By Cindy Poore
Spring is a time for new beginnings. It gets us all warmed up for a summer of fun and activities. Seeds are popping up all over. They are mostly weeds, but if you play it right, you can choose. Decide what you want your world to look like this year and get out there and sow some seeds of your own!
“It’s spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you’ve got it, you want—oh, you don’t quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!”
― Mark Twain
Spring is big for…
- Composting. If you are planning on planting, especially a veggie garden or fruit trees, now is the time to get your compost pile going if you didn’t do it in the fall. To speed up the process in your compost pile, shred your greenwaste clippings or straw in smaller pieces and keep the pile wet and turn frequently. Add some nice amendments for your soil like oyster shell (calcium) and some store-bought organic compost to inoculate your pile to get is going faster. You could have a pile in as little as 6 weeks.
- Pruning. Time to cut back the driedleaves, grasses and branches on those perennials. Russian Sage will still look like it’s dead. Don’t believe it! It will be budding out and blooming very soon.
- Planting. Now is the second best time to plant. While we can plant literally anytime here in Southern California, some times are better than others. Fall being best and spring is a close second.
- Weed Control. Still doing weed preventative spraying Call now to get on our schedule.
Embrace the lawn replacement!
The big push is on to get rid of our lawns. 🙁 It does not, however have to be rock! AND it can be green and soothing while requiring much less water so we can still enjoy our yard and be responsible to the earth and the future of our granchildren.
There are lots of ground covers that work really well as lower water use and allow us to be responsible and earth-friendly. The plants on the list below all work in different situations but all are beautiful and require a lot less water than a lawn.
Ajuga
Moneywort
Creeping Thyme
Sedums
And my favorite,……Carpet Junipers
One of th
e main reasons I got into designing and installing landscaping was frustration. I helped maintain many home gardens and the thing I hated most was the unnecessary trimming of plants that were planted in the wrong spot.
Far too often, a plant was a beautiful plant and good for the general location according to climate, soil and desired look, but people often did not plan for the plant to grow to its mature size. Week after week…, I would have to prune back the growing ends of plants to detriment of the plant and the possibility for them to reach their fullest potential merely because they were planted where their size would be a problem as they grew. Time and money were spent to whip that plant back into the desired size, generating bushels and bushels of waste to be thrown away.
Just exactly where is “away” you (hopefully) ask? Why to the landfill. What is the problem with that? It will be buried where it will decompose, feed the earth and all that, and all will be good, right? Actually, no. In the landfill, the plant material gets broken down by anaerobic bacteria which produce carbon dioxide and methane gas, both of which are greenhouse gases and are contributing to the global climate change.
So by just choosing the correct plant in the correct location, you can cut down on your environmental footprint on the planet. A small thing, right? Well no single raindrop believes it is to blame for the flood and every person can make a difference, because when they join together they are a formidable force.
OK, So I am always helping others with changing their landscapes and saving water to boot for others! Now it’s my turn. We have applied to the SaveOurWaterRebate program to switch out some cranky grass on our place. I made the application and took and sent 5 pictures and a copy of our water bill and we were approved for the program! Woo Hoo!!
I wanted to experience what you do when you apply and change to a drought tolerant landscape. So I will report here on how it all goes. Going to get $2000 back to mitigate our landscaping costs.
If you want to apply, Check it out here: http://www.saveourwaterrebates.com/
We happy to announce that we now accept Visa, Master Card, Discover and American Express credit cards for payment of your services. We know sometimes you need things like sprinkler repairs and weed control services that haven’t been budgeted for. It is good to know you can use your credit card to get the service you need when you need it. Give us a call to get started!
Baby tumbleweed farm here! El Nino is not done yet. Rain is on the way. Expect to see a LOT of weeds! If this isn’t for you, then weed preventer is in the cards. We apply it. Call us!
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- Weeds are Back! March 10, 2018Is your yard Exploding with weeds ? You may think a few weeds here or there aren’t much to worry about, but did you know most weeds are capable of producing over a thousand seeds each? Rain and the warmer weather that will follow will make conditions just right for hose little land mines […]