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  • From: "Tradingpost" <tradingpost@lobo.net>
  • To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Livingontheland] Erratic weather signals a need to change our gardening ways
  • Date: Mon, 14 Sep 2009 08:08:26 -0600



Erratic weather signals a need to change our gardening ways
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/pacificnw/2009794742_pacificplife13.html
By Valerie Easton

In times of drastic, erratic weather, gardeners are looking for ways to
sustain, replace, cope and enjoy. They're starting by looking for hardier
plants, ditching or at least downsizing the lawn and simplifying to use fewer
resources.



THE WEATHER is giving us whiplash. Plants that survived for years in Seattle
were killed outright by the cold and snow last winter. Gardeners are still
lamenting dead hebes, phormium, viburnum, daphne, lavender, rosemary and . .
. . the list goes on.

And yet this summer seesawed back to heat and drought. The six weeks from May
20 through the end of June were the driest in 116 years. Who could have
imagined that University of Washington meteorologist Cliff Mass would have
occasion to title a July 2 blog post "How Bad Has the Drought Been?" Usually
summer's still a no-show, the tomatoes sulking and basil damping off in early
July. But this year Mass was already warning about a significant stretch of
drought by the end of June.

Anyone who tends a garden is pretty acclimatized to the vagaries of weather.
We have to be realists to pursue our passion. As we've watched the weather
extremes around the globe, it's become clear that global warming means more
frequent and intense storms, extended droughts, shifts in the timing of
seasons and erratic weather patterns. Which are already affecting our gardens.

So why aren't such changes affecting our plant choices and gardening
practices more? Despite being nearly a decade into the 21st century, we
mostly garden as our parents, grandparents and great-grandparents did before
us, albeit with noisier devices and an expanded plant palette. Most people
get out there with their gas mowers, edgers and blowers, and spend weekends
burning diesel fuel and polluting the air. We pour gallons of precious water
into the ground to keep flowers blooming and vegetables ripening.

The bottom line is that most gardeners are still stuffing their properties
with ornamental plants that require an enormous amount of resources and time
to care for, in a world increasingly pressed for both. Or does this apply
only to every gardener I know? Including me, who spends a small fortune
watering my beloved hydrangeas in Langley's sandy soil. And don't even get me
started on lawn grass!

Do you suppose it's possible for plant-besotted gardeners, when faced with
water shortages, changes in bird migration and bee health, high utility bills
and lilacs flowering two weeks earlier, to control their desires? Are we
ready to simplify, cut back and enjoy what we have more? I think we must in
the long run.

I sought wisdom from Bob Hornbeck, owner of Muchas Grasses nursery in Sonoma,
figuring Californians must be way ahead of us on drought issues. He's
speaking on "What's Up With the Climate?" in September at the
environmentally-based garden event called The Late Show Gardens
(www.thelateshowgardens.org/).

Surprisingly, Hornbeck suggested emulating British gardeners. He points out
their long tradition of dedicated plantsmanship, of working the soil and
studying where plants come from and what each needs to thrive. "The gulf
stream has shifted, and the British are planning ahead for climate change,"
says Hornbeck, who points out that England's famously rainy climate is moving
toward the Mediterranean climate of California. "No one knows how fast it'll
change, but the rate of change itself is changing, and that's scary," he says.

Hornbeck suggests "kissing your lawn goodbye" and using more plants like
succulents and ornamental grasses that adjust well to a wide variety of
conditions. "We really don't know what to expect; it might get wetter, it
might get drier," he says.

Hornbeck sees the silver lining in such unpredictability. If we don't know
what's going to happen, gardeners may as well make educated guesses and
experiment a bit. Because who knows what plants will survive in our future
gardens? No one expected plants that had survived for decades to die last
December.

What to expect in the short run? Cliff Mass predicts an El Niño winter this
year in the Northwest. This typically means somewhat warmer and drier
conditions with less snow and freezing temperatures. "An El Niño is generally
good for plant folks and bad for skiers." Skiers got theirs last year; now
it's gardeners' turn for a good winter.

Valerie Easton is a Seattle freelance writer and author of "A Pattern
Garden." Check out her blog at www.valeaston.com.









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