Dirt Divas

June 17, 2007

By Sally Koppenberg

Embarrassingly, I still don't have containers on my porch! How sad! It's on my list to accomplish right away - maybe last week? What about the weeds in the rock-work out front? They're on the list! And the overgrown chives that need to be cut and made into bread? On the list. Everything's on the list, and might just have to stay there for a while.

Right now, I'm worried about something else. Where's the rain? With the fire danger high and the woods already beginning to crackle beneath our feet, gardens are sucking up water wholesale. And the wind! When the sun isn't desecrating the soil, the wind is! I planted a lovely little tri-folium border along the edge of the veggie garden and have found myself in a daily dance to keep it watered. Tri-folium are water mongers after all - sort of a mistake to put them there I guess.

We really do live in a northern desert and need to start thinking that way, beginning with soil cover. Any type of mulch would help: grass clippings (readily available to most, and free), leaves (also free, but a bit more trouble to gather), pea gravel (not free, but readily available), wood chips, shredded paper (if you can keep it from blowing away!), sand, or just about anything that will cover the soil and keep evaporation from happening. Just spread amongst your plants and watch your watering needs decrease. But be prepared to share your garden with visitors. Any number of cool minded, creeping, worming, crawling critters love to live beneath mulch. Most of them are actually really good for your soil, so your garden will definitely be the winner here. In addition, birds love to scratch and dig about in mulch, seeking these same said crawlers, so you'll a hero in the bird world too. What a happy thought!

Here are a couple of other things to think about. Watering early in the morning or in the evening will make your water go farther - more time for the water to sink into the ground, thus into your plants roots before the elements take it away. Make sure containers are deep, not wide and shallow and remember to mix some real dirt with your potting soil for containers. Real dirt holds moisture longer. Think about using containers in shady or sheltered areas rather than right out in the sun and wind. Don't baby your garden! Deep water very seriously several times a week instead of spitting at it once or twice a day. But take this advice: this is a great discipline for a lawn and makes it much healthier. It also works well on an established shrub and tree garden but not so good with annuals.

And of course, use plants that like it a bit on the dry side. Back to my bad choice of tri-folium for a border. They really are lovely, but I should have given them more shade. Bunch grasses, alpine plants, hosta, poppies, columbine, catchfly, most perennial herbs, and many annuals such as coleus, prefer somewhat dry conditions. You could even plant some annual succulents such as opuntias, sempervivums, yuccas, echeverias, graptopetalums. This looks like a good year to try them out, just don't plant anything that likes it really hot, as true heat seems to elude us still. (Don't get me wrong, I sweat at 60 degrees, but I'm not a heat loving plant, either). Sure we could have another August like last year and everything would drown, but fretting over such trivialities won't get your garden watered now, will it? Why not plant some trees here and there and establish a little shade? Shade is a great water saving devise, and definitely under-rated in our climate. Even a small shrub offers a surprising amount of shade for anything planted near it.

Most importantly, don't let watering take over your life. Come to an accord with your garden so you can once again enjoy being in it without feeling the burden of upkeep. After all, how can you hide from the wind if you have to be out watering your garden all the time? In the end, you and your garden will be as you allow. Happy or sad, the choice is yours. Don't trouble yourself over mistakes, work on solutions. That's what sets us gardeners apart from the rest of the world. We don't mind adjusting and moving on, and only occasionally do we weep over spilt mulch.

Sally Koppenberg is a garden and food designer and the owner of Stonehill Gardens, a nursery & catering company specializing in Alaska Grown foods, trees, shrubs, perennials and native plants. Contact her at stonehill@gci.net.