A Hope Garden

The recent addition of a kitchen garden at the White House has brought the nation's attention to an old idea: self-sufficiency that is centered in the garden.  We have all heard the nostalgic news pieces recalling Eleanor Roosevelt's "Victory Garden" during wartime, and suddenly this new garden seems at once quaint, and with the label of organic, also modern.

What then, can we learn from this move toward growing one's own food? I was among the many thousands of petition-signing, letter-writing supporters of a White House garden that teared up at the sight of our First Lady uneasily wielding a shovel.  An admitted new gardener, she gamely took up her tools and got to work with an army of young children to transform a lawn into garden.  Many scorned her for "giving in" to special-interests, and she has now officially received a letter of rebuke from the nation's agricultural-chemical lobby for choosing to garden organically.

But what I and many others see in her simple action is the statement to our nation that food is important, where and how it's grown is important, and what our kids learn about that process from food to table cannot be explained by any adult.  It must be learned with hands in the soil, placing those seeds and watching them grow.  No amount of nutritional education will supply the life-long lesson they will gain from nurturing the plant to harvest, and turning that into dinner. 

From her example, many people of many backgrounds will be reminded that we take action in small ways on a daily basis, by selecting the food that fills our plate and feeds our kids.  If we choose to grow it, or buy it directly from our neighbors who farm, it is a small but insistent political voice saying we care where our food comes from.  

This week I planted my seed potatoes that will feed us in winter, and in the digging I thought about our First Lady.  These simple tubers are a potent symbol of sustenance and when they failed, famine.  May her example lead so many as during the campaign, to a revival of the hope found in a simple seed, and may many kitchen gardens follow.

April Flowers

The obvious choice for spring color just about anywhere is bulbs... tulips, daffodils, hyacinth, crocuses.  We all scurry about in the fall with bags full of promise and dig these in hoping for a brilliant show in spring.  But what about spring-blooming shrubs on the coast?

The earliest signs of color to emerge on the coast include many native plants.  Without the benefit of hybridization and selection, their flowers tend toward the more subtle than the standard nursery shrubs.  These delicate blooms deserve your attention and space in the garden as they have learned to live with the demands of our seaside climate.

First among the shrubs is generally the Indian Plum, Oemleria cerasiformis.  Hidden in the shrubby understory of our native forests, almost invisible in winter, these tall multi-stemmed natives suddenly light up the roadsides in early spring with their upright lime-colored new leaves, quickly followed by delicate pendant clusters of soft white blooms.  Another star of early spring is the Red-Flowering Currant, Ribes sanguineum.  A tall and easily-pruned shrub, the currant displays a range of raspberry-red to pink or white pendant clusters amid bright green crinkly leaves.  Selected varieties such as 'Elk River Red' and 'White Icicle' can be dazzling, where they are allowed to develop a natural habit and placed against a contrasting backdrop.

Dependable non-natives for the coast offer a range of selection from groundcovers to medium and taller shrubs and several blooming trees.  Ubiquitous for a reason, spring-blooming heath (often called heather) is widely adaptable to most coastal conditions and requires little other than acid soil and good drainage.  These belong to the genus Erica, blooming in shades of pink, purple and white, with many exhibiting brilliant foliage colors including gold and red.  Pair these with true heathers of the genus Calluna, and summer-blooming heaths for a 3-season display of color.

Other blooming groundcovers for the coast include Genista lydia, or Woadwaxen/Broom. Reminiscent of the invasive Scotch Broom, this well-behaved and non-invasive groundcover offers a dense habit of silvery-gray leaves that can take saltspray and wind --then a brief golden bloom.  Ceanothus is available in a groundcover form, known commonly as Carmel Creeper or Point Reyes Ceanothus, lending a hint as to origin.  This evergreen bears dark, shiny leaves and a stunning late-spring/early-summer show of periwinkle blue flowers with a honey-sweet fragrance.  Each plant lures bees like a siren's song.

