THROUGH THE GARDEN GATE

August tends to bring a lull to the garden. It seems to sail
into the doldrums and stalls. The harvest winds down, blossoms
fade, and a mellow malaise persists. At this point, diligence is
required of the gardener to bring about a renewal of motivation.
General maintenance can keep you busy until planting season. Maybe
a new perennial bed…or prepare a bed for fall and winter
vegetables.
Watering: Have you discovered that even
drought-resistant plants look more chipper and colorful with
occasional summer water? They seem to struggle through without, but
I find that the salvias, rosemary, lavenders, cistus, and
penstemons are a lot perkier if I give them a sprinkle. It’s a good
time to deep and thoroughly water all your trees and shrubs. Don’t
water native oaks, however, or ceanothus, fremontodendrons, toyons,
Matilija poppies, manzanitas, and other truly drought-tolerant
natives.
Algae: If your pond seems to be growing more
algae than you like, perhaps it is just out of balance. Algae is a
part of all pond environments and grows in the warm sunlight. It
feeds on nutrients in the water, and as it rots it consumes oxygen,
further putting the pond out of balance.
What is needed are more plants, more shade. Plants in the water
consume nutrients that the algae would use. Water buttercups, water
lilies, water clover, and other water plants will spread across the
surface of the water, shading it, keeping it cooler and
discouraging the algae. If a pond is out of balance, wildlife such
as snails and water insects can’t make a living. These little
critters are part of the cleaning crew, as are the tadpoles. I
don’t include fish here, even mosquito fish, as they eat mosquito
larvae for sure, but they also eat the dragonfly eggs and nymphs
and the frogs’ eggs and probably any living little part of the
insect world that thrives in a balanced pond. I use mosquito dunks
to kill off mosquitoes. These dunks are inexpensive, found in most
hardware or garden shops, and target ONLY the mosquitoes.
Stringy algae will still grow in a balanced pond. It is not bad
unless it really starts to take over. I pull out the strings and
clumps every week, sometimes more in the summer. My pond is filled
with wildlife, flowers blooming, birds bathing, dragonflies laying
eggs and catching bugs, and croaking Pacific tree frogs. It’s a
real kaleidoscope of the natural world.
Will ivy kill trees? Yes, it will and does.
Evidence abounds all around me…dead Douglas firs and redwoods,
smothered in ivy. The only way I know what type of tree I’m looking
at is by looking at the very top, where a few branches wave for
help from the sky. Ivy turns arboreal after its juvenile phase of
being a vine. As it matures, it becomes an upright “tree” and puts
out seeds, which are as invasive as the vines themselves.
As far as I have been able to discover, the ivy kills in several
ways. It squeezes tight around the nutrient/moisture-conducting
cambium of the tree. It climbs by little rootlets, which steal
nutrients/moisture from the tree. And it simply covers and smothers
and shades the leaves and branches on which it’s climbing. So if
you have an infestation, cut the vines at the bottom of the tree
and let them die. The infected tree will soon be clothed in an
unattractive mess of brown leaves. Pull and pry the vines off as
high as you can reach. Let the rest go. It will ultimately break
down and the leaves will fall off.
The greatest plant sale EVER! Well, it’s a good one. It’s at
Occidental Arts & Ecology Center (oa**@oa**.org) on August 21
and 22 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Don’t miss it! You can purchase their
starts of lettuces, greens, chards, leeks, herbs, flowers, and
more. No CNPS meeting this month, but get ready for September.
Please write me at: jo*******@co*****.net.