Lawn, Begone! An Update

 

Lawns can be a soothing, oasis of green. However, lawns can be a water hog and a time usurper (mowing, fertilizing, weeding). And time is something we all could use a bit more of. And frankly, if one has a large lawn, why not remove one-third of it and put it to a better purpose, while reducing water use and increasing free time?

This was our goal for 2009. And by Memorial Day weekend of 2010, Mission Accomplished! Here's what we did, along with a 2012 recap of the successes and failures in that area:

June-July 2009: Kill off 1600 square feet of our 5000 square foot lawn, an area dominated by every gardener's perennial nemesis, bermudagrass. Because of the surrounding trees and shrubs, as well as possible adverse health effects using an herbicide weed killer such as glyphosate (Roundup), we chose to organically rid ourselves of that lawn, using soil solarization (complete instructions at that website). 

A piece of advice, learned the hard way: yes, you could purchase a clear plastic drop cloth from the paint aisle at the big box store, and it would work...for a couple of weeks. After that, it deteriorates in the sun to the point where it becomes confetti-like, ripping and flying in the slightest breeze. Choose a clear plastic that has been treated to withstand UV rays.

September 2009 (hey, I never claimed to be a fast worker): After much discussion asking ourselves the question, "now what?", we bring in the professionals for design ideas. We would choose our own plants; design, though, is not our strong suit. Landscape Designer Colleen Hamilton from Bloomin' Landscape Designs drew up the plan, along with landscape contractor Dave Rhodes from Rhodes Landscape Design, who did the installation.

November 2009: The destruction/construction process begins. The crew from Rhodes Landscaping used a sod cutter to remove the root area of the bermudagrass. The pathways, brick patio, lighting and garden fountain are installed. 

After the crews left, we wheelbarrowed in 15 yards of compost, and topped that with 10 yards of an organic mulch, walk-on bark. And then we wait to see how the area drains after a heavy rainstorm.

February 2010: Glad we waited before planting. There were a couple of puddles still standing in the area, 24 hours after several days of heavy rain. Digging a sump (a deep hole, lined and filled with river rock) in those two small areas solved that dilemma.

March-April 2010: Retrofit the sprinkler irrigation system, and convert it to a drip irrigation system. Cap off three of the five sprinkler heads in the area; convert the remaining two with drip irrigation adapters. Lay half-inch drip line in the area where we plan to plant.

April-May 2010: Choose plants! Mostly edible ornamentals. An excellent resource for this information is Rosalind Creasy, who has written several books on the topic. For the blueberries, which required excellent drainage and very acidic soil, we brought in three cattle watering troughs, with large holes drilled in the bottoms of the containers. Several varieties of citrus were planted directly into the ground. Ground cover along the pool walkway included varieties of oregano.

June 2010: We watch it grow, while using a lot less water! Best of all, the bermudagrass hasn't showed its ugly head...yet.  Now, about that patio furniture...

June 2012 Update: Impressive.This soil solarization project , in combination with the addition  of compost and mulch, has mostly thwarted the return of the bermudagrass. On the rare occasion some slinks through to the surface, it pulls up easily.

Biggest mistake of this project...Forgetting to install a drainage system. Oops. The wet winter of 2010-2011 turned the area into a shallow lake, with the mulch threatening to float into the pool. The addition of a sump pump, resting on plywood, kept the mulch in place during rainstorms later in that winter.

So....Rhodes Landscaping returned in December 2011 and installed solid drain pipes that led the water far, far, away.

 This past winter? No problems!

And, of course, some plants did not take kindly to this revamped area...specifically, the citrus, which froze to death. A post mortem of the oranges, pummelos and mandarins turned up this interesting fact: that area gets four degrees colder than the garden area just 25 feet away. That was just enough extended cold (22-24 degrees, for four or more hours), to kill off most of the citrus trees.


We've replaced the dead citrus with some beautiful edible ornamentals that are dormant in the winter, including this Garden Gold miniature peach. The sole surviving citrus, a Centennial kumquat, is on the left side of the picture. Also thumbing it's nose at winter in the kumquat container: the cascading Shock Wave Coral Crush petunia, which survived the cold.

Oh, and notice the new patio furniture!

 

Random Garden Thoughts and Pictures

Cottony Cushion Scale on a Mandarin tree

A favorite pest of citrus, pittorsporum and nandina here in California: cottony cushion scale. This sucking insect protects itself from most predators with a cottony covering. Also guarding the scale: ants, which harvest the secretions of the scale for food. Control the ants with ant bait; control the scale with either a blast of water from the hose or an application of horticultural oil. Avoid harsh chemical insecticides which may deter one of the few beneficial insects that feeds on this scale: the vedalia beetle.

According to  the UC Davis Integrated Pest Management website: do not apply imidacloprid (Merit or Bayer Advanced Citrus Fruit and Vegetables) for cottony cushion scale control. Although imidacloprid has scale insects listed on the label, it doesn’t kill cottony cushion scale. 

The Tumbling Event at the Scale Olympics

To make matters worse, imidacloprid is very toxic to vedalia beetles. The beetles are poisoned when they feed on cottony cushion scale that have ingested imidacloprid. Cottony cushion scale outbreaks have been observed following use of this insecticide because the vedalia beetles were removed and the insecticide didn’t control the pest.

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Magic Kingdom Beehives?

Seen at Disneyland. Clever use of alyssum in the shape of a lantern or beehive.