Certainly the coast is the ideal climate for rhododendrons, provided they have a little shelter from the direct ocean wind.  All colors, leaf forms and sizes, along with a vast number of azaleas are on display throughout the central coast-- locally they are featured at the Connie Hansen Garden in Lincoln City.  Several nurseries on the coast offer a wide selection, and now is the time to choose the exact color for your landscape. 

Camellias also thrive in our area, including one oceanfront home we care for that features them in a sheltered courtyard on the lee side of the house. They appreciate some shade from the afternoon sun and annual doses of acid fertilizer. This month you might also notice the brilliant new growth of Pieris japonica, along with the urn-shaped flowers borne in clusters.   Like camellias, they are a good choice for shady areas of the landscape and provide a nice tall framework shrub for backdrop.

At the Root of Things

When the weather suddenly changes from winter to summer as it has this week on the coast, it can be tempting to run directly to the garden center, do not pass go, and get those beautiful new plants into your garden.  Resist.  The success of your landscape plants and vegetable garden is directly tied to the effort you put into their very foundation, the soil.

For coastal residents who move from inland locations like the Willamette Valley or east of the Cascades, our soil on the coast can be a mystery.  One major factor here is rainfall.  In areas of high annual rainfall, like the Oregon coast, the pH tends toward the acid (low reading) side of the spectrum.  Acid soils like ours produce happy rhododendrons and other acid-loving plants, but don't necessarily make for lush green lawns.  If you are from the mountain states, you may be used to very alkaline soil (high pH) which is typical of arid regions.  You may never have to touch a bag of lime back home.  In our area however, depending on what you want to grow, it will be required for the health of your plantings.  Certainly a soil test will give you more concrete answers, but when in doubt you can guess that your soil on the Oregon coast will be acidic to neutral rather than alkaline, and yearly additions of lime will be helpful.

Soil texture and structure can vary hugely depending on where your house is located and in what coastal area. This is a dynamic place, shaped by both the ocean and our northwest volcanoes, with centuries of forest cover to boot.  You might be on the oceanfront with almost pure sand, closer to the basalt cliffs with very little topsoil layer over the rock, or lucky enough to have your home in an area that grew stately spruces and hemlocks for many years before housing replaced them.  If the builder didn't remove it all, areas like these can have deep, rich organic topsoil that holds moisture well and supports a wide range of plantings.  Do some investigation before you put a lot of money into new landscaping, and if necessary consult the local extension office or local nursery for advice and analysis of your soil type.

Aside from lime, the most frequently applied amendment for coastal soils is likely "compost."  This refers to organic materials that have gone through a decomposition process until the components turn into a dark, crumbly material similar in color and texture to loamy soil.  It should smell mild, not ammonia-like, and have a fairly consistent fine texture.  Small pieces of woody material is ok, but avoid compost with large woody chips as it might impede the plants' uptake of nitrogen.  This is not important if you are amending soil for woody plants, they will do just fine with chunky compost, but if you are planting a lawn, veggies or annual flowers, it's best to stick with a finer material.  Compost works wonders: it improves texture, helps retain moisture in sandy soil and improve drainage in heavy soil, creates more pore-spaces for air and water around roots, and provides some protection against temperature extremes when applied as a mulch.  If you spread and work in the compost a week or so early, your soil will be ready at planting time.

When growing plants with high nutritional needs like vegetables, fruits or showy annuals, it's a wise course to first amend those beds with a product like bagged steer or chicken manure.  In addition to improving the soil texture with added organic matter, the composted animal manures will provide some nitrogen and other essential minerals to the plants throughout the season.  It should not be solely relied upon for fertilization with heavy-feeding plants, but will give a good "baseline" of food to get things growing quickly and reduce fertilizer needs.  It's important to select composted manure, hopefully screened to a fine texture, as fresh manures can potentially burn the plants or rob nutrients while this material is trying to break down.

Lastly, remember that mulches after planting can help your soils to retain valuable moisture during the dry season and protect the soil from the pounding rains of winter.  Mulches of hemlock or Douglas-fir bark are common on the central coast, and will improve not only the appearance of your landscape beds but the performance of what lies beneath.  Plan on applying 2" of mulch at least every other year, preferably in spring after winter storms have passed.