Why I love My Job, Reason # 9871027357391801

Thursday, September 10th, 2009

Exhibit A.

Agave Attenuata.

I know I have mentioned these a lot the past few months, but they are incredible. A few streets away from where I live, a family has a huge cluster of them in their front yard. They said it’s been there since 1983 with little to no care or water. They are so prolific and I have been coveting cutting from them for years. I finally took the time to stop and ask if I could trade them some plants. Needless to say they were over joyed to have me thin out the cluster, and believe it or not the two truck loads we took barely made a dent in what they have. Two guys, myself, hand saws, chain saws and a big ass F250 accomplished this job within about an hour.

F250Agave

Dustin – Livin’ the dream! (more…)

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Gestalt Gardener

Friday, September 4th, 2009

A couple months ago a friend turned me onto the Gestalt Gardener Podcast, out of Jackson, Mississippi. You maybe wondering, why would anyone who lives in California listen to a garden show out of the old south… but it’s absolutely addicting! I listen when I’m working in gardens, when I’m driving, when I’m walking the dogs, etc. Felder Rushing’s southern twang is addicting and hilarious. In past episodes I have literally heard a caller ask how to get rid of wild hogs that keep coming and tearing up his front lawn!

Felder’s approach to gardening is much like my own, laid back and whatever works for you… except for his deviation from organic products. Below is the email correspondence in which we met. (Please read… good stuff) From those emails a podcast interview with Jenn was born! You can check that out on the radio’s website or by searching iTunes under Gestalt Gardener. It’s the September 4th 2009 Podcast and I’m 17 minutes into the hour long show.

gardener


(more…)

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Square Pegs

Friday, August 21st, 2009

I have been fascinated with square stemmed plants for as long as I can remember, and just recently decided to do some research about the family they come from. I’ve noticed my most favorite plants come from the Lamiaceae family – or the Mint family. This plant family is closely related to the Verbenaceae family, including verbena. Lamiaceae family has

square stems as well. The Lamiaceae family contains about 6900 – 7200 species of plants…. some of my favorites include: (more…)

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August Vegetable Planting

Thursday, August 13th, 2009

In an effort not to have to send out seventeen million emails to the friends and family asking me what vegetables to plant right now – here’s a post. Go get dirrty!

Leafy Greens -

Lettuce
Chard
Kale
Cabbage
Arugula
Spinach

These can all be planted now and in successions until November. You may not get your last crop due to the weather, but if you do you’ll be happy you planted it. Sow seeds or plant plugs every two – three weeks.
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Posted in Farming, Gardening, Organic Crops | 1 Comment »

August, The Dead of Summer

Monday, August 10th, 2009

“This is the very dead of summer. I am not sure that I ever heard just that phrase before, but I don’t see why not. Surely, it describes at least the impression that August creates as she slumbers, replete and satisfied. Spring was a fever and autumn will be a regret, but this is the month too aware of its own successful achievement to be more than barely sentient. The growth which continues seems without effort, like the accumulation of fat. If Nature is ever purely vegetative, it is now. She is but barely conscious. ”

– Joseph Wood Krutch

From the fabulous flea market find, Kelly and I scored this past sunday…. The Twelve Seasons.

Posted in Gardening, Library | 2 Comments »

Thyme

Wednesday, August 5th, 2009


This is Thyme.

No. I’m not going to insert the appropriate, cheesy quote about “Time” and “Thyme” in the garden. This ain’t that kinda blog. Ya. I said ain’t.

This is ‘Elfin’ Thyme to be exact, and works great as an all purpose ground cover and in between stepping stones as shown.
This cultivar is a derivative of culinary Thyme, but doesn’t seem to have that same cooking quality. It grows quick and with ease, with relatively little to no care and little water.
My favorite uses of this ground cover is in between stepping stones for a fragrant pathway, or in large clusters around trees or other native grasses.

Posted in Gardening, In the Garden… | 4 Comments »

Agave attenuata

Friday, July 10th, 2009

Agave attenuata


This is one of the best plants you could ever plant in a garden. They are so incredibly easy, effortless and lend themselves to many landscape designs. Agave is considered one of the “bones” in a garden and completely ground any design. This one in the picture above is from a garden I planted in Half Moon Bay. The rest of the garden is “English-Mediterranean”, as my client says. I’m not sure exactly what constitutes “English-Mediterranean” – but apparently it’s a lot of flagstone, terra cotta and roses. But the agave around the garden look amazing and require little to nothing. They really just want to be left alone.

The best place in the whole world to buy Agave and other succulents =

Robin at Succulent Gardens in Moss Landing………
www.sgplants.com

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Really?

Monday, June 29th, 2009

We are still doing this people? Ug.

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I'm all wet.

Friday, May 29th, 2009

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Irises Exposed!! X-Rated!!

Wednesday, April 15th, 2009

THE NAKED TRUTH ABOUT IRIS RHIZOMES!

Ever notice a normally lush and beautiful patch of irises stop blooming after a while – or notice the flowers get less and less each year? No matter how much you fertilize them – or how you prune them back in the fall, they just don’t flower like they once did. At this point, my client’s usually ask me to pull them out and buy new ones. Then I blow their minds with this:

Iris rhizomes need to be at least half way uncovered in order to bloom.
Kind of like Britney Spears, Paris Hilton or David Hasselhoff where ever they go…

This means – exposed to the sun and water, up from the ground. Naturally we want to bury our plants at the appropriate depth – but for irises, this means only partially buried. Once your irises are planted, the easiest way to expose your rhizomes is to take a hand cultivator or rake and rough up the soil around the plants, then take a broom and simply sweep the excess soil away. It will take minutes and rejuvenate your lovely flowers.

Naughty, naughty iris!

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