (88-5272-43)

Bundled set of items. Details

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Trumpet Vine

I've always liked the look of the Trumpet Vine (Campsis radicans), also known as Bignonia. I know it can be invasive and can smother everything it gets its tendrils into - the photo below is of one growing up what once was a tree in the pine forest at Eraclea Mare, where we spent our holidays. It doesn't show up very well on the photo, but you can take my word for it that all you can see there is trumpet vine.

But on a balcony it's much easier to keep things under control. The plants are in containers so the roots can't spread, and the seeds mostly fall on the balcony floor - no real problems with self-seeding. I had been thinking that the plant would look great growing up the trellis at the far end for quite a while, so when I saw the one in the top photo growing at the side of the road, I wondered whether maybe a couple of the temptingly dangling seed pods could make their way into my pockets.

When I got closer though, I backed off - quick. Never have I seen so many wasps on a plant. There were hundreds of them, as well as a good collection of different type of bees. I'd heard that the plant attracted large numbers of insects, but hadn't quite imagined the scale of it.

I've noticed a number of posts on various blogs recently trying to convince us that "wasps are our friends" because they eat aphids, lay their eggs in caterpillars so that the larvae eat them from the inside out, etc.

Lay their eggs in caterpillars so that the larvae eat them from the inside out? Yuk - not what I want to see happening on my balcony every time I look at a plant. I may be obsessed with not killing things, but I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy. Nor do I fancy having to shoo them out of the house every five minutes. We already get our fair share of huge ones, which I think are part of the sceliphron species (mud dauber wasps). My son calls them "the wasp with the trailer" because of the ridiculously long petiole which joins the two parts of their body. What evolutionary purpose that serves is beyond me. For once I tried to attract them today so I could take a photo, but despite leaving out fruit and jam there's been no sign. huh - I bet if I sat on the balcony to eat a peach ...

So I found this photo made available under Creative Commons license by Nigel Jones (thanks Nigel). It's not the same type - ours has a bright yellow body with black stripes and a straight black brittle-looking petiole. And they're much meaner looking. But you get the general idea.

So my trumpet vine plans have sadly been shelved. From now on I'll go on enjoying other people's but will leave having my own until the day I get a very large garden. And it will be going right down the bottom.

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Raindrops and Ponies.

The rain has finally stopped, (for now), so I was able to get out to do some gardening. Flipping weeds growing all over the place again. But first I took some pictures of raindrops captured by plants. Even with the ever present grey skies the drops glistened like crystals.

Once I'm out in the garden it's so peaceful. Just the ever present sounds of the wind in the trees and the stream rushing downhill in the next field. Punctuated by the cooing of a wood pigeon, twitterings of small birds and for some reason the very loud munching of a pony in the field above the garden. Maybe wet grass is noisier than dry grass? Or perhaps Coral is just a noisy eater? Now and again I hear my neighbour teaching a riding lesson in the indoor school and the enthusiastic "1,2, 1,2, .... well done!", makes me smile and reminds me of the days when I taught disabled children to ride in London.

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Pops of Pink

Oh how I would love to have this colorful dining room in my home. Molly Luetkemeyer of M. Design Interiors perfectly combined the delightful elements that I've fallen for....the fabulous mirror, those gorgeous chairs, the chandelier, the vibrant curtains and obviously the wall color. What is not to love?!

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Garden Flora and Fauna.

I found this little newt under a stone yeterday.

The buddlia bushes are covered with butterflies.

This bird feeder is suspended by nylon fishing line over a stream but the squirrel still manages to steal the peanuts.


The Houdini hen is out again.

We've seen lots of woodpeckers this year.

I took this picture out in the garden at 10.00 at night on the 21st of June. The light was amazing.

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Fiona Newell Weeks

I don't have any clue how Desire to Inspire always finds such talented designers, but Fiona Newell Weeks now tops my list of favorites. Best known for her use of color, Fiona likes her rooms to be creative and entertaining to the eye. I'd easily say my eyes are LOVING these images!

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Garden peas

It's fun to try new things. All it takes is some seeds and prepared soil. I've had a number of spots ready, and now, after 4 days of rain (thankfully due to Tropical Storm Fay), the soil is well-hydrated for now, at least.

I thought I'd try shelling peas this fall -- 'Maestro' and 'Wando' look like good varieties to try for our climate. So I pre-germinated this first batch, and have just finished tucking them into the soil.

I think that I'll try succession plantings over the next month, just to see what timing might be best. It's supposed to be back up to 90°F on Friday; young peas won't like that heat, but hopefully it will cool down before the seedlings emerge above ground!

