Foggy Tourists

Poor tourists. They read about sunny California and come for their summer vacation traveling the scenic Highway 1 only to find days of fog. Fall and late spring often have much less fog than in the height of summer.

I just returned from two wonderful days on the coast 100 miles north of San Francisco. I got lucky with glorious fog-free weather. What visitors and locals fail to notice along the coastal Highway 1 is the extra 32 to 123 inches of "rain" each year. Although actual summer rain is scarce-to-nonexistent in the Northern California Mediterranean coastal zone where I live, another type of "rain," consisting of droplets of condensed fog, is a frequent occurrence. Moist summer fog condenses on the leaves of plants, mostly tall trees.

Shortly after moving to my mountain ridge, I noticed that a foggy summer evening produced the sound of steady rain beneath the tallest trees, while the meadow 20 feet away remained dry. I became obsessed with fog drip.

I put a rain gauge beneath a 125-foot tall Douglas fir tree near my garden and another 100 feet away in open grasses. The needles of the Douglas fir have an immense surface area for condensation. The Douglas fir tree averaged up to 2-1/2 times more "rain" year-round than the open field a mere 100 feet away. I discovered over 10 years of records that this single tree can gather one or more inches of water during a single heavy fog—six inches during one very foggy August! That rare six-inch fog drip equaled 163,000 gallons of water for every acre of tree foliage! It is fog drip that helps water the edges of redwood grove just around the corner from my house and allows the redwoods to expand their growth into the adjacent fields, shrubs, and smaller trees. (The trees at the edges of the forest get much more of the fog drip than those inside the grove. The perimeter trees strip most of the fog moisture from the sky.)

Fog drip is so uncommon that it is rarely found even two miles inland from my garden. I learned that microclimates can indeed be very small, special places. A microclimate that never shows up on the evening weather report. Nature sure has extraordinary niches as part of its fabric of life.

Alas, coastal-bound tourists are not impressed at all with fog drip. It rains on their parade— especially if camping in a tent beneath coastal redwoods.

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Go Pher Them

Pocket gophers, with Botta's pocket gopher (Thomomys bottae) being most widespread of the five species found in California, are a gardener’s the greatest fear in the west. [Those who garden east of the Mississippi river are free of these elusive pests.] When the Russians settled just north of Santa Rosa on the coast in 1812, the story goes “we could have made a good living if it weren’t for the land rats”.

These pesky critters are burrowing rodents that get their name from the fur-lined external cheek pouches, or pockets, that they use for carrying, and short fur that doesn't cake in wet soils they dig and tunnel constantly. If they don’t constantly make tunnels their teeth will curl up toward the brain and pierce it.

They spend a lot of time on the surface at night and are the prey of barn owls. Many vineyards, in their futile attempt to appear environmentalists, build barn owl boxes. They don’t know that the great-horned has a territory of up to ¼ of a mile from its nest. The one near my house and next to a vineyard, has this large predation area and keeps out the barn owls. Ever year I hear the great-horned owl gradually find each other for mating with hours of hooting. The vineyard is 100 feet from my house. Not many barn owls near me. Furthermore, the usual diet for a barn owl eats only one gopher each night. Thus, the gardeners in my area have resort to trapping (killing) these “ground rats”.

Unlike moles, gophers “throws” or mounds are crescent- or horseshoe-shaped when viewed from above. [See the left photo.] Mole mounds appear circular and have a plug in the middle is more likely volcano-shaped. Unlike gophers, moles leave a raised ridge to mark their path. Also, moles are carnivores and gophers are vegetarians.

Pocket gophers live in a burrow system that can cover an area of 200 to 2,000 square feet. Feeding burrows are 6 to 12 inches below ground, whereas they nest and food storage chamber that may be as deep as 6 feet. [I’ve dug into food stashes of dozens of gnawed carrots.] Gophers seal the openings to the burrow system with earthen plugs. Short, sloping lateral tunnels connect the main burrow system to the surface and are created during construction of the main tunnel for pushing dirt to the surface.

The University of New Mexico says “… [gophers] may occur in densities of up to 16 to 20 per acre”. Ha! They’ve never been in my garden!

So, trapping is a must. The other photo is a eight-inch long gopher caught in a California box trap. These ingenious traps worked on the fact that gophers maintain their main “highways” six to 12 inches below the surface, not the surface feeding tunnels. If the trap is put in the main run with the metal strip on the top-rear of the box slightly raised and all sides covered with dirt. This allows air to escape but excludes light. Usually the gopher wants to protect its main “highway” when it feels air rushing out. Running toward the open hole, the gopher is in the trap before it knows it because there is no light to give it a clue as to the breach of the tunnel. Gotcha!

