Go native in your yard
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NATURAL PERSPECTIVES
Fall planting time has arrived. Avid gardeners know that cool
weather and rain make autumn a perfect time for rejuvenation of the
landscape.
In our yard, we emphasize habitat for wildlife. We have no grassy
lawn, so we never need to mow. Instead, we have plenty of ground
cover, flowers, shrubs, hedges and trees that provide food and
shelter for wildlife. Our stream and pond lure migrant birds, as well
as lizards, possums, raccoons, skunks and the occasional gray fox.
Some of our plants are there especially for hummingbirds and
butterflies. We’ve created a mini-refuge in our yard and the wildlife
seems to know it.
Each year, we add more California native plants, sometimes
removing nonnative ornamentals to do so. We haven’t gone as far as
Stephanie Pacheco, who ripped out her entire yard and planted nearly
all California natives with some fruit trees and vegetables scattered
among them, but we’re getting there.
We visited Pacheco’s yard on the California Native Plant Society’s
garden tour last spring. What an inspiration that was. We saw a
jungle of California natives, all in riotous bloom. We were inspired
to add more natives to our yard, especially around our pond.
We began following the gardening techniques of Guy Stivers and the
Bolsa Chica Stewards. Rather than ripping out everything and starting
with bare earth, the Stewards plant California native plants in the
midst of whatever else is growing. Month by month, year by year, they
have replaced the nonnative weeds on the Bolsa Chica mesa with
beautiful native plants. They have slowly transformed the mesa to a
place of greater beauty and functionality. We’re beginning to do that
in our yard by planting coral bells, yarrow, penstemon and a variety
of coastal sages along the artificial stream that leads to our pond.
In addition to native plants, we grow many plants in our yard that
can be used for food or seasoning. The back is landscaped with a mix
of rosemary bushes, coastal sages, and a variety of drought-tolerant
flowers, with a ground cover of parsley, oregano and thyme between
the shrubs. A huge beavertail cactus provides us with edible prickly
pears. A perennial border of oregano, chives, marjoram, thyme and
edible sage lines the front walkway, with flowers interspersed among
the herbs.
Our tree guy, Steve Fafita, is here today, trimming our magnolia
and the huge cypress trees in the backyard. The man is amazing with
trees. He shapes them to a natural form, enhancing their beauty and
keeping them in line with the size of our yard. Today he’s making our
yard a bit sunnier for the dwarf orange, lemon, lime, apple and
avocado trees that grow in back, as well as for the vegetable garden
that grows on the north side of the house in summer. He’ll also be
trimming the peach trees to increase the size of next year’s crop.
Slowly but surely, our inedible, nonnative ornamentals are being
replaced with either edible or native plants. Luckily, native plant
gardens are low on maintenance, a feature Vic particularly enjoys
because he doesn’t like to see me working too hard in the yard.
There are other benefits to growing native plants. It saves water,
reduces the need for pesticides and promotes biodiversity. Native
plants provide natural habitats for the birds, animals and insects
that live in this area. And if you select plants wisely, they’re
beautiful as well. That’s why we’re switching to native plants in our
yard.
One of the most difficult things about native gardening is finding
the plants. A nursery on Main Street in Seal Beach carries some
natives, and Armstrong nurseries carry a few, but usually we travel
to San Juan Capistrano to Tree of Life Nursery on the Ortega Highway
just before Caspers Park.
Knowing what plants to use and how much sun and water they require
is another challenge for gardeners. Tree of Life Nursery publishes a
wonderful native plant guide called “Plants of El Camino Real.” But
Tree of Life Nursery is open to the public only one day a week, on
Thursdays. That makes buying natives more difficult.
Fortunately, there soon will be a sale of California native plants
right here in town. The Friends of Shipley Nature Center will hold a
native plant sale at the Shipley Nature Center in Huntington Beach
Central Park from 9 am. to noon on Saturday, Nov. 23. That event is
the Friends’ first big restoration day at the nature center. What
plants they don’t sell will be planted at the center on a later
restoration day. You can park at the library near Goldenwest Street
and Talbert Avenue and cross at the stoplight.
Mark the date on your calendar. Buy some plants from the Friends.
Go native.
* VIC LEIPZIG and LOU MURRAY are Huntington Beach residents and
environmentalists. They can be reached at [email protected].
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