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Easy source of baby greens? Start them from seed in smallish containers (3" pots, perhaps). Keep them on an outside table near the kitchen window for an easy meal reminder. Snip 'em as you need 'em!

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As seen at the National Heirloom Exposition, Sept. 2011:

The National Heirloom Exposition and Pure Food Fair in Santa Rosa last September was Disneyland for Grow-it-Yourselfers. Here, the Redwood Empire Chapter of the California Rare Fruit Growers had this beautiful pear on display, the Conseiller de la Cour.

From the book, "The Fruit Manual: Containing The Descriptions And Synonyms Of The Fruits And Fruit Trees Of Great Britain" comes this description of the Conseiller de la Cour: "Fruit, large, sometimes very large, being near four inches and a half long, and three inches and three-quarters wide; oblong pyriform, pretty even in its outline, but slightly undulating. Skin, thickly covered with cinnamon-coloured russet, so much so as to be encrusted with it, and permitting only very little of the pale yellow ground to show through it. Eye, large and open, with long, stout, and somewhat woody segments, set in a moderate depression. Stalk, from an inch to an inch and a quarter long, inserted on the wide, blunt apex of the fruit without depression. Flesh, yellowish, very tender, melting, and buttery, with an abundant richly flavoured juice, which is sweet, sprightly, and with a fine perfume.This is one of the finest pears in cultivation, and ripens about the end of October and beginning of November. The tree is hardy, vigorous, and an abundant bearer, forming fine pyramids and standards. Mr. R. D. Blackmore says it is 'a very fine pear. Coarse from a wall. I have grown it to weigh 18 oz.'"

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 Also from the National Heirloom Exposition at Santa Rosa last September: this first place winning tomato, Pink Berkeley Tie-Dye. Annie's Annuals describes it: "With metallic green stripes this port-wine colored beefsteak (avg size: 8-12 oz) boasts an excellent sweet, rich, dark tomato flavor. Rated higher than ‘Cherokee Purple’ for taste & HIGHLY RECOMMENDED  FOR THOSE OF US WITH COOL SUMMERS. Alice Waters of Chez Panisse calls them 'Tomatoes you’ll never forget!'”

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Here's a red meat watermelon radish, from Heirloom Organic Gardens in San Benito County. It was a crowd stopper at the National Heirloom Exposition. They sell their fresh produce at Farmers Markets in the Bay Area.

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All gardening is local; so, be wary of falling in love with a plant when you're on vacation. This stunner is the Pink Rice Flower (Pimelea ferruginea), an Australian native plant as seen at Cambria Nursery and Florist, in Cambria, CA. Cambria is located in California's Garden of Eden, also known as the Central Coast, near Morro Bay. Frosts seldom happen there. Unlike here, in the Sacramento area.

From the online plant description: "The Pimelea ferruginea needs a minimum temperature superior to 15°C." 

For us Fahrenheit heads, that translates to 59 degrees F. Considering that our average nighttime low temperature is below 59 for 8 MONTHS A YEAR, this would not be a good choice as a perennial for Sacramento. Summer annual, perhaps.

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Pictures do not do justice to the brilliant hues of red-orange on this Chinese Pistache, "Keith Davey". On a clear, fall day, you can see this tree a mile away.

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I was impressed with the performance in 2011 of the Shock Wave Coral Crush Petunia. A great cascading plant with no insect problems (at least here!) with an extended bloom season. Even better, the petunia plant in that container with the Kumquat tree survived our freezing winter, and is greening up again.

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Garden quiz time. 

The reason winegrape growers place rose bushes at the end of their vineyard rows:

a) To alert them to a powdery mildew outbreak;

b) To alert them to an insect infestation;

c) Red roses mark the rows of red winegrapes; white, the white wine.

d) They're pretty.

 d) is correct. Different strains of powdery mildew attack roses. Insects that bother both would attack the grapes first. And if the color of the rose indicated the varietal, then an apricot colored rose would mean that they are growing Boone's Farm Strawberry Hill wine!

Sacramento County Farm Advisor and Viticulture specialist Chuck Ingels says the practice may have been tried in France a long time ago to detect powdery mildew early, but it doesn't work because the mildew of grape is a completely different species from that of the rose and they have different temperature requirements.  And roses get aphids but grapes don't.

Powdery mildew on grapes: Erisiphe necator.

Powdery mildew on rose: Sphaerotheca pannosa

Downy Mildew On grapes: Plasmopara viticola

Downy mildew of roses—Peronospora sparsa

Viticulture instructor Andy Walker at UC Davis says that roses are planted strictly for aesthetics.

One blogger took a trip to the vineyards of Italy where the winemaker discussed the issue:

"Singore Razzi explained how they grow the grapes for their wine. We wondered why there were rose bushes at the end of  each row of grapes and found out that very sophisticated tests were done by scientists on the soil and after those tests the rose bushes were  planted to tell the wine master how the soil is doing. If the roses stay fresh and perfect they know the grapes are doing just as well...when a bush is 'sick' they know those grapes growing in that row are 'sick" also.'
No winemaker is going to rely on roses to tell them about the quality of the wine. But it certainly impresses visitors; and, they probably bought more wine because of their sophistication!"

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Old broccoli that should be pulled? A closer look...

Bees in Flowering Broccoli

This is why I take my time before yanking out spent winter vegetables that have bolted. The flowers attract beneficial insects, such as honeybees and bumblebees. And that flowering broccoli comes at a time (early spring) when you want a lot of bees in your yard for pollinating fruit trees.

Here's more on attracting beneficials to your yard.