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Invasive Exotics

California alone is home to 4,200 native plant species, and is recognized internationally as a "biodiversity hotspot." Approximately 1,800 non-native plants also grow in the wild in California. Here’s a short list of just some of the invasive plants in California alone.

Data is from the USDA. NAL. National Invasive Species Information Center.

It’s strange that this list does not include three major invasive plants: ice plant [pictured here, Mesembryanthemum ssp.], pampas grass, [Cortaderia selloana], and Periwinkle [Vinca ssp.].

The photo on the left shows how ice plant is invading the native Buckwheat [Eriogonum spp.] The photograph on the right shows a native lupine [Lupinus spp. and subtle red hills covered almost completely by ice plant. Sadly, ice plant was introduced to help stabilize sand dunes. It has escaped from captivity and has spread with a vengeance.

NOTE: "3:1 rule: For every year you delay controlling an invasive plant infestation, it will take three years to regain control."

Air Potato (Dioscorea bulbifera) Autumn Olive (Elaeagnus umbellata) Beach Vitex (Vitex rotundifolia) Brazilian Peppertree (Schinus terebinthifolius) Canada Thistle (Cirsium arvense) Chinese Tallow (Triadica sebifera) Cogongrass (Imperata cylindrica) Common Teasel (Dipsacus fullonum) Dalmatian Toadflax (Linaria dalmatica) Diffuse Knapweed (Centaurea diffusa) Downy Brome (Bromus tectorum) Fig Buttercup (Ranunculus ficaria) Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata) Giant Hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum) Hairy Whitetop (Lepidium appelianum) Houndstongue (Cynoglossum officinale) Japanese Stilt Grass (Microstegium vimineum) Japanese World Climbing Fern (Lygodium japonicum) Japanese Honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica) Japanese Knotweed (Fallopia japonica) Japanese Spiraea (Spiraea japonica) Johnsongrass (Sorghum halepense) Kudzu (Pueraria montana var. lobata) Leafy Spurge (Euphorbia esula) Medusahead (Taeniatherum caput-medusae) Mile-A-Minute Weed (Persicaria perfoliata) Multiflora Rose (Rosa multiflora) Musk Thistle (Carduus nutans) Old World Climbing Fern (Lygodium microphyllum) Oriental Bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus) Princess Tree (Paulownia tomentosa) Purple Star Thistle (Centaurea calcitrapa) Quackgrass (Elymus repens) Russian Knapweed (Rhaponticum repens) Russian Olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia) Saltcedar (Tamarix spp.) St. Johnswort (Hypericum perforatum) Scotch Broom (Cytisus scoparius) Scotch Thistle (Onopordum acanthium) Spotted Knapweed (Centaurea stoebe) Tree-of-Heaven (Ailanthus altissima) Tropical Soda Apple (Solanum viarum) Whitetop (Lepidium draba) Witchweed (Striga asiatica) Yellow Star Thistle (Centaurea solstitialis) Yellow Toadflax (Linaria vulgaris)

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Deceptive Flies

The syrphid fly, also called a hover fly, (Syrphidae spp.) is often mistaken for a bee or wasp. With the various horizontal yellow and black striping they look like a pest. The subsequent larvae eat lots of aphids. Often a single larvae can eat many more its body weight in aphids. The adults should be treasured as the fly from flower to flower to gather the nectar and pollen to survive. Here we see one on a poppy. Because the larvae look like tiny slugs they are also mistaken for a pest and squished or sprayed. Poor little guys get it on all fronts. And don’t forget that all sprays organic or chemical will kill its favorite – aphids; but, as well, all insects whether they are beneficial or not. So, hand strip the aphids or spray them off with water and watch to see if the plant has such a low level of aphids that it is not a problem and leave the plant alone as nature maintains its natural balance. The good guys can’t survive without some of the bad guys.

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Palms in Bondage

Only in LA. A group of palm trees tied together.

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Asian Bounty

There are dozens of types of Asian pear tree cultivars (varieties). I’ve grown six cultivars and tasted many others. Today I’m picking the one known as ‘Hosui’. In my small orchard, this fruit usually ripens late August or early September. So it’s right on time.

All Asian pears have the distinction of being crispy while ripe on tree. However, the fruit bruises very easily. This means it rarely shows up at a grocery store or even framers’ market in an appealing form. Ah, but not a problem for the home gardener (orchardist). The fruit can picked at its prime. Just gently lift the fruit, if the stems detaches with no pressure it’s time to harvest.