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Rainy Days in Devon.

You know the weather is miserable when the cats ( here Squeeky and Smudge) start jamming themselves along the rayburn in the kitchen. ( Last year Zulu the dog would be there with cats sprawled on top of him.) The rayburn is on all year round, keeps the kitchen warm, provides hot water, dries my washing and is my (temperamental) cooker. Oh and the oil costs are a fortune and it is best to stay out of the kitchen when Pete has to dismantle and clean it and replace the wicks.

Rant no1 over, now for rant no2. The weather. For most of August we have had grey skies and 'frequent showers'. Everything outside is wet and as soon as you get ready to go out to do something .... it's raining again.This is the last week of the school holidays and having done a major houseclean and tidy, had a houseful of family and friends, I had hoped to get some painting and tidying done outside. Oh well. I'll just have to sit on the pc instead. I got Linas (middle son) to help set up this blog yesterday which I predict will be fun for me if no one else.

Speaking of sons, Linas is busy packing as we are taking him down to Plymouth this Saturday to start the final year of his IT degree at Plymouth University. He is moving to a house share with 3 friends who are also doing the same degree. He is excited to be moving away from the countryside and I hope that he doesn't get distracted by city life. That will just leave youngest son, Romas at home and he seems to spend most of his time down in Bude staying ( partying and rehearsing ) with friends from his music course. Much as I love all 3 of my sons it will be lovely to have a quiet home where there aren't computers screeching and exploding in every room to the gentle accompaniment of drums and electric guitars. Then I can play my piano in peace!

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Haytor, Dartmoor.

Although we've lived here for 15 years and can even see the high plateau of Dartmoor from the top of our drive, we've never actually been there. The call of the sea only 5-10 miles away has always been too strong. So last Saturday for a birthday treat Pete drove us down to Haytor. Well, I had thought Dartmoor was only about 30 miles away, after 69 miles of twisty roads I was feeling so .... green. I love it  when the earth's bones are showing through and Haytor and all the other tors were certainly dramatic. But like most'wild' areas you are so quickly back in farmland and civilisation. 

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Nursery Fun

How cute is Sonny's little nursery? Lucky for him, his mom Trina is an interior designer and they have some very crafty friends and family. Pretty much everything in this room was crafted by hand! -Oh Dee Doh

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Ten reasons why I wouldn't be without my scissors

What tools are absolutely essential for gardening on a balcony? Well really, none. But I wouldn't want to be without my scissors.

Balcony gardening is light on tools and equipment. You need some containers, obviously, and a good watering can. But forget the spades, forks, rakes and hoes that you need in an ordinary garden. Not to mention lawnmowers, hedge clippers and all the rest. When you're balcony gardening, almost everything can be done with your hands.

My own tool bag consists of two trowels and a small fork which haven't seen the light of day for months, a dibber which I occasionally use for planting bulbs and seedlings, and a pair of secateurs which don't work and which I suppose I'll get round to replacing someday. But there's no rush. On a balcony even shrubs tend to be kept small, so that the scissors often do the job of pruning just as well. Gardening gloves aren't necessary, but I do sometimes put on rubber gloves - the thin type that doctors wear - if I'm handling plants that irritate the skin (alyssum brings me out in blotches for instance) or if I've got a cut on my hand and don't quite feel like plunging it into stable manure.

But I do use my scissors a lot. I have two pairs - one large and one small, nail-scissor type. I use them for all the jobs I don't want to use my hands for, or which would otherwise have me tearing at things with my teeth. They're invaluable for ..

• deadheading - especially things like horribly sticky surfinias.


• getting rid of dead or dying sections of plants - a snip a day keeps the red spider mite away. Well, sometimes.


• preparing softwood cuttings - yes, I know a sharp knife or razor blade are usually recommended. but in my hands these would become lethal weapons, and I'm too fond of my fingers to risk it. Nail scissors work just as well.


• opening bags of compost - even I don't use my teeth for this one.


• cutting lengths of twine - nothing looks worse on a balcony than long bits of twine sticking out from the plants. Trim them at the knot.


• opening seed packets - OK, you can rip the paper. But that little internal sealed packet?


• pruning - see above


• cutting flowers for inside and harvesting veg


• threatening my family - when they brush past the plants and break bits off.

So there you have it. Nine reasons why I wouldn't be without my scissors. I know, I know - the title said ten. But I've run out. Have I forgotten anything? Can anyone else suggest the tenth?

