Garden wisdom from 2006

Fall, 2006: Waste Not, Want Not--
Putting Autumn Leaves to Work in the Garden

We had a glorious autumn this year. After a hot, dry summer it finally rained enough in September to revive the trees, and the sunny days and cool nights that followed in October and November were just right for bringing out the rich golds and blazing reds that make for a perfect fall.

By the end of November, most of the trees were pretty much bare. Once the leaves hit the ground, they're usually treated as trash around here. Many people bag them, while others pile them at the curbside to wait for the huge trucks that vacuum them up and haul them away. Just a few years ago, our city's leaves were taken to the Mountain Brook composting operation (read about it in my article on buying compost). Unfortunately, that arrangement has ended and discarded leaves are now taken to a landfill.

The people who discard their leaves in the fall are often the same ones who line up to buy compost and other "soil amendments" in the spring. But composted leaves are the ideal soil amendment. They're easy to compost, they're free, and using them instead of discarding them saves landfill space and enormous amounts of energy.

The plastic bags that hold discarded leaves are made from petroleum products, and it takes energy to manufacture and distribute the bags. It takes more fuel to collect the leaves and to haul them to the landfill. And it takes energy to produce, bag, distribute and carry home the soil amendments that people buy in lieu of their own composted leaves. The energy used depletes our limited store of petroleum products while adding to our greenhouse gases.

My policy for my own yard is that no leaves or grass clippings ever leave it, and I often collect my neighbors' leaves, as well. I often simply use the leaves for mulch, especially those that are mostly pine straw. I mow some leaves into the lawn, where they break down and slowly release nutrients over the growing season. I use a thick layer to blanket the freshly tilled soil of my vegetable garden to help minimize wind and water erosion. The rest I simply pile onto my compost bin.

I don't compost by the book--optimizing nitrogen and carbon levels and turning often to aerate the pile. I just compost with what I have--leaves and kitchen vegetable scraps and coffee grounds. I don't turn it more than once a blue moon. It takes longer but the end result is the same: rich compost that improves soil structure and nourishes my plants in the spring. I can't imagine any commercial soil amendment that could take its place.

Summer, 2006: Pond Wildlife

When I reworked my tiny backyard pond last year, I wanted to make it more inviting to wildlife. I built a wading shelf for birds and I included natives such as pickerel rush that provide perches for dragonflies. A large frog, probably a southern leopard frog, took up residence there last summer. He always hid when he saw me coming, but I could see him (her?) nestled against the edge, underneath the overhanging flagstones.

I don't know what kind of frog (or toad?) laid eggs in my pond this spring, but hundreds of tadpoles (you'll have to look closely) hatched. My husband thinks they'll grow up to be toads, but I'm betting that they'll be southern leopard frogs.

I've grown impatient waiting for them to grow up. It's been nearly 4 months, now, and they're still swimming. They vary in size, but the largest are a couple of inches. There seem to be fewer of them than when this picture was taken, though it's hard to tell since they've also grown shy, diving underwater when I approach. Maybe there is too little food for such a large brood, although I've read they eat algae and there's plenty of it in my unfiltered pond. I try to check on them every day or two, so they won't leave without my notice. I hope they don't emerge from the water directly into the claws and jaws of one of the many stray cats around here, but I'm confident that at least a few will survive to lay another batch of eggs next year.

Spring, 2006: I Dig Wildflowers

My husband hates gardening. But I convinced him to come with me on a plant dig at the county landfill. I wanted to get more bluets, irises and other wildflower treasures for my shady back border. My husband reluctantly agreed to come and carry my bags. As it turned out, he had a great time. He describes it as being like an easter egg hunt.

Plant digs are a wonderful way to furnish a woodland garden with free plants, including some that are not commercially available. When acreage is scheduled to be converted to other uses such as a garbage dump, the public gets a chance to rescue the trees, shrubs and wildflowers that would otherwise be destroyed.

Plant digs may be sponsored by your city, county or local beautification board. Sometimes they're available through groups such as the Alabama Wildflower Society. Dig into one, and you're likely to find that a love of wildflowers has taken root.

Late Winter, 2006: The Root of the Matter

Sometimes it seems as though my gardening challenges are unique, and that I must work harder than most gardeners. It's true that I'm constantly battling a privet jungle at the border of my property, that I'm dealing with ever-increasing shade from neighboring trees, and that I have drainage issues that threaten to wash out my vegetable garden during a summer frog-strangler.

But at the same time I'm fortunate to have a long growing season, adequate rainfall and good soil. And there are some problems that can be dealt with.

I can't do much about the shade from trees near my garden, but I can, I hope, keep their roots from invading the rich soil I've been pampering for years, aiming for lip-smacking tomatoes, squash and other vegetables. Last fall I ordered an 18" root barrier, made of recycled plastic, from a site I found on the internet (write me if you want to know the source). I had an 18" trench dug all around my 18 x 20' vegetable garden and then encircled my garden with the root barrier.

It was an enormous amount of work. I wanted straight lines, and it's hard for machinery to dig such a deep trench while keeping the lines straight. There were places where large boulders interfered with the depth or the straight lines I wanted. My husband and I picked and pried the boulders loose and fine-tuned the trench by hand.

Finally, I had the root barrier in place and I filled in the soil around it. Time will tell how effective it is. Most tree roots grow just a few inches under the soil, so it should at least minimize the problem for years to come.

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