Roger Boddaert
Special to the Valley News
As the world turns, so are the global weather patterns, and gardeners should prepare themselves and their gardens and their habits by working with a new wave of horticulture around their homes.
Having practiced working in our gardens over the years, and now that is changing with the warming climate and the unpredictable weather, gardeners need to stay in harmony with the change.
Last winter’s rainfall was a much-needed welcome for the parched earth, and the rains helped replenish rivers, reservoirs, aquifers and backyard landscapes.
I have always said that water is the staff of life, and without this precious resource, the earth would not exist as we know it today. Without water, there would be no farms and no food; staggering as that might sound, it is a fact that is changing farming globally.
The landscapes of yesteryear when gardeners did not really pay attention to watering and the cost is over. Today it is important to review the irrigation of landscapes, adjust and make a game plan on how to garden and how to save valuable water.
The first thing is look at the outside setting around the home and take inventory of what is existing and how it is being cared for and how effectively the watering system is performing.
The art of xeriscaping, permaculture, drought-tolerant landscaping and stone-scaping is all about working with the garden setting, the garden lifestyle and proper stewardship.
These four basic formats are about understanding, evaluation, education and having a wonderful landscape and enjoying the Mediterranean climate of Southern California.
My landscape company, Maker of Natural Gardens, has been designing, installing and practicing the art of garden making for decades and created award-winning gardens throughout Southern California, making people and gardens happy.
The garden space around a home can sequester carbon, taking the bad from the atmosphere and sinking it into the earth with the help from the landscape plantings.
Forests, woodlands, parks, preserves and oceans are all working day and night to help cleanse the earth, and backyards are part of that recipe for cooling the planet.
Here are some suggestions for consideration. Gardens are for food, therapy, pleasure, sharing and joy. Gardens need pollinators, so stop using poisons outside.
If you do not have space to dig, consider container gardening. Need more room? Think about vertical gardens and rooftops.
Create neighborhood gardens, and joint family plots for veggies. Small space for fruits, use multi-grafted fruits on one tree.
Using low water plants with native plants is a way to go. Retrofit your landscape with xeriscaping ideas. Practicing permaculture and working with nature is great.
Remove diseased and sick plants from your garden. Use natural and organic foods for the soil. Feed the soil to sustain healthy, nutritious veggies.
Get children digging in the soil and off the keyboards. Consider garden art here and there with fun things. Redesign your landscape to be a retreat, fun and happy.
Dump the lawn and create a drought tolerant meadow. There are over 50,000 square miles of lawns in the U.S.A. Gardens are for people, animals, birds, bees to live jointly.
Dry landscapes can be beautiful with boulders and stones. Recycle materials like broken concrete, wood and bottles.
Make a secret garden space with a hut, treehouse, patio. Grow bulbs that will return year after year.
Visit a botanical garden and photograph to get ideas. San Diego Botanical Garden in Encinitas is fabulous to see. Take garden tours to gather ideas, looks, themes and feelings.
Potted plants on a patio might just be the solution. Plant for the seasons with colorful drought plantings.
Compost and start a worm box with your food scraps. Adjust your irrigation clocks per the season and weather.
Mulching is a good thing, use it properly when applying.
A global food shortage might be lingering on the horizon. Look at your garden’s setting and ponder how it will adjust for tomorrow’s future dryer landscapes. Reduce, reuse, recycle, rethink, redeem, we can all help.
Do not ask what your garden can do for you. Ask what you can do for your garden and the environment.
Take an innovative approach with your garden, and look at how you can integrate with nature, for it is the only planet right now to garden on. But someday gardeners might have bubble greenhouses on another planet in outer space, but for now, be a little kinder and more respectful for what is on this blue marble floating out in space.
“He who plants a garden, brings happiness for others to enjoy.”
Roger Boddaert, Maker of Natural Gardens and The Tree Man of Fallbrook, can help you with your landscapes at bogitt@aol.com or 760-728-4297.
