Homegrown: The challenge of planting this spring

“What’s going on with my garden?” That’s a question I’ve heard more often in the past couple of months than ever before. Magnolia trees beginning bloom in November? In full bloom in December? Leaves not dropping on some woody plants and others popping out in January? Strawberries fruiting in February?

Drought conditions top our worry list, but unseasonable warmth pushing out early growth is a close second with the possibility of a damaging, deep cold spell running a close third.

We all know the weather is out of our control, but its vagaries can be daunting. The best we can do against extremes is to preserve resources and guard against future challenges Nature sends our way.

We might as well enjoy early blooms while we have them, but be ready to protect tender plants if freezing weather poses a threat. We can mulch the ground to preserve moisture and forestall irrigating when there’s little rain in the forecast.

All the while, we’re wondering what our gardening future should be.

Looking ahead

With spring just a few weeks away, most of us are sketching out a few planting schemes. Despite the satisfaction of nearly full reservoirs, we can’t predict they’ll be replenished to sustain our gardens. We do know with certainty, however, that we live in a dry-summer, Mediterranean-climate region, one that has persisted for millennia and is not about to change in our lifetimes.

So the wise gardener proceeds accordingly, selecting plants biologically adapted to little if any water in summer.

I’m reminded of an editorial some years ago in Pacific Horticulture magazine that included this very sensible statement: “A successful landscape design demonstrates a sense of place - a recognition of the context of the site - and emerges from a respect for the site’s constraints as much as its opportunities.”

The most obvious constraint that should limit our gardens is the expansive, iconic and water-hogging front-yard lawn. If removing it and installing a drought-tolerant landscape suggests sacrificing beauty, be assured this is not the case.

There are plenty of flowering shrubs and perennials, those with captivating foliage, and grasses and grass-like plants that are all good candidates for a beautiful garden needing little water in the dry season.

Alternate front yard designs

You’ll find good suggestions for water-saving plantings at our North Coast nurseries. Most have set up display areas featuring easy-to-grow species for home gardens.

For design ideas on how to use these plants and irrigation systems to maintain them, visit sonoma.watersavingplants.com, a valuable resource for re-configuring a landscape. The site also shows a photo gallery and takes you on a virtual tour of water-wise gardens.

Other helpful resources are the Sunset Western Garden Book and Master Gardener publications and website (sonomamastergardeners.org) that help you select the best water-wise plants suited or adapted to local conditions.

An edible landscape

One alternative, once a lawn is removed, is to grow food crops maintained with drip irrigation and deep mulch instead of ornamental shrubs and perennials.

Bay Area food-gardening guru Rosalind Creasy has led the way for the past three decades in her Los Altos garden, growing virtually every kind of vegetable and many herbs and fruits in full view of her neighbors. (See photos and details for designs and water-saving techniques at www.rosalindcreasy.com.)

It takes careful planning and an allotment of time to accomplish what she’s done, but it’s possible to create year-round good looks with edibles in front yards.

Narrow the field

Whether you focus on edibles or ornamentals, take a good look at Mediterranean-climate herbs. Besides their useful contributions to the kitchen, they’re tough, hardy, and attractive mixed among drought-tolerant perennials and shrubs or set out in a formal design.

Most, like rosemary (Rosmarinus) and lavender (Lavandula) become sub-shrubs, perennials that develop a woody base and benefit from annual or semi-annual trimming. Some are long-lived while others should be replaced after a few years.

One of my favorites for both foliage and flowers is culinary sage (Salvia officinalis), particularly the cultivar Berggarten for its bluish tint attractive in four seasons. Cutting it back halfway every year or two keeps it in an 18-inch mound.

Winter savory, oddly named since it’s completely deciduous in winter, is another favorite. In spring, small, bright green leaves cover thin branchlets that arch low to the ground forming a 12-inch high mound. In summer, tiny white flowers appear, creating a delightful scene.

Rosemary McCreary, a Sonoma County gardener, gardening teacher, and author of Tabletop Gardens, writes the monthly Homegrown column for The Press Democrat. Write to her at P.O. Box 910, Santa Rosa, 95402.