In bloom now

Today’s topic, gardening wisely, is not readily illustrated, so we begin with a selection of current eye-catchers in my garden. These are generally familiar plants, plus an attractive new addition found at the UCSC Arboretum.

Top 10 ways to garden wisely

This approach was motivated by other lists you may have seen on ways to save time or money in the garden. While those are always appealing objectives, our emphasis is on using your time and money effectively and efficiently, gaining satisfaction from your efforts, and achieving good results.

Let’s face it, successful gardening requires time and money!

The following recommendations, which might already be familiar to many gardeners, have been mentioned previously in this column and may be useful as a convenient list. There are at least 10 recommendations, but not numbered.

Grow your own plants

When you embark on plans to add plants to your garden, garden centers and nurseries invite you to buy large plants. Such purchases work as quick and easy additions to the landscape, but you are paying for the time of others who have nurtured these plants. Growing your own plants reduces your expenses, enables you to learn from the plant’s development, and provides enjoyment from cultivating your garden.

There are three alternative ways to grow your own plants: plant seeds, buy seedlings in six-packs or trays, and choose young plants in one-gallon size (or smaller).

Propagate your own plants

Over time, develop their landscape by filling beds with plants. While plant selection could pursue different styles or themes, garden designers often favor groupings of favored plants in drifts, and repeating prominent plants at planned sites within the garden. Such designs have subtle effects, providing recognition and comfort for the viewer. (Hodge-podge plant selection, in contrast, can provide an unsettling array.) Some gardeners create drifts or repetitions by purchasing and installing multiple plants, but wise gardeners let nature do the job over time by taking advantage of the natural propagation of plants.

Again, there are several categories of plants that propagate themselves conveniently. Bulbous plants, including daffodils, dahlias, irises, and others, can be lifted and divided every three or four years. Some succulent plants, e.g., agaves, produce offsets that can be separated from the parent and replanted. Then, there are many herbaceous perennials that can be lifted and divided to increase their presence in the garden.

The next level of propagation involves growing new plants from leaf, stem, or root cuttings. This approach is remarkably easy, given growth-nurturing conditions, and requires more time than dividing plants and yields particularly satisfying experiences.

Finally, all plants propagate by producing seeds in one form or another. Left on their own, they will drop their seeds to grow near the parent plant, and the gardener could carefully lift and relocate the seedlings to support a plant colony. This approach works quite well with annual plants, e.g., sweet peas, and takes more time with perennials and woody plants.

Choose compatible plants

The plant world has a vast range of genera and species to include in your garden. In addition, hybridizers create a continuously expanding array of appealing new cultivars, particularly within the most popular genera. Many gardeners take pleasure in adding new plant varieties to their collections, and adventuresome gardeners enjoy cultivating exotic plants, e.g., tropical plants that require greenhouse environments or careful treatment in the open garden. While such specialized gardening can be rewarding, it can involve unusual expenses and time commitments.

Wise gardening (as described here) favors selecting plants that are well-suited for the garden’s environment, including soil quality, moisture level, sun exposure, wind conditions and climate. For gardening in the Monterey Bay area, compatible plant selection begins with all natives of the globe’s Mediterranean (or summer-dry) climate zones. These selections should be refined by taking into account the micro-climate of the plant’s intended site, as well as the space needed to accommodate the plant’s mature size.

The ideally compatible plants for gardens within the Monterey Bay area would be the natives of this specific region of California. Plants in that category would be consistent with a purist’s approach to plant selection, highly likely to succeed in the garden, and welcomed by local wildlife.

Using compatible plants ultimately uses the gardener’s time well, and results in success.

Protecting your plants

All plants, even well-selected compatible plants, will be subject to a variety of hazards, including diseases, predatory insects and animals, and weeds. Wise gardeners are alert to the ways to minimize having their plants compromised, damaged or killed by nature’s hazards. Responses to these hazards include preparation, remediation and relaxation.

Preparation involves maintaining plant health because plants have natural resistance or tolerance to disease and insect hazards. Plant health can be supported by placing the plant in appropriate conditions, timely moisturizing (a well-regulated irrigation system is the “gold standard”), and pruning for good air movement and sun exposure within the plant’s interior. The most common errors are under- and over-watering, so the wise gardener irrigates plants only when they show signs of need. This approach also provides an additional benefit: water conservation.

Beyond good cultivation, protecting your plants from predatory insects includes seasonal uses of (preferably) organic sprays to limit insect development on fruit trees, regular uses of snail and slug bait, e.g., organic Sluggo, and routine early morning picking of snails.

Protecting plants from predatory animals varies with the animal group: plant cages are the best protection from rabbit nibbling; fences protect from deer feeding; and trapping is the best-known protection from the expansion of the gopher population.

Protecting your plants from weeds combines preparation and remediation. Weed prevention methods include mulching and dense planting, both of which deny weed seeds the sunlight they need to grow. Wise gardeners acquire mulch material in bulk from local tree services, which gladly share wood chips to avoid landfill charges. The tree services will charge for the delivery of wood chips, so you could do your own hauling. If you have tree services done, the service will leave the chips, upon request.

Weed remediation includes pulling weeds as promptly as possible, and, most importantly, before they generate seeds. Because the timing of weed removal varies with annual and perennial weeds, become knowledgeable about your garden’s weeds. Control young weeds on walkways by spraying with horticultural vinegar, but not close to desirable plants.

Remediation of pest damage to plants includes organic sprays. Here’s a link to a useful website: https://tinyurl.com/yffyr5zd.

Know your plants’ botanical names

All forms of wise gardening can be supported by researching the cultivation of the plants in your garden by drawing on printed or online information. The first book to include in your gardening library is Sunset’s “Western Garden Book,” which includes brief info on a very wide range of garden plants. There are numerous online resources for general gardening information and the cultivation of specific plants. An essential key to accessing learning about a plant of current interest is the plant’s botanical name. Botanical names are important for ornamental plants, but common names are more often used for edible plants. A wise gardener will maintain a readily accessible list of the botanical name of each plant in his or her garden, ideally with a snapshot of the plant for reliable identification.

Best wishes for gardening wisely, and enjoying the experience.

Tom Karwin is a past president of Friends of the UC Santa Cruz Arboretum and the Monterey Bay Iris Society, a past president and Lifetime Member of the Monterey Bay Area Cactus & Succulent Society, and a Lifetime UC Master Gardener (Certified 1999—2009). He is now a board member of the Santa Cruz Hostel Society, and active with the Pacific Horticultural Society. To view photos from his garden, https://www.facebook.com/ ongardeningcom- 566511763375123/ . For garden coaching info and an archive of On Gardening columns, visit ongardening.com. Email your comments or questions to gardening@karwin.com.