The ‘Housi’ is my favorite cultivar because as it ripens it produces a strong odor and subtle taste of brandy. This is unlike any other Asian Pear. A delight only home gardeners can appreciate. And the fall color offers another round of color to this special tree. [As seen to the right.]

Graft a scion[a stick of the variety you want to taste] onto an existing pear tree, or, more preferably another Asian pear tree. Enjoy the bounty , flavor, and fragrance in the second year.

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Pink Beauty

I’m harvesting my ‘Pink Pearl’ apples this week and next. I grafted scions onto a ‘Sierra Beauty’ apple three years ago and there is a bumper crop this year.

Back in 1980, nobody [except for a few rare fruit enthusiasts] had seen or tasted the special apple called ‘Pink Pearl’. It was introduced in 1944. It was developed by a California plant breeder, Albert Etter who lived in Ettersberg, Northern California. It has been said the ‘Pink Pearl’ was crossed with an apple named ‘Surprise’, a red-fleshed rather sour variety. Perhaps this latter apple was derived from a century old variety of red-fleshed Turkish crab apples.

The apple is easy to spot in the spring when tree is blooming. The photograph here shows how much pink the flowers display.

The skin of the fruit is a pale and dull yellowish-brown skin with a slight blush of pink barely showing through the skin. Typically the apple is a bit misshapen. However, the ‘Pink Pearl’ marbled with a pretty pink crisp interior, the flavor is sweetly-tart. Some say its taste is has overtones of lemon custard with a raspberry finish. The flesh is crisp, fine-grained and aromatic. Ripens at my coastal-influenced house in late August and early September.

I grafted onto a tree in the neighborhood in 1982. I harvested plenty of apples in 1985. Doug Gosling made the apple tart pictured here. Little did we know the heat would flush out the entire flesh from marbled pink to a hot, deep pink. This was probably the first time anybody cooked the fruit this way. A picture of the full tart is on the back of my book Designing & Maintaining Your Edible Landscape - Naturally. Sold on my web site.

Here’s a simple recipe:

Pink Pearl Apple Sauce

Pink Pearl apples, cored, peeled and sliced (Use about 2 pounds)

Apple juice

Sugar

Salt

1-2 tablespoons butter

Fresh thyme (or lemon thyme)

Place apple slices in a heavy pot and pour in apple juice to reach halfway up the apples. Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook until apples are tender. Add the butter, any sugar, salt, or thyme to taste. I like chunky apple sauce. If you want a smoother apple sauce, use a hand blender.

Now some growers sell ‘Pink Pearl’ apples at local Farmer’s Markets in northern California.

You can purchase bare root tree of this cultivar from: Trees of Antiquity, 20 Wellsona Road, Paso Robles, CA 93446 phone: (805) 467-9909

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Bounty from Comfrey

Comfrey has so many uses. Perhaps the most important, is using it as a liquid fertilizer during the growing season. This is not a new method “from across the pond”. For many decades British gardeners have used a liquid form of comfrey for a soil drench during the summer. [The photograph is a closeup of a comfrey flower.]

Many British gardeners have a “vat” in their garden,. The process of turning the leaves into a comfrey fertilizer is simple. Take any container without holes in the bottom-add a faucet for easy collection of the liquid-fill it with comfrey leaves.

[Make sure to gather only the leaf, NOT the crown of the plant as it might make it through the process and root. England is full of roadside patches of comfrey as bits of the root have spread it everywhere – one of their most noxious weeds. The founder in the US of the style called the French-biodynamic gardening was Alan Chadwick. He cultivated gardens in many parts of California. I visited one such abandoned garden and found it to be littered with comfrey and lemon balm. The comfrey spread as bits of the roots lasted through composting, and were unknowingly released to every raised planting bed and pathway in the garden.]

Place a heavy object on top of the mass. Wait for ten days or more for the leaves to ferment and turn into a thick slurry. Don’t add water. I made that mistake in the1970s and the foul stench was overwhelming.

I saw a creative comfrey “tea” maker in England. It was a six inch diameter PVC tube with a small faucet screwed into bottom with a heavy metal cap to settle and compress the rotting comfrey. The comfrey solution can last for several months if kept in dark, cool place. But why not just use it fresh in the garden?

