Saturday, April 16, 2011

The Venerable Vine Maple

Vine maple fall color at Tilden Botanic Garden in Berkeley CA,
photo courtesy of drystonegarden.com
Fairly often I am asked by coastal garden clients whether they can plant a maple tree.

Usually what they mean is a Japanese maple (Acer palmatum), like a Coral Bark Maple or a Laceleaf Maple.  Sometimes they are interested in an upright, larger species like the taller Japanese varieties, or even a Red Maple (Acer rubrum).  Most folks don't have room in the yard to even consider our Northwest native Bigleaf Maple (Acer macrophyllum).

More often than not, after determining their specific goal-- color? shade? accent tree?-- my answer is to suggest the coastal native Vine Maple, Acer circinatum.

Other maples will grow here, given sufficient moisture, good drainage and shelter from wind.  And I do mean shelter from wind.  A coastal gardener might plant a perfectly good Willamette-Valley-grown nursery tree, like an upright Japanese maple, only to see it defoliate on one side, lean away from prevailing winds, leaf tips turning brown and crispy in mid-summer and finally an early drop of sad brown leaves without any fall glory.

One of the primary features sought after when choosing a maple tree is that amazing display of fall color.  Depending on the species, it may range from a solid golden showing to a blazing range of sunset hues.  So it's pretty disappointing when your maple goes from summer green to dead brown all in one shot.  Partly this is due to the climate, since great fall color is a combination of sunny weather and cold night temps.

This is where Vine Maples really shine.  Since they are adapted to our mild climate, it takes little of the cold fall air to bring on the color.  Even within the city limits of Lincoln City, several blocks from the ocean, the Vine Maple is capable of a display including reds and yellows, and lasting several weeks.

Entering winter we enjoy another fine feature of this tree, the lovely mottled grey-and-white smooth bark.  (Young trees have greener bark that improves with age).  The bark is best displayed by using an upright pruning style, with the usually multi-trunked Vine Maple cleared of lower branches and excess root suckers.  Allow the upper canopy to spread with just occasional thinning as needed for light and wind passage.



Uses for this small tree include placement in tight or shady areas close to a structure or walkway.  Because the canopy is fairly narrow, it can be easily pruned to arch gracefully over a path or the eaves of your house, without causing damage.  Since the leaves are small (similar in size to Japanese maples) they make for easy cleanup in the fall and are not likely to cause clogged gutters like those of Bigleaf Maple.  Underplanting a Vine Maple with spring bulbs or low-growing native plants including perennials is quite charming, and provides an opportunity to explore a shade-loving palette.  Vine Maples are especially pleasing if they can be placed where afternoon sun can backlight the glowing leaves, and they are right at home beside a stream or "dry creekbed" landscape feature.

Vine maple is easily pruned in tight location

Caring for a Vine Maple is simple on the central coast.  They should be given some shelter from direct ocean winds, but can be used on the lee side of many homes near the oceanfront.  Like most natives, they don't require fertilization if they are planted in average coastal topsoil, which tends to be high in organic matter and fairly acidic; if your soil is poor, dig a large hole and add compost to mix with the surrounding soil.

Provide your Vine Maple with a little supplemental water (once a week is plenty) in the dry months of late summer, especially when it's getting established the first couple years.  Prune as desired for shape, but please don't top this tree-- it will spoil the structure.  Sit back and enjoy your fine native tree.

Resources for Vine Maples:  On the central coast, Blake's Coastal Nursery and Landscape in Gleneden Beach (Loop Rd., exit just south of Salishan, continue into Gleneden and Blake's is on the left hand side).

In the Willamette Valley, my favorite for natives is Wallace Hansen's nursery in Salem, which is unfortunately closed at this time but the website offers loads of information on native plants, for free.  Take a look.  Most nurseries in the Valley that carry trees of any kind will offer Acer circinatum.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Leaks and Opportunities

Yesterday we had a welcome preview of summer weather: sunny and mildly warm, with light wind. Coastal summers are typically dry from mid-June to mid-October, just the opposite of our sodden winters.

This year, after four years on our property, my plan is to finally design and build at least the start of a gravity-fed, rainwater-collected drip system for my vegetable garden. I have been planning it (in my mind) since we bought the place, and now it's time to get my hands wet.
The house in background, provides opportunity for gravity feed to garden

The contour of our property is ideally suited for this project. Our house sits above the garden, which is literally "sunken" about 6 feet below the grade of our foundation. Closer to the garden grade, but slightly higher and directly adjacent, is the garage and attached lean-to greenhouse. And our chicken coop wraps neatly around a small building used for storage and processing produce in season, we call the "fruit room."

The soil in the most of my front and side-yard landscape retains moisture (in our relatively cool summers) so that a weekly watering is enough. And because these areas are largely planted with shrubs and well mulched, I prefer to hand-water the shrub beds so I can have a look at everything.

Another good reason on the coast for overhead watering, at least occasionally: salt fog. A local nurseryman reminded me of this fact, in late summer we get little rain and regular morning fog which is laden with salt from the ocean. This salty mist deposits a crust on everything (check your windshield in August) including plants.  So occasional overhead watering is a good thing on the coast, to give the plants a rinse.

The needs in my vegetable garden are different; anyone growing food knows the water requirements are generally greater than landscaped shrub beds. In the past couple years I have experimented with scheduling and found watering every third day to be just right. I plant closely in raised beds and add lots of organic matter to the soil, and the "sunken" location of the garden helps to reduce moisture loss. I want to avoid wasting water on pathways, and reduce the constant threat of fungal disease from too much moisture.  So the obvious answer is drip irrigation, and lucky me, I came across a deal on emitter tubing last fall.

Coop wraps around 'fruit room'
My irrigation plan as of this writing:

Chicken coop: supply water to the birds by installing a filtered diverter from the fruit room gutters into their 5-gallon bucket waterer, already installed, which includes "nipples" to reduce water waste and keeps it clean.

Greenhouse: install a 2-barrel collector just outside the door, collecting water from the greenhouse roof. This will allow me to shut off the outside water supply to the greenhouse sink that causes freeze-anxiety in winter, due to the fact the building is not heated. The barrel storage will provide plenty for filling watering cans to maintain plants in the greenhouse and outside cold frame nearby.

House to garden:  install a large water storage for gathering water off the house, and gravity-feed to garden drip system. Garden beds will be arranged with in-line drip emitter tubing, supplied by a poly main line that can be connected to the filtered tank. When water supplies are low, the drip system can be alternately connected to the city water supply from our existing garden hose-bib.

The first task is to repair our outside water line that I had to cut last fall. As usual, we had a spike in water use around late summer/early fall, due to little rainfall and high garden production. We got the usual notice from the city, to point out our higher-than-normal usage. We didn't actually worry until November, when we noticed the previous bill had not declined... but actually increased. Uh-oh.

Searching for the leak was no easy task, and after checking everything in the house and digging up every outside connection (including the water meter), we guessed the leak was underground and cut the line between house and garden.  Wouldn't you know, that wasn't it...grrr.  Finally we located a mystery valve under the house (!) leading to another outside line, shut it off and voila!  The meter stopped turning.

So now that drier weather has returned... we get to do some repair work.

Other resources: 
Peaceful Valley Farm Supply's short video on drip irrigation (beginners).
Supplier of drip irrigation, including several starter kits and parts.