This post was part of a group writing project suggested by Darren Rowse of Problogger - a site well worth visiting for ideas on blogging.

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Night sounds

I've enjoyed trying to figure out cricket, cicada, and katydid calls. I'm not sure I've made a lot of headway, but I was delighted with several new books I acquired recently (and accompanying CD's) by Lang Elliot and friends. They were A Guide to Night Sounds, The Calls of Frogs and Toads, and the best -- The Songs of Insects.

I'm looking forward to listening to all of them.

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Vibrant Living Room

I am loving this look from Domino. The bold turquoise walls, the awesome green fabric on the tufted sofa, and the royal-blue slipper chair, a little orange thrown in. Its all so yummy.

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Finally a prospect of some decent rain

Gardeners and naturalists are almost as keen as farmers following the weather. Where I live, garden, and pay attention to the natural world, we're in the center of quite a severe drought.

We normally get fairly even rain throughout the year, but not for the past ten years or so, except for one year (the year the front meadow looked especially fabulous, with moisture-loving Joe-Pye weed and huge Blazing Stars (Liatris spp.)

And the last two summers have been truly exceptional (note the current rating for the dark red area- ugh). I've marked where I live with the arrow!

But Tropical Storm Fay is bringing some decent rain, even to us in Upstate South Carolina. I'm sorry for the flooding in Florida, but we'll be thankful for the downpours that are predicted for the next few days.

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Pinewoods

If you've commented on any of the last few posts and have been wondering why the comments hadn't been published - I've been on holiday. The posts were prepared in advance and went up automatically on the scheduled dates, but I've had no computer access for a couple of weeks so couldn't check for comments. They're all up now though.

We were at Eraclea Mare, a small seaside village on the north eastern coast of Italy, about 50 km east of Venice. A wide sandy beach gives way to sand dunes and pine forest, then the village which in winter has only 200 inhabitants, but in summer is full of tourists from Italy, Germany, Austria and Russia. The Brits and the French don't seem to have discovered it yet. From then on the land is flat until you get to the Dolomites - the eastern part of the Alps which divide Italy from Austria. They're about 100 km away, but on our last morning, after an incredible thunderstorm and hailstorm during the night, it seemed you could reach out and touch them, the air was so clear.

The crop growing in the field above is soya, one of the main agricultural products of the area. I went riding in the country one day and saw that they were experimenting with sowing soya and winter wheat at the same time. The winter wheat grows and is harvested before the soya really starts coming through, but once the wheat is gone it takes over. The advantage is that the field is only ploughed once, instead of twice, meaning less work but also less soil erosion and less air pollution from the tractors. The fields grown like that didn't seem to give nearly as great a yield as the one above, however, so I wonder if the experiment might be dropped. Does anyone know of anywhere else it's been tried?

I spent a lot of time walking and biking in the pine woods. I can't claim they were deserted, as they were constantly crossed by people going or coming back from the beach. But I managed to find some quiet shady paths.

The pines were Umbrella Pines (Pinus pinea) which are typical of Mediterranean regions. I was on the look out for wildlife, but there was disappointingly little. The most common birds were ring necked doves, which cooed and squawked in the trees around our hotel.

And there were also a far larger number of jays than I've ever seen in one place before. They were exceptionally tame, and would hop around on the ground in front of you, only flying away at the last minute - except of course on the day I went out with my camera to photograph them.

The only animal I saw was a red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) who was also a bit camera shy. I noticed him in roughly the same place on several occasions, but again, when I went out with my camera he refused to co-operate.

Red squirrels are still holding their own in many parts of Italy, though in some areas the greys are fast wiping them out. Despite their name, their coat colour can vary, including a variety found in the south of Italy (sciurus vulgaris meridionale) which is completely black. This one had a dark brown coat and the characteristic white belly.

Although I've been in the area many times before (my husband was born nearby and likes to go back to see relatives and old haunts), it was the first time we'd been to Eraclea Mare. I chose it because it seemed less developed and "touristy" than other places along the coast, and we were well rewarded. It was a super holiday and I know we shall go back. If you're in the area, I recommend it.


Explore some more...

For information on the danger posed to the red squirrel population by the greys : The European Squirrel Initiative

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Kolonihagen Summerhouse

Is this light-filled Norwegian summer retreat not amazing?! Those Scandinavians sure know how to use white. The summerhouse is teeny-tiny, but just perfect for escaping. I love all the little built-ins, especially where the space for the bed. For lots more images, including great exterior shots, go here. -Apartment Therapy

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