There is wide range of ideas as to the NPK content of the leaf. One account rates the leaves a proportion of 1.8-0.5-5.3. This is compared to kelp meal with a NPK ratio of 1.0-0.5-2.5. Some say after forming the slurry the NPK can increase to 8-2.6-20. Quite a range. Dilute the slurry ten to 20 times with water. Now the NPK can be as high as a NPK of 0.5-0.4-3.8. - a high amount of soluble potash for enhanced flower and fruit.

This is the original “compost tea”. And it’s virtually free.

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Fasciation [not a typo)]

I’m fascinated with fasciation. The origin of the word means bundling or flattening. No matter what the translation of the word means, I’m always on the lookout for fasciated plants.

I have a collection of dried fasciated plants. But the largest one I’ve ever seen is pictured on the left. [Except, perhaps, some cactus plants in Arizona which surely carry the record of the heaviest fasciations.] Alas, I could only photograph it and not add it to my collection. Usually the fasciation is a broad widening of the top of a limb. What makes the photo of on the left so amazing is the upside-down skirt. So, not is it the largest fasciated plant, it is the only one I know of with a shape other than splayed out in flat plain. The usual growth of this Echium pininana is found in the background. In the photo on the right is one I have grown. This plant grew to the height of 24 feet. For more examples search “fasciated” in Google images,

The cause of this phenomena is not understood. Reasons for this freak event include: damage to the apical bud [tip]; viruses; herbicides [which surely doesn’t happen in the wild where I have found the most examples]; bacterial infection; cytokinin that appears to have the ability to stimulate the proliferation of a wide spectrum of cell that is found in the xylem. Cytokinin is thought to proliferate cells in the plant; spontaneous mutations; bacterial infection, mite or insect attack; or chemical or mechanical damage. Some plants may inherit the trait.

Among the examples in my collection are: Echium fastuosum [Pride of Madera], an oak stem [it’s rare to find fasciation in hardwoods like oaks], cockscomb celosia [Celosia argentea var. cristata is one of the few plants that passes the mutation on as a true “fixed” fasciation], and evening primrose [Oenothera spp.].

Let me know if you've found a fasciated plant.

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Wet Spots & Flavor

It's summer time and the time for a refresher. (From my book Drip Irrigation for Every Landscape and All Climates)

In this illustration, in-line emitter tubing moistens the soil the entire length of the line but slightly below the surface, where the bulbous-shaped wet spots come together to form one nearly continuous moist zone. The emitters come pre-installed in tubing with 12-, 18-, 24-, 36-, and 48-inch spacings [they can be custom ordered at just about any interval—for an extra fee], but the type most commonly sold to gardeners is the 12-inch interval. The emitters inside the hose are rated to dispense either one-half- or one-gph [actually 0.6 and 0.92 gph]. The cost ranges from$22 to $30 for a 100-foot roll depending on the emitter [its emitters flow rate and whether or not it’s pressure compensating.]

If you've grouped your veggies by similar water zones it's time to think about reducing the amount of water a bit to enrich the flavor. Tomatoes are a great example. Over watered 'maters have nothing over store bought. But if tapered off of water once fruiting, the reduced water in the flesh concentrates the flavor. In some climates, you can gradually reduce the water all together by August for the best flavor as the roots are well established after growing throughout the continuous zone of moisture at the beginning of the season. Experiment!


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Ramblin' Roots

Sadly, few people still realize how a tree's roots actually grow. The color illustration was to advertise a local garden tour in 2009. Notice the roots don't extend beyond the dripline of the foliage. No way. As seen in the illustrations below roots extend far beyond the foliage. (The other 2 B&W illustrations come from my book - Roots Demystified. The one on the left shows the dripline as a dotted line and the roots beyond..)

When I had a landscape maintenance company, I soon discovered that in a good soil, a tree’s roots will often grow to occupy an underground area wider than its dripline. If led by available moisture and nutrition, a tree may tunnel its roots through soil space ranging from an area one-half wider than the dripline to as much as three times further. In special cases, tree roots may ramify much more than anyone would imagine. If you add a subsoil barrier such as rock, bedrock, or caliche (hardpan), a tree’s roots will wander even further beyond the canopy area in search of food. A deep sandy soil offers little resistance to growing roots and allows for root exploration of three or more times the width of the tree. And, like a gardener struggling to dig heavy clay soil, roots don’t like clay either and don’t make much headway through it, perhaps only one-half the width of the dripline.

Some more examples include:

- Poplar (Populus generosa) can ramify 77% of its roots beyond the dripline.

- Another study found that 35% of poplar trees grew roots greater than two times the distance from the trunk to the edge of the foliage.

- Colorado blue spruce (Picea pungens ‘Glauca’) grow 60% of their feeding roots beyond the dripline.

