Getting Down and Dirty


Heading Back into the Garden


Iris Watson
Photo Courtesy of Proven Winners

OK, so let’s get down and dirty—literally!
      After all, it has been months since we have really played in the dirt. With the short days of fall and winter, the wet and cold weather plus the hustle and bustle of the holidays, getting down and dirty in our gardens is but a faded memory—much like our summer tans.
    But Mother Nature has a way of seducing us back out into the garden: You wake up one morning and you would rather be cold out of doors than warm indoors. The buildup of last fall’s leaves seems more urgent than the dust bunnies under the buffet, and the warm sun on your shoulders is mesmerizing. Suddenly, there is no other place you would rather be than on your hands and knees dispelling winter’s chaos in both your mind and the garden.
    In Alameda, the weather in March and April can be unsettled, to say the least. We have had heat waves before St. Patrick’s Day, and hail and even snow after Easter, so taking gardening one day at a time will give you the best rewards and keep you sane. While the weather can be unpredictable, the sequence of spring gardening is pretty consistent—start from the bottom up.
    Healthy, biologically active soil makes the wheel go round—without healthy soil, even the healthiest plant will soon be compost. Many of us confuse the purpose of fertilizers and soil amendments. Fertilizers feed your plants by providing nutrients, and amendments improve your soil’s ability to keep nutrients and water available to plants. They also make soil easier to work and help loosen compacted soil. There are many soil amendments, but my favorites are Soil Booster (which is a combination of chicken manure, fir bark, composted mushroom soil, earthworm castings, volcanic pumice, bat guano, kelp meal and feather meal); straight earthworm castings (which are often referred to as gardener’s gold); and chicken manure (which has the highest level of plant nutrients of any soil amendment but should be used with caution, as it can burn with its nitrogen content). There are others, but these are my proven winners. If you compost your own garden waste (good for you), then by all means, mix with some of the above amendments for a chef’s salad for your garden. You may have noticed that I do not suggest peat moss. While this product has been a staple in years past, there is huge concern over the ecological damage that may result from the depletion of this natural resource. We suggest using Coir, which is a byproduct of the coconut industry and does the same thing as peat, only better, and is a renewable resource.
    When next you stop by the nursery, we have a summary of various amendments posted on our wall that will break down the fertilizers and amendments available and how to use them.
    How much to use is always a concern, but an excellent rule of thumb is to spread 3 to 4 inches of amendment on top of the soil and work it into the top 8 to 10 inches of native soil. If roots are dense, don’t dig it in as deep; leave some on top, and Nature will have her way with it. Do this at least once per year (twice—spring and fall—is even better) and you improve the structure as well as the quality of your soil. Your plants will reflect your consideration.
    Did you know that gardening is the No. 1 form of outdoor recreation? Think about that for a minute. Let yourself enjoy each phase—the sweat, the sunburn, the aching back, the satisfaction of progress, and best of all, the visit to the nursery. This should be a pleasurable experience at the least and a joy at its best. A good nursery touches all of your five senses: smell the roses, stroke the lamb’s ears, taste the organic herbs, hear the pearls of wisdom and see the overwhelming beauty of spring. Give yourself time to enjoy the process, and you will enjoy the final result even more.
    There is so much to choose from this year that I simply don’t know where to start.  Technology has let some of the best hybridizers, such as Proven Winners, develop new and improved annuals, perennials and herbaceous plants. If vegetable gardening is your thing, there are lots of interesting veggies and herbs and a huge expanded selection of tomatoes, both new and heirloom—and organic, too. Annuals seem to be on everyone’s list, and there are literally dozens of new introductions of pansies, violas, primroses, lobelias and many more I won’t know about until I see them on the tables. But it is with the perennials that you will really have fun—a veritable blizzard of new introductions for every purpose—nemesias, phlox, ipomea, ageranthemum, petunias and more.
    This year Easter comes at the end of March, when weather can be the most unpredictable. If you want to freshen up your home, your safest and most colorful choice are the English primroses. Their colors are bright and cheerful and work well anywhere—containers, hanging baskets, in the border; they can handle weather extremes.
    But whatever your needs and desires are for your garden, when you go to a nursery, explore, ask questions, observe, touch and savor Nature in her finest hour. Let your spirits rise along with all of those new shoots—enjoy each moment, each effort, and you might just find your world a better place.      

IRIS WATSON


The author and her husband, John, own Thomsen’s Garden Center & Vines, 1113 Lincoln Ave. She’s on “Playing in the Dirt” 6:30 p.m. Tuesdays on Comcast Channel 28.