Anyone who has lived in the Pacific Northwest for some time will tell you that calendar dates do not guarantee seasonal weather trends.
This year, you would have been incorrect to predict the arrival of summer weather just because June rolled around on the calendar. Summer came late this year and if I believed that summer was over because the September equinox has arrived, I’d have to say that summer was far too short for my taste.
This year’s equinox was at 3:09 a.m. Sept. 23. Equinoxes occur at the points in the earth’s annual orbit when the lengths of day and night are equal. For these brief times, one in spring and one in fall, the sun is shining directly at the equator.
During the equinox, the length of night and day across the world is nearly, but not entirely, equal.
In reality, the day is slightly longer in places that are farther away from the equator because the sun takes longer to rise and set in these locations. Due to the seasonal contrasts between hemispheres, at the same time that we encounter the autumnal equinox it is the spring — or vernal — equinox in the southern hemisphere.
Despite these facts, I am holding out for a long, warm Indian summer before autumn comes to stay for good.
Make a list
Anyone who has ever shopped for groceries at the supermarket knows that shopping without a list can lead to a frustrating experience.
When you get home, you find that you bought what you didn’t need and didn’t buy what you did need.
Your plant list should be the result of the research you have done, comparing the requirements of the plants you want for your garden with the conditions of specific areas of your garden. Give those that are compatible a big gold star.
Before a big plant-purchasing trip, make at least one visit to a full-service nursery as field work. Don’t plan to buy anything. Instead, go to discover what plants you want for your garden.
Make a note of which plants draw your attention and hold your interest. While you are at the nursery, take the time to move plants around, seeing how your favorites look with other plants. Write down the names of those you like and those that look good together.
The most aesthetically pleasing gardens combine one-third evergreen plants, one third deciduous trees and shrubs and one-third seasonal perennials.
Picture an island bed in early spring featuring the emerald green foliage of an upright, dwarf Hinoki Cypress. Behind it rises the deciduous crabapple tree, Malus Sugar Tyme, its canopy filling the space overhead with a flurry of pure white crabapple blossoms in full bloom. A floral carpet of purple, gold and white Dutch crocus covers the feet of both plants.
When a major plant sale is on the horizon, review your list and take it with you to go shopping.
Organic fertilizer
Overuse of chemical fertilizers can interrupt the natural nutrient exchange between soil, soil microbes and plant roots. This creates a dependency, whereby plants soon require near constant feeding.
The result is a gradual degradation of soil and plant health, making plants vulnerable to diseases and pests. Organic fertilizers feed the soil microbes, which in turn feed the plants. This is a natural, self-sustaining system.
Over time, the organic method can be less expensive than using chemicals because fewer applications are needed.
If your garden soil has been pampered for many years, you may be able to skip buying fertilizer all together.
Creating compost from spent plant material and mulching the garden with homemade compost is one of the best decisions you can make for your garden and for your soil. In addition, you are less likely to need to spend money on products to control pests and diseases.
Spontaneity
The truth is that gardening is a passionate endeavor.
Although I encourage making lists and doing research, I always leave room in my garden life for spontaneity. Any one of us might fall for the charms of a hot red climbing rose, even if it was not on our wish list. As for that flat of ornamental sedums that caught your eye at the plant sale, pack them all together in a highly glazed planter with plenty of grit mixed in the soil and place it on a deck or near a walkway.
The flowering cherry tree that you just had to have? Now that’s a problem I’ll leave up to you.
Robb Rosser is a WSU-certified Master Gardener. Reach him at Write2Robb@aol.com.
