Learning new gardening techniques in new places

Cute sites, I'll have to check them out re what I know - I am used to latin names. We used a lot of australian natives, and south african natives, in our designs in southern california. Seems wrong to me here but I won't preclude it.

As to Dadpad's post about planting in sandy soil..... My parents live on Cape Cod where the land is comprised almost entirely of sand. They made a huge garden and have added a irrigation system (all this mostly by themselves). My mother knows plants and she knows gardening. She chose plants that didn't need tons of water, and many that needed little water. She added loads of compost and continues to do so and covers the entire garden with wood-chips. They continue to have to increase their watering schedule because the soil just doesn't hold the water.

Sand is a good base because it makes for great drainage. But, unless you dig deep and wide to enrich the soil, it loses water like crazy.


Osso, I love the olive, by the way!

For all this and other reasons, it makes sense for me to go native.

Eyes lavender....

We'll see. I bet I go there entirely, over time.

And I bet it is awesome....(in time)

RH

Lavender, agastache, baptisia, pentsemon, thyme.....

Maybe think rock-gardens?

NO, no damned rocks!

Kidding. Of course there are native rocks here. Just not in my yard.

It's the 1 1/2" inch to 2 1/2" greybies that are put down in parking strips (etc) over black plastic here, another ick, that I hate. Talk about "soil" baking.

There's a pertinent article in the LA Times but at this moment I can't snag a link that brings up the photos too. Back later on that.

I have thyme waiting to be planted. I'm a wooly thyme lover from way back, but the one at hand is just regular.

Er, an additional component to this situation is that my budget is zero.
This isn't new, in that I've been at zero before several times myself, and designed for people on very low budgets as well as for people with 'no budget' in the sense of endless resources. But some obvious possible answers aren't feasible. As in I already spent my wad on the two 1 gallon Forestieras.

Dadpad, I'll listen to you about grocery store throw aways. Composting here is odd to me. Leaves live forever... as we have, much of the time, zilch humidity. (Nods to dys..).

I still have to rig up a good system, which will involve me building some three part apparatus. Not yet, though. And probably watering the damned leaves.

<snort>

Otherwise I'll have a pile of leaf fossils.

Get some good sized olive trees around the house, osso. They give
you shade which helps in the summer time.

Lavender looks nice, you can put several rows in the yard.
Bougainvilleas should do nicely too. Sunflowers take the heat also.

leaf mummies

Real olives don't make it here. They didn't in our north north area either although there was one that limped along.

The species plant of bougainvillea makes it, the species being the hardiest along with a couple of varieties, but certainly not most.. I love bougy, but don't have the structure for it, presently.




Toys with sunflowers along my driveway..

I've grown them, love them.

I've been thinking of Perovskia, but they are a little fluffy...

Have also thought of some shrub dogwoods, like stolonifera. But

see.... I'm more interested re what makes sense with the natives here.

The local guidebooks are also sort of loopy.

Damn, I may need to write a book once I catch on - which may take a bunch of time.

Osso, I got some cool orange sunflower seeds i can bring in a month or so, they are so cooler than the damned old yellow guys...

RH

So, I argue. That's my way, like we both have pieces of paper with a plan drawing in front of us. Please don't stop with suggestions just because I argue or act know it all. Ignore all that and tell me what you think.

In the meantime, natives by definition do work here, given appropriate regions. In Abq, for example, two sides of town have near hilariously different soil.

I'll post more on all that another day.



I'll add as a postscript that I have learned by both reading and watching about the bringing in of exotics, specifically to California. I'm not fully repellant about it, but have moved to wary.

Plus, for aesthetic reasons, I've vastly lost interest in Iowa in Pasadena, and similar episodes.

I do get spain and tuscany in california, and am not yelping yet, but reserve opinion.

Bag mulch.

Plastic garbage bags will preserve moisture. So will rubbish bins. A small hole will allow drainage if required.

A place here has a lavender hedge. Its cute.

Excellent idea!

Rosemary might work if you get one of the hardy varieties and place it well..... (are you zone 7?).

National Herb Garden, D.C.