THE GARDEN(S) THAT ATE ME

We all have moments when we feel like the darker parts of our subconscious seep out to infiltrate our reality, even if just for a moment. It might happen a bit more often than I'd like, but I normally just brush it off and blame it on my over-active imagination and some combination of stress, exhaustion, and coincidence... but this past weekend was a bit exceptional.

I've been pretty desperate the past few weekends (and by "few" I mean since April) trying to get everything prepped and planted before the ground freezes... So I found myself the night after thanksgiving hacking away at the remains of a gravel road with an uncomfortably large number of winter moths fluttering past my head lamp, moving in and out of the cold fog that kept me from seeing much past the end of my pickaxe. Add this to the occasional muffled sound of howling coyotes, faint church bells, and the distant whirring of a passing train and I think any sane person would begin to question if they had wandered into a dream, or at the very least lost their grip on reality...

Getting to my point (I do have them occasionally) this odd out of body experience made me reflect on (not only my own sanity) but if the thing I was doing was really necessary at all. Given that nearly every bit of my free time has been consumed by my pursuit to "finish" the gardens I've started nearly 5 years ago I've been doing my best to try to be more efficient, or at the very least making sure the gardens don't consume me entirely. So while taking a pickaxe to the edge of a road may not have fallen under the category of completely necessary, with the complete lack of soil in certain areas and extreme compaction in others, I don't feel I was (completely) crazy for tearing it all up. BUT the reality is there are more than a handful of plants that are well equipped to deal with barely there heavily compacted "soils" that are a byproduct of current construction practices (a byproduct that at some point nearly every gardener has had to deal with). So if you would rather not rip up a road or that horrible corner of your yard where nothing will grow, consider these amazingly resilient plants that seem to bask in the compacted, clay-ey, gravel-ey poor excuse for soil that is an unfortunate and often overlooked cost of modern living.



Juncus tenuis - Poverty Rush or Path Rush
Zones 3-9
Find any old road in the northeast and this little guy is probably close by. An awkward little fella, but cute and mostly evergreen. Always a few darker shades green than the plants around it. I'm going to attempt to use it as a ground cover on the remainder of the old road I was hacking to pieces. Hopefully it works out.
Purchase from: (RETAIL) - Agrecol, Everwilde Farms, Ion Exchange, Niche Gardens, Morning Sky Greenery, Toadshade Wildflower Farm, Prairie Moon (WHOLESALE) - Northcreek Nursery, Midwest Groundcovers, New Moon Nursery



Ruellia humilis - Wild Petunia
Zones 4-8
By all accounts tough as nails and indifferent to soil. Planted a few during our drought this summer. Barely watered it. Didn't skip a beat. So far hasn't been browsed.
Purchase from: (RETAIL) - American Meadows, Agrecol, Butterfly Gardens to Go, Everwilde Farms, Heritage Flower Farm, High Country Gardens, Ion Exchange, J.L. Hudson, Seedman's, Lazy S'S Farm Nursery, Morning Sky Greenery, Prairie Nursery, Rare Find Nursery, Sunshine Farms and Gardens, Toadshade Wildflower Farm, Wildflower Farm (WHOLESALE) - Midwest Groundcovers, Northcreek Nurseries, New Moon Nurseries, Van Berkum Nursery



Symphyotrichum cordifolium - Blue Wood Aster
Zones 3-8
Other than being deer candy I have no complaints about this one. Its powder blue flowers are best appreciated in mass (and a great re-seeder so if you leave it to its own devices you'll have plenty in time). All sources list it as browse resistant, the local deer population says otherwise. Closely related a similarly adaptable species include S. drummondii S. ciliolatum, S. shortii, S. sagittifolium, and S. oolentangiense.
Purchase from: (RETAIL) - Amanda's Native Plants, Prairie Nursery, Prairie Moon Nursery (WHOLESALE) - Northcreek Nursery, New Moon Nursery, Van Berkum Nursery



Symphyotrichum novae-angliae - New England Aster
Zones 3-8
Always a bit obsessed with any species that seem to have a ridiculous (and seemingly pointless) level of diversity. All the populations I've come across have purples, light pinks, magentas, and everything in between. Its height is dependent on soil fertility. Gets a bit over rambunctious and floppy in overly rich ones.
Purchase from: (RETAIL) - Agrecol, Amanda's Garden, American Meadows, Everwilde Farms, Grimm's Gardens, High Country Gardens, Ion Exchange, Morning Sky Greenery, Prairie Nursery, Prairie Moon Nursery, Toadshade Wildflower Farm (WHOLESALE) - Midwest Groundcovers, New Moon Nursery, North Creek Nursery



Symphyotrichum pilosum - Frost Aster
Zones 3-8
I know this plant from my bike rides to work, growing happily in what looks like concrete alongside the railroad tracks. This plant will look like crap if you give it good soil, crappy soils of low fertility produce the best plants. Mainly white, but have come across light pink variants as well.
Purchase from: (RETAIL) - Agrecol, Ion Exchange, Prairie Moon Nursery, Plant Delights Nursery, Prairie Nursery, Toadshade Wildflower Farm (WHOLESALE) - New Moon Nursery



Scutellaria incana - Hoary or Downy Skullcap
Zones 4 (although I've seen a few 3 and 5)-9 (a few 8s too)
I'm a sucker for blue, and if it wasn't for the deer I would have given this guy a try. I've seen what they've done to deer resistant plants, can only imagine what they'd do to a plant without the resistance. Supposedly a fan of clays so extra bummer for me.
Purchase from: (RETAIL) - Easy Wildflowers, Everwilde Farms, Gardens in the Wood of Grassy Creek, Lazy S'S
Farm Nursery, Niche Gardens, Odyssey Perennials, Prairie Moon Nursery (WHOLESALE) - Forrest Keeling, Northcreek Nursery, New Moon Nursery


IMAGE SOURCES: J. tenuis (LEFT, RIGHT); R. humilis; S. incana (LEFT, RIGHT)

AMERICA!, THE LAND OF THE FREE..... AND F***ING LAZY!!!

