Garden Revolution: How Our Landscapes Can Be a Source of Environmental Change by Larry Weaner & Thomas Christopher

Author:Larry Weaner & Thomas Christopher [Weaner, Larry]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Timber Press
Published: 2016-05-17T16:00:00+00:00

After directing the turf mower operator to leave an 18-inch strip unmowed at the base of the wall, I examined the area for volunteer native plants. When a particularly desirable plant appeared, like this elderberry, I marked its location with flags. I then directed the mower operator to resume cutting up to the wall, skipping over wherever I had flagged, and the volunteer elderberry was released.

The first really large-scale project I undertook was a 30-acre meadow with approximately 2 acres of garden. We planted the whole area in one autumn and the following spring. For the next two years, the maintenance was over the top: the client had to hire crews to weed out Canada thistle and other invaders in the garden, and he was not pleased. By the third year, however, the plantings were knitting together, there were fewer opportunities for weeds to insert themselves, and the maintenance dropped off dramatically. In ensuing years, the garden became so self-sufficient that one person’s labor two days each week was all that was needed to adequately care for the 2 acres of garden plantings. This was a happy ending, but the path by which it was reached would have been smoother if I had better informed the client ahead of time. He might well have decided to install the garden in phases over a period of years, so that earlier plantings would have settled in by the time that later ones were demanding that peak of initial care.

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