- White green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica) grew roots which were 1.68 times the radius of the dripline.

- In one study, the glorious magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora), had grown roots 3.77 times wider than the dripline.

- Sugar maples (Acer saccharum) produced roots that have been found spreading underground 30 feet beyond branch tips.

- The roots of honey locusts (Gleditsia triacanthos) can reach nearly three times beyond the dripline of the foliage.

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NATURAL & UNNATURAL WATER & WILDLIFE

It happened last night and it’s happening this morning. Due to a special combination of low clouds, high waves, and just the right amount of a light breeze and I can hear the slight rumble of the surf as I walked from my car to my house last night. Sometimes, like this morning, it's like gentle hypnotic sound of a gentle sound of the surf on the beach. Both are a very soothing and magical sound. Nobody believes me until they hear this remarkable, soothing sound. It lets me know I'm close to the edge of the continent.

For years I gave garden water features a bad rap as we live in a dry summer area. I didn’t think is was acceptable to waste water to evaporation. But I finally gave in and I’m glad I did. The sound of the water falling one foot into the small (three feet by four feet) pool makes a delightful sound. I can sit in my writer’s office and hear the soothing trickle of the water and watch the dragonflies flutter about. The waterfall makes a mellow, soothing background sound during barbecues and offers the psychological effect of making the garden seem a bit cooler during heat waves.

There are actually two waterfalls. One is one massive convex stone as the primary water fall into the pool. The other is much smaller and barely visible beneath a huckleberry shrub. In the late summer when fresh water is scarce, the birds and deer begin to arrive. It took a handful of years before they found such a tiny water spot among all the trees. Some of the birds are brave enough to sit in the open by the water’s edge to drink and bath—our Stella blue jays are an example. The Stella blue jays nestle along the edges of the pond drinking and washing. The wrens will stand on the lily pads and wallow in the water and fly up to a metal roost I placed near the pool to shake off the water as a dog does after a good swim. Other birds, like the __ and the__ are very shy and only bath and drink water from the first, secluded waterfall. They are harder to spot and I must remain very still for quite awhile before they show up. All the bustling of the birds as they bath there bellies in the cool flowing water has provided countless hours of amusement and satisfaction.

Other critters use the pond. After about five years, an orange-colored salamander found the pool as a nice home. I can’t imagine how it knew the water was there and how it arrived. My pool is too small for the herons to find it and has vertical sides they wouldn’t be able to stand in it—in larger ponds they often bring the eggs, water plants and seeds of one pond to another in their feet.

Come late August or mid-September water is scarce enough that the deer slowly, with much trepidation, come for a drink. One day while napping, I heard an enormous splash. I looked out from my second-story window to see a fawn thrashing away. It had walked into the “pond” not knowing what water pools were like. Before I could race down the stairs for a rescue, she had managed to clamber out of the water in spite of her terror. The other fawn watched this and approached the water with much caution, but did manage to take a drink.

Other critters are not so pleasing. I’ve had catfish, croppy and mosquito fish in my pond over the years. All have been eaten by the raccoons. I made the sides vertical with no ledges as a way to thwart these premier scavengers—to no avail. I think they must scare the fish by thrashing the water until they can scoop them up with their nimble paws. I’m amazed they could catch the tiny mosquito fish, but I haven’t seen them (nor mosquitoes), for several years.

In the end how does the elusive, distant sound of the pounding surf and the pale sound of the foghorn transform my garden? With a new level of peace and tranquilly. An occasional smoothing sound that preceded the building of my little pond continues to provide a respite from a busy day during the evening and night when my little water fall isn’t on. Far more subtle, but just as cherished as the water fall.


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Deer-Resistant Plants

I find it to be absurd that books written for a national market has any practical guidlines for local gardens - at least my garden. Even local recommendations have many suggestions that didn't work in my garden. The summary of the total plants eaten by deer and those not listed in other lists that did/do work in my garden is located at the very bottom gf this list.


Plants Deer Seem to Avoid ,
according to the University of California Cooperative Extension

THE EXPERIENCE IN MY GARDEN
Yes = not eaten.
No Yes = means eaten in my garden.

Acanthus mollis, Bear’s Breech– Yes
Agave, Century Plant - Yes
Allium (some), Onion/Garlic – The deer always eat the blossoms and sometimes the foliage (not garlic).

