Plantsmack's Blog

Winter blooming, So Cal friendly plants

plantsmack — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 18:31:44 +0000

Us ladies…we do love our flowers…
Here’s a look at what’s blooming now.

What? No Camellias or Azaleas pictured? Nope, I said Southern California friendly..

Aloe varieties

Your gardener might NOT know what he’s doing if:

plantsmack — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 22:00:22 +0000

He’s spreading chemical fertilizers by throwing it with his bare hands.

All your plants look like balls and squares.

Your irrigation is going off every day ( or even every other day) for 10 minutes on each station. (AAAAUUUUGGGGHHH!)

He’s mowing your lawn when it’s sopping wet.

He hasn’t strongly recommended that you put a layer of mulch on your shrub/perennial beds. ( 2-3″ )

He’s never aerated your lawn.

He fertilizes more than 4 times a year….with chemical fertilizers.

Your lawn is made up of more than 3 types of weeds/grasses.

You have irrigation spray heads along your house foundation.

It is not so concerning to me that homeowners don’t know what they’re doing in a yard…you have other things to do that you’re good at. But it’s quite concerning to know that those homeowners are PAYING people who also don’t know what they’re doing in a yard. Well, you know what they say…’You get what you pay for’ …

Tagged: chemical fertilizers, grasses, irrigation, mulch, perennial beds, spray heads, types of weeds

Good Soil, Good plants

plantsmack — Wed, 06 May 2009 20:19:17 +0000

Weeds in your garden may be a symptom of poor soil.
Yep, you heard me right.
Let me start by saying, that Mother Nature, if left to her own devices, is perfect. She is perfectly balanced, providing nutrients, water and oxygen to all of her inhabitants.
The soil on our planet is (or should be) a plethora of living organisms, bacteria, good nematodes, good fungi and organics. Everything a plant needs to grow healthy and fight pests and diseases. Unfortunately, every time we add chemical fertilizers and pesticides to kill the pests, we also kill that good stuff in the soil. This means we have to continue to add fertilizers and pesticides, because the soil is unable to assist in getting the plant what it needs on it’s own. That is what’s known as an UNsustainable practice. (I know you’ve been wondering ‘what do they mean by sustainable anyway?’….see how helpful I am?)
When weeds appear, it is the Mother Nature’s way of trying to provide some kind of organics back into her soil. They grow, they die, they decompose and….Voila organics!

Am I telling you to leave your weeds alone? NO! I’m suggesting that instead of continuing to fertilize and spray your plants, that you refurbish your soil by adding organic compost, fish meal, natural calcium and magnesium, worms etc. Then maybe, maybe, maybe, we can get our soil corrected, happy and sustainable.
The tremendous amount of fertilizers that we as a nation apply to our yards has now increased our ocean’s dead zones (no oxygen, therefore no living organism) to 200!
BTW, we’ve managed to increase this number from 149 to 200 in only 5 years. We cannot continue in this way! Nothing can survive on this planet without a healthy ocean.
We need to respect Mother Nature before she is forced to fight back.
Look for, ask for and use organic products. That’s the only way the big companies will start to provide them in more convenient and affordable ways.
That’s the plant smack for the week!
Terri Maguire

www.homescpdesigns.com

This is an example of INCREDIBLY POOR soil…the weeds won’t even grow here! If your gardeners are “cleaning” your beds to look like this, they are doing your plants a huge disservice.

Good soil should be the color of chocolate and have worms and pill bugs and all kinds of fun stuff in it.

Tagged: garden soil, ocean's dead zones, organic gardening, soil conditioning, sustainable landscape practices, weeds

Artificial Lawn

plantsmack — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 21:07:40 +0000

Artificial lawn:
As a landscape designer in the dry climate of San Diego County, I’m starting to get asked what I think about the fake lawns….and “do I think it’s a good idea since it saves water?”….ohhhh…Really? Someone has to ask if it’s a good idea to cover the planet with more plastic? How, exactly, is that a good idea?

“Well, y’know,” they say “ it doesn’t take any water or mowing, or fertilizer…and it LOOKS nice ALL the time”

Ok, yes, the part about no water, fertilizer or gas mower requirements IS an excellent goal for us dry climate dwellers… actually, anyone really…but covering our yards in plastic (or rubber, or whatever it is) is most CERTAINLY not a good solution. We need to think a little further out. .. A little past the “but it LOOKS nice”. This planet is in desperate need of more oxygen production and carbon dioxide eating. No plastic lawn is going to give us that. And calling it environmentally friendly is just a marketing ploy in my opinion. Plus, no one mentions how flippin’ HOT it gets in the sun and guess what? It needs to be cooled off by…yes…watering it! Please people, we can’t continue to live our lives in false facades just because it LOOKS good.

Why don’t we then, just put in fake flowers, trees and shrubs all over our yards too? “Why that’s ridiculous!” you say…..and yes, …yes it is!

Replacing your lawn is an excellent, environmentally responsible thing to do. Replacing it with plastic or concrete however, is not.

Terri Maguire

www.homescpdesigns.com

Tagged: Artificial Turf, Environmentally friendly, Fake lawn, Lawn replacement, lawn substitutions

Water, Air, Fire and Earth…. peaceful

plantsmack — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 21:13:59 +0000

The combination of all the main elements creates a natural tranquility..with fire adding a touch of either excitement or warmth, comfort or friendliness……ahhhh

Check my website for more photos. www.homescpdesigns.com

Tagged: landscape design, landscape maintenance