Sustainable Gardening Blog

I think I just wrote my first newspaper column that’s pure rant.  I haven’t heard from the editor yet but meanwhile, whadaya think?

Everywhere we look this fall we’re seeing dead or doomed plants that didn’t
make it through the drought. Why?  Not because they did anything wrong. 
Plants behave in pretty predictable ways.  No, what’s to blame is this
worst-case scenario - the climate changing and humans having to adapt.  Starting
with our government, there’s plenty of evidence that we humans don’t DO
adaptation to nature very well, but it’s obvious that too many homeowners think
the drought doesn’t affect them.  It’s just those farmers out in the hinterlands
that have to pay attention, right?  For us suburbanites this summer has meant
great beach weather and no bothersome rains to spoil our parties and baseball
games.  It hasn’t even been intolerably hot, so to most Americans, the summer
was just grand.

But there’s this question I’m hearing almost daily: What’s wrong with my
(Name the Plant)?" Then after I bring up the topic of, you know, no rain, they
follow up with: "I’m supposed to be doing something about it?" And the body
language conveys annoyance or resignation at the sight of their landscaping
investment going up in crispy brown leaves, never to be green again.

What accounts for this lack of attention to the plants growing just outside
the front door?  It’s all part of the disconnect that folks in urban areas have
with nature, a problem that’s in the news a lot lately thanks to Richard Louv’s
best-selling Last Child in the Woods and the many schools that are
creating gardens and natural areas for the kids to tend. (North Carolinians are
campaigning for designation of an official "Take You Child Outside Week," the
very need for which reveals our sorry condition as a species.)  And when kids
grow up totally indoors or on sports fields, without experiences like camping or
growing plants or just digging in the dirt, they grow up to be nature-ignorant
as adults.  Unlike the 4-H kids I see at the Montgomery County Fair, who I can’t
imagine letting their new trees and shrubs burn up and die before their
eyes.

"JUST MAKE IT LOW-MAINTENANCE"
So everyone and their cousin wants a
low-maintenance garden and by that they mean no-maintenance and what a bummer it
is to be told by yours truly that no such thing exists.  Even patios and decks
require maintenance; it’s just the nature of anything being outdoors.  Granted,
most people have time limitations, but I’m also seeing signs of a strong
aversion to physical labor.  I get looks of horror at the suggestion that a
plant can be moved if it isn’t in the right place.  "You do that yourself?" I’m
asked.  Oh, yes, repeatedly; that’s what gardeners do.

But there’s something else going on here.  There’s a certain leftie,
go-with-the-flow attitude that’s very appealing (to me, too) and when it comes
to imperfectly gleaming kitchen floors, I’m fine with it.  But it can also lead
to this mistaken notion - that you can just leave a garden alone and it’ll
eventually look like a painting by Rousseau, not the weedy mess it will actually
become.  Chores like fertilizing the lawn are dismissed as out-dated, but
turfgrass is not a sustainable plant and when it’s not fed it becomes spotty and
weed-filled, well on its way to reverting to forest.  So people, maintenance
must be done - either by you or, if you can afford it, by someone else. 

But worse than patchy lawns, the real heart-breaker is to see the trees and
shrubs that have been neglected to death this summer. That’s a crazy waste of
not just money but of the time those plants have spent in the ground growing for
you.  Oh, I forgot.  Reputable nurseries guarantee their plants.  But PLEASE
don’t take your dead plants back to a struggling independent nursery, swear to
them that you watered them enough, and ask for a free replacement.  Because you
probably did NOT water them enough; the nursery people know that and you may not
yet but probably will after you’ve killed a few more.  Give the nurseries a
break and just assume that YOU killed it, and learn from your mistake.

DROUGHT-TOLERANT PLANTS FOR BUSY HOMEOWNERS
And the next time you’re
choosing plants for your garden, do yourself and your nursery a favor and choose
ONLY those that are drought-tolerant.  That way, even if you’re unwilling to
coddle your plants during our increasingly perilous summers, they have a good
chance of surviving.  Google "drought-tolerant shrubs" or whatever you’re
looking for, or the word "xeriscaping" to get plant suggestions, and then stick
to them.  (The NC State sites on the subject are excellent.)  Local
recommendations are great, too, like Takoma’s horticultural Yahoo list or garden
center staff.  Or check out High Country Gardens.com, everyone’s favorite
supplier of drought-tolerant plants, in Santa Fe.

My own personal drought-tolerant favorites are:
     -Perennials like
sedum, aster, purple coneflower, rudbeckia (black-eyed susan), daylilies,
hostas, lamb’s ear, salvia, Russian sage, yarrow and ornamental grasses
   
-Shrubs and small trees like aucuba, nandina, spirea, weigela, beautybush
(kolkwitzia), lespedeza, butterfly bush, juniper, English laurel, rugosa rose,
oakleaf and Tardiva hydrangeas, caryopteris, forsythia, crapemyrtle, Asian and
hybrid dogwoods, sumac, and hybrid boxwoods.

DON’T FORGET DRAINAGE
While all these plants are doing fine, none are
sitting in low, wet spots.  Many drought-tolerant plants are from mountainous
areas or the Mediterranean region and will die if left to wallow in wet soil,
especially during winter.  And climate change is causing more extremes of
precipitation, so don’t forget that Maryland really ISN’T New Mexico and our
garden plants need to survive the occasional wet period, too.  Make sure to give
them good drainage, by using raised beds or mixing organic material or coarse
sand into the soil, or even placing the plant slightly above grade.

ASK YOURSELF SOME QUESTIONS

Before buying a plant, find out what it’ll take to keep it alive and
thriving.  Is it thirsty, buggy, disease-prone?  Does it flop without staking or
spread to kingdom come and back?  Then only buy that plant if you’re willing to
give it the attention it needs - honestly.

And it’s a good time to ask yourself the same question about the plants that
are already in your garden: Are you willing to coddle the weaker, less
drought-tolerant ones?  Maybe not. This year I resigned to let two rhododendrons
meet their maker, and sadly, accept the same fate for three American
dogwoods too far from a water source to easily save.  We’re making some sad
choices nowadays.

For more information about coping with drought, see Joel Lerner’s excellent
article on the subject:
"Strategies to Beat the Heat."