As our rainy season draws to a close, gardeners everywhere are turning their irrigation systems back on in anticipation of the dry summer months to come. And this year, with the drought emergency officially over, it’s with an easy conscience. After all, why not treat the garden to a little more water this year? After all those lean water years, don’t the plants deserve it? Whoa! Don’t touch that dial!
Read MoreSpring is in her prom dress now, and all the birds and bugs are zooming around, finding mates, showing off, and building nests. If your garden is planted to attract hummingbirds, you may be puzzled by some unusual behavior. Occasionally you may see a hummingbird ignoring all the beautiful red tubular blossoms you have provided and instead zooming around under an old porch or dead tree. What the heck is it doing?
Read MoreEvery spring, as the last rains finish, gardeners are busy turning on the drip irrigation timers, and running each valve, to make sure that there are no leaks, and that the water is being targeted correctly. This year, because of our record-breaking drought, the stakes are even higher. Almost every garden has room to trim water use. First of all, if your garden still doesn’t have drip irrigation, now is the time. Drip irrigation applies the water slowly and evenly directly into the soil, so that none is lost to evaporation or run-off.
Read MoreSome native plants can be mixed in with other plants requiring summer water, but most can not. This is called the garden tolerance of the native plant. Most native plants have poor garden tolerance, which just means they will not thrive if exposed to normal garden conditions like rich soil, fertilization, and summer irrigation. They may even die.
Read More“One day at a time” is a slogan used by many ambitious people, such as athletes, business entrepreneurs, and politicians. It conveys the wisdom of breaking up a difficult or prolonged task into manageable parts. At Garden for the Environment this phrase takes on a special meaning. On Wednesday every week, a dedicated group of volunteers and interns show up by ten in the morning and for the next four hours, we break into crews to weed, prune, compost, and fertilize.
Read MoreSpring is here, and the long-awaited rains are blessing the garden. By the south gate of Garden for the Environment, I can look with satisfaction at the bright bursts of color from harlequin flower and spring star flower blooming on one side of the pathway, while colorful grasses, rock roses, and irises light up the other side. But this is no time for a gardener to rest on her laurels. The flowers that are blooming today are the result of work done in fall and early winter. And today’s work must plan for the upcoming months.
Read MoreThis year more people than ever seem ready to start growing at least some of their own food in their gardens or on their decks and balconies. The weather is rarely cold enough to stop all plants from growing, so we can harvest food from our gardens all year round, even in December and January. On the other hand, it doesn't ever get warm enough for many crops which other regions can grow in the summer time, especially that hallmark of backyard gardening, the tomato.
Read MoreFor me, every year there’s a moment in May when the garden is suddenly just too much. All the irrigation has to be troubleshot and turned on after winter. All the weeds are as high as an elephant’s eye. All the winter crops suddenly bolt so all the vegetable beds have to be turned over and planted for summer. All the spring blooming ornamentals need deadheading, while the cool season annuals are already finished and need to be composted. Yikes!
Read MoreMay Day is like Christmas for gardeners except all the packages are opening themselves simultaneously. There is so much to fall in love with. Here are a few of my heartthrobs this month.
Read MoreFrom now through July the beautiful and vigorous native plants in our native garden will bloom in turn. This is their active season, with water in the soil from winter rains, and warm days ahead. By July, the soils are dry and the fogs roll in. Our native garden quiets down, because the dry late summer months are the dormant time for California native plants.
Read MoreAs summer brings warmer temperatures and some sunny afternoons, one of the most enjoyable sights in the garden is a variety of butterflies flitting from plant to plant, seeking nectar and egg-laying opportunities. Look for butterflies congregating in open, sunny spots with some wind protection. To make garden areas more attractive to butterflies, plant some of their favorite nectaring flowers.
Read MoreDeer grass, coyote bush, hummingbird sage, sandhill sage, sea thrift, even the names of our native plants sound like a poem. They conjure up a time not so long ago when the San Franciscan peninsula was a mix of dunes, low hills and valleys, where seasonal creeks threaded between shrubby, windswept slopes until they fed into the few year-round creeks running to the bay.
Read MoreOpen daily from dawn until dusk every day of the year!
Garden address: 1590 7th Avenue, San Francisco
info@gardenfortheenvironment.org
Mailing address: 2150 Allston Way, Suite 460, Berkeley, California 94704
Garden for the Environment is a fiscally sponsored project of Earth Island Institute.