Amaryllis belladonna, Naked Lady - Yes
Artemisia, Wormwood – Exception was
A. ‘Powis Castle” until 2006, then eaten.
Asarum caudatum, Wild Ginger – Eaten each fall

Baccharis pilularis, Dwarf Coyote Bush – Yes

Brodiaea, Brodiaea -Yes
Carex, Sedge - Yes
Ceanothus gloriousus, Summer Lilac, Tick Brush –Most ceanothus eaten. Shrub varieties torn apart when used to rub the velvet off their horns.

Cerastium tomentosum, Snow-in-the-Summer

Corylus cornuta californica, Filbert - Yes
Cotoneaster buxifolius, Cotoneaster
Cyclamen, Cyclamen
Dicentra formosa, Bleeding Heart
D. spectabilis
Digitalis, Foxglove - Yes
Echium fastuosum, Pride of Madeira - Yes
Eriogonum, Wild Buckwheat, all species.
Euphorbia – Yes, all species.
Euryops pectinatus, Euryops - Not the foilage, but many of the flowers are eaten.

Ferns, except Pellaea - Yes
Festuca ovina glauca, Common Blue Fescue – Yes

Fragaria chiloensis, Sand Strawberry
Grevillea, Grevillea - Yes
Helichrysum italicum, Curry Plant
Hypericum, St. Johnswort
Ilex, Holly, except thornless - Yes
Iris, Iris - Yes
Jasminum, Jasmine
Juniperus, Juniper - Yes
Kniphofia uvaria, Red-hot Poker – After 20 years.

Lamium, Dead Nettle
Lavandula, Lavender - Yes
Leonotis leonurus, Lion’s Tail - Yes
Leptospermum, Tea Tree - Yes
Liriope, Lily Turf
Lychnis coronaria, Mullein Pink No, most years flowers are eaten.

Mentha, Mint - Yes
Myosotis, Forget-Me-Not - Yes
Narcissus, Daffodil - Yes
Nerium oleander, Oleander - Yes
Nepeta, Catnip - Yes
Papaver rhoeas, Flander’s Fild Poppy
Phlomis fruticosa, Jerusalem Sage - Yes
Phormium tenbaxi, Flax Yes
Rhododendron, Rhododendron - Yes
Ribes, Current - Yes
Romneya coulteri, Matilija Poppy
Rosmarinus officinalis, Rosemary - Yes
Salvia, Sage Some
Santolina chamaecyparissus, Lavender Cotton, S. virens, Yes, not S. angustifolia
Senecio, Dusty Miller
Teucrium fruticans, Germander - Yes
Trillium, Wake robin - Yes
Zauschneria, California Fushia
Zinnia, Zinnia





Reasonably Safe Bets,
According to the Cooperative Extension.
Achillea, Yarrow
Armeria maritima, Sea Pink
Calendula officinalis, Calendula
Ceanothus griseus horizontalis, Summer
Ceanothus ‘Blue Jean’, Summer Lilac
Chaenomeles japonica, Flowering Quince
Cheiranthus cheiri, Wallflower
Cistus, Rockrose – No (after 15 years)
Citrus Citrus
Clarkia, Godetia - Yes
Coreopsis, except C. gigantea
C. grandiflora, Coreopsis
Dietes vegeta, Fortnight Lilly a – Yes
Erigeron karvinskianus, Fleabane - Yes
Eschschoizia californica. California Poppy
Gazania, Gazania
Geranium, Geranium
Hedera helix, Ivy - Yes
Helianthemum nummyiarium, Sunrose
Helianthus, Sunflower
Lupinus, Lupine
Mimulus, Monkey Flower
Myrica californica,
Pacific Wax Myrtle – Yes

Oxalis, Wood Sorrel – Yes

Scaevola ‘Mauve Clusters’, Scaevola ‘Mauve Clusters’ After 15 years.
Tropaeolum, Nasturtium
Tulipa, Tulip – Yes (But gophers will eat the bulbs if they’re not protected.)

Vaccinium ovatum, Huckelberry - Yes
Viola odorata, Violet
Wisteria, Wisteria


Plants that have worked for me that are not on the list.

Echium pininana – Viper’s Buglos
Echium wildpretii - Tower of Jewels
Brugmansia x insinis - Angel’s Trumpet
Icortaderia selloana - ‘Sun Strip’ pampas grass. NOT the invasive species,
makes no fertile seed.
Ozothamnus rosemarinifolius, Ozothamnus
Rhue, Rhue
Salvia apianna - Silver Sage
Salvia clevanddii - California Blue Sage
Stipa gigantia - Giant Feather Grass
Symphytum officinale - Comfery (Spreads easily from roots and very difficult to eradicate or control.)
Thymus – Thyme, every species I’ve tried.

