Gardenicide: a response

Yeah, I admit it. I’m the dirt killer. It was greed, I tell ya. Greed and maybe a pinch of pride led me down the dark path to gardenicide. The desire to have bigger plants with bigger yields, so I could crow about my superior garden growing prowess drove me over the edge of reason.

It took months of mixing rich redwood compost with chicken manure, sand, wood ashes, the finest coffee grounds Starbucks had to offer, and egg shells to create the perfect mulch milieu. Any organic gardener will tell you that we really don’t feed plants with fertilizer. Rather, we feed the living soil with material that the worms and microbes love to munch. The product of our earthy partners is water soluble food that can be immediately absorbed by plant roots. All the nutrients necessary for plant life are available, in the soil, in the correct amounts, and are carried to the plant, above ground. The sun magically combines them with chlorophyll in the process of photosynthesis to create the plant structure and the fruit. So wonderful, so simple, such a gift from God! Why would anyone, in their right mind, tamper with such a perfect process??

I couldn’t leave well enough alone, though. Noooohoho, not me. I had to try to goose the plant growth and production, with some man made concoction to satisfy evil urges of greed and pride. I mistook the “Weed and Feed” lawn fertilizer for high-nitrogen lawn food and fed the poison to my beautiful, trusting plants. Watching them wilt and slowly starve to death was unbearable. I tried everything to thwart the poison but to no avail.

It was a painful lesson. I’ve been properly chastened and I’ve resolved to repent from my foolish ways. I’m naming my garden, “East of Eden” as a reminder to avoid any more deadly sins. Most of them, anyway…
submitted by a gardener under the pseudonym of " Gardenicide"

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Blue Native Flowers

Have you ever seen the Phlox divaricata "London Grove Blue?' The lovely, violet-blue, sweet smelling flowers beckon the bees and butterflies to 'have a little nip" and enjoy their nectar. Remember the gorgeous Tiger Swallowtail butterflies that flew around you as you lay on the cool grass on a broiling hot summer's day? Butterflies love this native plants flowers! Hummingbirds and Bees are also drawn to this wildland native. Sometimes called Wild Sweet William think about adding this spreading groundcover in semi-shady areas of your garden and plant it in rich humus. Lay back and dream on a sunny day and delight in God's handiwork.

April Blooms

It's been cool here in the Santa Cruz Mountains but the garden is growing and little treasures keep popping up. Sweet pea and Moonflower seeds are boldly pushing their way into the cool Spring air. The Wysteria is unfurling soft, velvety leaves, tentatively stretching towards the sun. Wild onions have emerged with their white flowers dancing among the orange Montbretia. The Japanese Maples are clothed in new leaves and spreading their limbs. Sunday Trace noticed our squirrel wind chime softly singing the wind's tune. Weather people say warmth is on it's way and Saturday may bring us an 80 degree sitting-out- on- the-patio- listening-to-the-birds-afternoon.

Native Plants

Living in the coastal mountains of Central California gives us the chance to incorporate native plants into our garden. Plants such as Mahonia aquifolium (Oregon grape) are great as barrier plants and for wildlife. They require little care and have lovely yellow blossoms in April. The blossoms turn into berries that are enjoyed by the birds. Sambucus nigra ( Blue Elderberry) grows wild in the mountains near creeks and also produces berries in the Fall. Our squirrels use the branches as a tree path as they jump from our Birch and Cherry trees to the Elderberry . The Blue Jays love to congregate in the Elderberry and mock the squirrels with their chorus of cawing.