BREAKING NEWS!!!!
Scientist have conclusively determined that unnecessarily and ridiculously huge lawn mowers destroy both your youth and diginity. This young man bought his massively clunky mower just last week.



Now look at him.



Unfortunately, the only cure for D.U.M.B.A.S.S. (Douchebags Unnecessarily Mowing With Artillary Sized Setups) sydrome is common sense and maybe a little bit of reading, which for most of these poor unfortunate individuals does not make for a very good prognosis. In most instances they sadly and inevitably end up looking something like an albino version of Jaba the Hut (see below):




.....Ok ok, so I might have an oddly strong dislike of ride-on mowers, but in reality it's not the mowers themselves but what they represent.... no, actually, on second thought I hate the mowers too. Anyway, for most people when you say "pollution" the first image that comes to mind is something like this:



But the reality is more something like this:



The main source of my disdain when it comes to these types of mowers is they simply don't make sense on any level. Lawn grasses (and almost every cultivated plant out there) like freely draining soils with lots of pore space. As you can imagine, repeatedly driving a machine over soil that weighs as much as a rhino, plus the added weight of a (usually more than slightly over-sized) person is not good. It's similar to what happens when you push down hard on a sponge with the palm of your hand, except, unlike a sponge, soil does not spring back after its squished. Once the poor space is gone, its gone. Compacted soils have a greatly reduced capacity to hold and retain water as well as the ability to support the microbial communities necessary for healthy plant growth, resulting in weaker, less vigorous plants that are more susceptible to drought and disease.

And then of course, to compensate for the damage done by compacted soils people apply a vast array of chemicals that (surpise, suprise!) end up running off and contaminating our waterways. And even if no chemicals are applied, excess runoff caused by overly compacted soil is still very damaging to natural systems.

And I won't even get started on all the other types of pollution and damage caused by these pointless behemoths. I'll just let this article speak for me (yes I know its from 2010, but its still very much relevant). While I realize that they generalize for all gas powered mowers, I think we can safely assume that ride-ons would be worse, not better than their push counterparts. And just in case you don't read it, here are the highlights:

For mowers sold pre-2012 (and I'm going to assume here that this would be the best one could hope for, if you have an older mower, assume that its worse than this):
"...in an hour a push mower will produce the same HC+NOx as a car driven 257 miles, and the same CO as one driven 401 miles. To put it another way, assuming a car averages 40 miles per hour, a push mower produces more HC+NOx than six cars and the same CO as ten."

For mowers sold during and after 2012:
"....a push mower may produce as much HC+NOx as a car driven 160 miles — in other words, one lawn mower would equal four cars."

And just to bring it home here's another fun fact: In 2007 the EPA estimated that lawn mowers contribute 5 percent (5 freaken percent!!!!) to our country's greenhouse gas emissions.

The truth is I prefer we get rid of lawns wherever possible, but I know that's not gonna happen anytime soon. So here are a few tips to for a healthier lawn, healthier environment, and healthier you.

1. You should be able to easily move the mower without the engine running. The lighter the better, so if the mower weighs more than you do, find another mower.

2. Ask about emission standards. If the person selling you the mower doesn't know, or doesn't directly answer the question, find another mower.

3. Push reel?, Electric?, Robotic?,..... The mower that's right for your neighbor may not be right for you. Here's an article that helps weigh the pros and cons. I'm going to try out one of the robotic mowers myself this summer.

It may look like it might kill you in your sleep, but at least it has zero emissions!


4. Always keep your mower properly maintained and take extra precautions when refilling if it runs on gasoline. Accidents are bound to happen, so always spread out a thick rag or other absorbent material below to catch any spillage that might occur. Store these rags properly.

5. If your soil profile is lacking (less than 6" deep) or its extremely clayey, or very acidic, just accept the fact that you will never have the type of lawn you see on a golf course (and no ones lawn should really look like that anyway).

6. I can't really get into depth about this without writing a whole other post, but (in addition to soil) the foundation of a lush, green lawn begins with properly selected grasses for your specific location and climate. There are always newer, better grass varieties that have been breed for increased drought tolerance as well as dwarf characteristics (which means less mowing for you). High Country Gardens always seems to have a good offering of the newest and the best, but if you have no idea where to begin just start googling (try "turfgrass selection" + your state). Also If your lawn is ten years or older, you may want to consider interplanting or replacing it with newer varieties.

7. Weeds are a part of life. Accept them and get over it.

I could go on, but I'm sure most of you have already stopped reading (and I don't really feel like writing anymore). Just rememeber, a little less of this:



and a lot more this!
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