The summary?

I’ve tried 83 of the 244 plants listed on the University of California Coperative Extension deer resistance list. I found that 40 of the plants I’ve tried were not eaten and 43 were eaten in my small garden and my low budget. This list shows 11 plants which worked for me that are not on the list.

Please post a comment - I want to know what you think.

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The Power of Surface Soils

I think this is the most revealing illustration in the Roots Demystified book as it shows how influential the shallow zones of soil are to the feeding roots of a young tree. The seedlings in the pot on the left are growing in soil gathered from the top two inches of forest soil in a specific growing area. The middle pot contains soil gathered from a zone two to four inches deep in the same patch of ground. The seedlings on the right are growing in subsoil gathered from beneath the topsoil. The pot on the left outperformed all other seedlings by more than 50%.


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Fire - Visible and Invisible

Fire. Essential and dreaded. Fire has historical tendrils back to primeval times when people first discovered how to make fire when needed. Fire also includes the combustion and flames of a gas stove and oven, campfires, propane-fueled lanterns, and barbecue briquettes. All welcomed, desired.

Every garden is always on “fire”—without flames. Combustion is the oxidation of carbon-based materials which usually produces a flame. Garden “fires” are usually invisible, slow, and important. A single teaspoon of soil contains over one million of the soil’s beneficial bacteria alone This does not include: nitrogen-fixing soil algae, microbes, beneficial fungi and many other useful life. Each consumes various life-forms or inert elements and releases very minute amounts of heat into the soil. Like an aerobic workout, soil heats up—only in extremely tiny amounts.

Combustion in the compost bin also is at a lower temperature than a visible fire. Microorganisms feed on the carbohydrates; the carbon. The warmth of a well-made compost pile is tangible garden low-grade combustion. When the first nips of frost arrive, a compost made of fallen leaves, green lawn clippings, manure and kitchen scraps (I send all my kitchen compostables to an earthworm bin.) sends its wisps of warm fog to rise above its mass.

Only the fanatic composter runs the risk of spontaneous combustion. The pile has to be very large. And it rarely bursts into flames, but usually smolders like a coal mine "fire." Tim Dundon aka Zeke the Sheik (the compost king), of Los Angeles County, accumulated a compost pile over 17 years which reached the gargantuan size of 40 feet tall and up to 200 feet long. Twice in one month the pile spontaneously burst into flames and smoke, and the fire department arrived to douse the flames. While Zeke defends composting as "the key of energy that will eventually set mankind free from misery and gravity," I'd say his pile shows what happens when a zealous intellect elevates a natural process to unnatural proportions. He turned a beneficial process into a hazard.

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NOTE: The comments section at the bottom of the post has disappeared. Click on the "___ Comments" button or the title under the "Blog Archives". Thanks, Robert

Don't let roots circle when planting trees & shrubs

Spring is tree-planting time for many gardeners. It's also the time to make big mistakes when planting. Alas, this tree popped out of it's planting hole due to poorly-trained landscape contractors after being struck by a car. This poor tree needed to get its roots away from the planting hole. (You can see the circling roots just the way they were in the planting container.) Planting on a mound will help "drive" roots away from the tree's base as it drys out faster, making the roots seek moisture further from the trunk. So will fracturing the sides of the hole. (This tree may have been "planted" by auguring a hole in the ground and just plopping the tree into the hole.) The roots responsible for absorbing water and nutrients are the very young and tiny root hairs found near the tips of new roots. Older roots, much like older branches, have a bark-like covering that protects the root but doesn’t produce root hairs. In one study done with radioactive isotopes in England, the roots 4.5 feet away from the trunk of a 10-year-old apple tree absorbed less than 10% of the water and nutrients absorbed by the entire root system. The study showed that proportionately, many more feeding roots are found at, or beyond, the drip line of a tree’s foliage. Because of this, I prefer to place a ring of in-line emitter tubing at or beyond the tree’s drip line. This produces a “doughnut” of moisture, and far more of the root zone is adequately irrigated than with a single line of hose down a row of trees. As the tree grows, extra lengths are added to this circle of moisture to correspond with the new growth in the canopy. By setting the circle of emitters farther out every few years, you’re encouraging the tree’s roots to explore more soil volume and gather more nutrients for superior growth. Such trees would stand a better chance against wayward cars.

Note: I somehow lost the usual section "Post a comment". To leave a comment, simply click on the area/button that says "___ Comments" below. Or, clicking on the title of a Post under "Blog Archive" also gets you to a view that gives the option of leaving a comment. Robert

Visit Robert Kourik's web site to learn about his great gardening books.

