A Sprinkle a Day...Kills your Garden

As I write this in August, I have been spending hours every day moving soaker hoses, also known as drip irrigation hoses, and low flowing sprinklers from garden bed to garden bed, as well as hand watering. I won't use sprinklers that spray out a mist, or droplets, nor will I use the ones that spray water in an arc above the garden (oscillating sprinklers). Why?

Over half the water you use from a sprinkler is wasted because it evaporates before it hits the ground. Add to this water lost from a poorly aimed sprinkler hitting sidewalks driveways, curbs and other non-garden areas. In addition, time of day makes a big difference. You're likely to lose 70 to 90% of the water from the sprinkler by watering during the day or during the hot hours. Irrigation systems are a little bit better, but must properly maintained in order to work well. Irrigation systems are notorious for leaks.

Don't believe me? Try an experiment. Next time you use a sprinkler to water your garden, use your sprinkler as you usually do for the length of time you usually do it. Turn off the sprinkler, then go to the garden and dig into the soil. You'll probably see a half an inch or so of damp ground and the rest of the ground will be dry. This encourages roots to stay in the damp zone and the plant never develops a strong root system, which is necessary for its life in the long-term.

There are a few things you can do about this. First, invest in a soaker hose and set it up in the garden at the beginning of the garden season. You can also buy soaker hoses in various sizes and shapes, like a circle for watering a newly planted tree or shrub. Use it. Or, put a sprinkler (not the oscillating kind which sprays water into a huge, aerial arc) on the ground and turn it on very low so the water simply leaks out to the soil, and leave it for a few hours to soak deeply. Yes, you will cover less area this way, but you will water far more deeply. Having a lot of organic matter worked into your garden soil also help it retain moisture. So consider composting and adding leaves to the top of the garden bed for the winter.

Rabbits

Above: Caged Coneflower

The Cute Culprit

Sylvilagus floridanus, the eastern cottontail rabbit, is a common in Virginia. Some gardeners rail against squirrels (I count myself among them, as they like to strip my fruit trees bare), others count the rabbit as one of the worst mammalian garden pests. For the most part, rabbits don't do too much damage in my garden. I must cage a few plants, but my raised garden beds are high enough that they don't seem to bother them.  If you don't have raised beds,  you will be subject to rabbits eating your lettuces, greens, radish tops, and many other common garden plants.

The biggest surprise for me has been how readily rabbits eat some of my native plants, especially the native helianthus (a type of perennial sunflower), coneflowers, and asters. I planted them the spring, and they seemed to be doing fine for quite a while. Due to the intense heat, I had not visited this garden bed for a week, at which point I found the plants cropped down almost to the ground. Cages to the rescue! (I don't know why I found this to be a surprise, as native creatures are adapted to eat native plants).

Some gardeners like to use animal repellent, hot pepper wax, or garlic spray to ward off these creatures, but these require reapplication after rain and I just can't keep up with it. I find cages to be adequate to stop rabbits, though squirrels will plow right through them or shove them to the side. Make sure you anchor the cages down to the ground and they should protect your plants!

Common Milkweed, Asclepias syriaca

What's the buzz about milkweed?

We have all heard that monarch butterflies are in decline, due to habitat loss and the eradication of native milkweed plants.  Farmers routinely eradicate these plants. There are 73 species of milkweed in the US, some real stunners, and about 30 are regularly used by monarch butterflies. Monarchs are completely dependent on milkweed plants to reproduce. 

Native, common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) is a bit "spready" (OK a lot "spready") and the gardener who planted them too near my vegetable garden (me) has given herself some extra work.  But, my common milkweed patch is my pride and joy.  I collected seeds on the roadside near my house (to try to get  a locally adapted variety), planted them in pots, overwintered them...and voila, they came up. They are gorgeous! Six or more feet tall, wonderfully scented in flower, and they are marvelous pollinator plants...and our pollinators need all the help they can get!  (See the brief video above).

Do you want to try collecting milkweed seeds and growing them?  The link below give you tips on finding viable seeds. And, like all seed collecting, do not collect more than you need or from a single specimen or small, undisturbed cluster of plants.  On private property, you will need to get permission to collect seed.  Commercially, milkweed seeds and plants (like the orange butterfly weed and swamp milkweed) are available for purchase.  And my advice is to look for  local grower.

Milkeed Seeds Viability


 

The Saddest Sound...

 

One of the saddest sounds that I know is the sound of a tree service crew taking down a majestic tree specimen, presumably so that the homeowners can have more grass. We seem to have a spate of this happening in my neighborhood lately. The neighborhood is in an age transition, with older couples moving out and younger families moving in. And it seems the first thing they want to do is take down trees. As I walk every day in the neighborhood, I'm pretty sure that very few of these trees were diseased or in danger of falling. Those are two reasons where I believe taking down a tree is reasonable.

From an economic perspective, taking down a large specimen tree does not make sense. These large trees can increase the resale value of the house, as they turn an ugly box house into something far more attractive. Large trees provide shade and can make your house cooler, reducing cooling costs. They can also cool off your yard. Think about it, when you go to a park and want to sit in the grass, where do you sit? In the summer, it's in the shade. (This was recently illustrated to me. I've been weeding and edging native trees we planted in our back yard. These tree were small, 2 year trees when we planted them in 2019, now some are 8-10 feet tall.  As I was weeding, I noticed that I was keeping to the much cooler, if currently limited, shade cast by them). 

But far more important is the ecological value of these trees. Trees are key to mitigating the effects of climate change. Native trees, especially, host hundreds of creatures, and many native creatures depend on them. Here's an example. A native oak tree hosts many different kinds of caterpillars. While that might not sound exciting, caterpillars are the only food that 80 to 85% of native birds can use to feed their young. Birds do not feed their young seeds or other insects, because they are low in fat and protein. If you love native birds, and want to keep seeing them for the years to come, keep and plant native trees.

By the way, you know the phrase "fall is for planting?" That is very true especially in Virginia. Fall is the time to plant trees. So why don't you consider planting one this fall?  The Virginia Native Plant Society has free PDF regional native plant guides, that give ideas about all sorts of native plants including trees!  Go to: https://vnps.org/virginia-native-plant-guides/