We know that everything must die. But does it have to die after 2 weeks and hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars? That is not a circle of life, that’s a life of pain. If you’re looking out your window at the bleak landscape called your yard, before you cast yourself in the role of Mr. Green Jeans, know these things…
Thing No. 1 Go toward the light.
The first thing you have to
do is evaluate your light. Do you have it? When? Where? And how
strong? The two biggest killers in the world of lawns and gardens
are water and light. Overabundance and lack thereof are equally
deadly.
Thing No. 2 Try to get an idea of the look you’re going for.
This is kind of like haircuts. You may not be able to pull
off the exact look you’re going for (due to light constraints that you
have identified in Thing No. 1) but you’ll at least have some
parameters to work within like “wild and rustic,” “minimal and Zen,”
“old-English and manicured.” Etc. Some pics from Martha marthastewartliving.com or sunsetmagazine.com or the gazillion
gardening mags and books aren’t a bad place to start. Try to put
a rough color palette together. Maybe you want only green and
white, or purples and pinks or an extravaganza of color
explosion. There are a myriad of books available on this subject
at all the usual places amazon.com or powells.com and at home
& garden stores. If you want to go all out, you can even be
your own little landscape architect and sketch something out. If you’re
not comfortable with a pencil maybe a software program is more up your
alley landscapeyourvisions.com.
Thing No. 3 Consider getting professional help.
An hour
long consultation for $50-$100 with a real landscape architect might be
worth it’s weight in fertilizer; The-landscape-design-site.com/professional/
Thing No. 4 Shop off-hours.
A sunny spring Saturday morning is
not a good time to go to the nursery. You’re going to need special
attention and lots of it and you aren’t going to get it when the place
is mobbed. Friday afternoons are best. You’ll have your
pick of the new shipment of plants and everybody else will still be at
the office trying to pretend they’re not buzzed from their long Friday
birthday lunch for so and so. Use the down time to hook yourself
up with some friendly, knowledgeable person (assuming you can find such
a creature.)
Thing No. 5 Get started early in the season.
Early spring and early fall are both good times to plant.
Thing No. 6 Read the label.
Yes, it’s pretty but if you
don’t read the label that tells you what it needs it will soon be dead
and not so pretty.
Thing No. 7 Save the receipt.
Most plants have a
one-year guarantee so tuck the receipt away in the cute little garden
journal that you’ve started. LOL.
Thing No. 8 Phase it out.
Divide the project into phases, and
pay as you go. This will not only save you from feeling
like a big Venus Flytrap gobbled your bank account but, it will also
allow you to evaluate and adjust along the way. Trees,
shrubs, perennials, soil, and mulch as well as lawnmowers, weed wackers
et al, are all cheaper at the end of the season.
Thing No. 9 Buy commodity items at home improvement warehouses.
These guys usually have the best prices but not the best
selection or quality. They’re usually fine for basic groundcover
or your run-of-the-mill annuals or perennials, mulch, pavers,
containers, timers and tools but not for the more temperamental or
specialty items that will come with a guarantee from a specialty
store. When you do buy plants there, look at them closely – they
don’t always take the best care of them.
Thing No. 10 Think outside the big box store.
If you
really get into this and now you even know of some special plant that
you want, look for lower prices online and in catalogs like rareexotics.com or worldplants.com. Even local botanical centers
have sales sometimes. But remember, you’re going to have a much better
shot of keeping it alive if it grows naturally in your area.
Thing No. 11 Buy In bulk.
Fifty pounds of fertilizer costs
only a little more than a 5-pound bag. Crazy, but true.
Thing No. 12 Make your own insecticide.
Water mixed with a
little liquid dishwashing soap kills many insects and will cost you
almost nothing.
Thing No. 13 Don’t sweat the drip.
An automatic drip
irrigation system means you will never forget to water, never have to
ask anyone to water in your absence and never be asked to water in
anyone else’s absence in return. You can cover about 250 square feet
with drip irrigation for $20 to $50 plus a timer which can run you
anywhere from $20-$80. Even at the low end of timers, you’ll be
able to change the watering schedule to suit the season, do a manual
water or turn the whole damn thing off when it’s raining cats and
dogs. Everybody’s got ‘em but you can also check prices at
www.dripworksusa.com and www.harmonyfarm.com. Along these same
lines of responsibility shirking, you may want a local gardener to
provide a bi-monthly “Blow, Mow and Go.” Ask the one who does
your neighbor’s yard, look for business cards on community bulletin
boards or try good old craigslist.com.
Extra tip: Groovy Green Jeans (hemp, sugarcane and green cotton) can be found at treehugger.com/green_jeans