Drip irrigation does increase yields

I'm working hard to finish my 2nd edition of Drip Irrigation, For Every Landscape & All Climates. (Thus the lack of entries on this blog. Spring is springing, yet water supplies are down 40-50%. Thus the need for drip irrigation.) I stumbled across some very exciting data that shows the reduced application of water via drip irrigation can actually lead to higher yields compared to furrow irrigation.

A study in Sri Lanka in 2002, found that with chilies, water use was down 34–50%, while production was up 33–48%. The researchers attributed this to irrigation that kept the soil moist, not too dry.

A study in New Mexico found amazing differences in yields compared to [respectively] furrow and drip irrigation: 18 pounds versus 30 pounds with cucumbers, 69 to 156 pounds growing Swiss chard, and 64 versus 166 pounds with green beans—to quote a bit of the study. [It is interesting to note that broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and carrots didn’t have any greater yields in the drip irrigation plots. Yet, a study at Oregon State University found a 20% increase in carrots compared to plots with sprinklers.]

From drips to bounty.

Note: I somehow lost the usual section "Post a comment". To leave a comment, simply click on the area/button that says "___ Comments" below. Or,clicking on the title of a Post under "Blog Archive" also gets you to a view that gives the option of leaving a comment. Robert


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"Free" Rain Water, Cisterns

Jean de Florette, a film by French director Claude Berri, is set in the scrubby, olive tree-covered hills of southern France. As the film begins, a severe drought has dried up a family's cistern—the underground stone storage tank for rain from a roof covered by a terracotta tiles. A farmer, played by Gerard de Pardieu (of Green Card and Cyrano fame), watches helplessly as his family's crops begin to wither and their cash crop of meat rabbits begins to die of thirst. Two peasant farmers plot to force the neighboring family into bankruptcy. Finally, the two conniving farmers manage to cause the early death of the Pardieu's character, to destroy his family and to acquire the farm for much less than the pre-drought price. All because the cistern was too small to store enough water for the driest years.

For better or worse, cisterns are used throughout the world to catch rainwater from the roof for drinking, washing, and irrigation. Cisterns come in all shapes and sizes—rain barrels, stone wells, ugly black plastic drums, and nondescript gray concrete tanks. In the 1800’s and early 1900s in America, cisterns were common, even in cities.

But the uses of cisterns and the reasons for building your own have changed. Cisterns are experiencing a welcome and well-deserved revival, due to dwindling sources of clean water, erratic supplies during droughts, and a renewed interest in water independence.

Cistern systems are remarkably simple compared to many modern technologies such as wells, and a complicated infrastructure. Basically, the rain must be gathered, stored in a cistern [now loosely defined as any tank in- or above the ground] and drained or pumped to the landscape. In most cases, rainfall is collected from the roof of the home, barn, or garage. A typical gutter funnels the rain into a downspout, hose, or pipe which leads to the cistern itself. A diverter valve is built in the downspout or pipe so the first rains after a dry spell, to flush all kinds of accumulated filth off the roof, can be turned away from the cistern until the roof is clean. Usually, a simple device or grate screens out any twig and leaf debris which may have gathered on the roof. Commonly, modern cisterns are concrete or plastic tanks.

Drought-Proof Your Garden—yes and no
Droughts are often the single source of inspiration for the installation of cisterns throughout the South West, if not everywhere. The recent changes in the climate see to be making much of the South West more parched than years past. As early as the drought of the 1990s, gave rise to the interest and need for water storage.

Ironically, cisterns in regions with no summer rain whatsoever are expensive propositions. In such an area, you must store up enough water for as much as six months of landscape irrigation. Consider, for example, an anonymous two-acre estate in a wealthy neighborhood in Santa Barbara, California, planted with water-loving ornamentals, some drought-resistant plants, a large 1/2-acre lawn, and a vegetable garden. During the drought, such a landscape, based upon the conservative figure of outdoor use equaling 60% of all water use, had a historical year-round usage of a staggering 500,000 gallons! A cistern big enough to hold this much water would have to be a whopping 50 feet on each side and 27 feet tall! Try and hide that in your average backyard. Such a cistern would cause a severe drought in your cash flow.

Note: I somehow lost the usual section "Post a comment". To leave a comment, simply click on the area/button that says "___ Comments" below. Or,clicking on the title of a Post under "Blog Archive" also gets you to a view that gives the option of leaving a comment. Robert

Visit Robert Kourik's web site to learn about his great gardening books.