A Sledge Hammer, Crowbar and 1.6 Tons of Rocks

It was my birthday right around the Equinox.  I don't get a whole lot of time to write, so this is my birthday post!

Birthday season is mid March.  My brother, Cas, his mom and I all have birthdays between March 19th and the 24th.  It makes for a fun time of bingeing on birthday cake... but this year brought something far better for me... the beginning of phase II of our front yard project!

For my birthday, I got boulders and money to buy more native plants.  This time, however, I bought plants and not just seed.

Our front yard had a planter box right under the stairs and the backdrop was a big, ugly stucco wall that lead up the stairs to the house.  I have been jonesing to get rid of those bricks ever since I painted our front door bright orange and decided it clashed terribly with the brick.  Birthday present to me was 1.6 tons of Napa field stone, covered with lichens, mosses and what I am going to guess are liverworts or hornworts.  They are beautiful and I had a vision of making a dry stack wall.

Dry stacking means making a wall that does not have morter.  It really is just a pile of rocks that are stacked at an angle to hold the dirt in place and hold each other up.  After watching a couple of YouTube videos, I deemed myself a sufficient expert to build such a wall as a replacement for our brick planter.

What more could anyone want for their birthday than to use a sledge hammer and a crowbar to take out bricks and then spend the day moving 25-50# rocks into a pile?  Clearly we all know the answer is NOTHING!!!!  I had a blast and only smashed my finger into a bloody pulp once!

The dry stacking wall is not just to look good, but it is also to provide better habitat for the lizards who frequent our yard.  We have Western Fence lizards (Sceloperous occidentalis) as well as Alligator lizards (Elgaria sp).  (I am not sure the species of Alligator... Northern or Southern... I have been too afraid to catch one after I got a chunk of knuckle taken out by a big one.  Next time I see one, I will catch and ID it though.)

Brick planter as I took it out.

My Napa Field Stone- ready for placement.

As part of our goal for our yard, we want to provide the best habitat possible and that includes making physical structures for the herps (reptiles and amphibians).  It seems to be working since I had a Fence lizard running around it as I was building it!

Once I got the planter rebuilt, I built a trellis along the wall and then I had a shopping spree on native plants.  I highly recommend the Berkeley Horticultural Nursery in Bezerkeley... they have a fantastic natives section.  It is a very very expensive nursery, but they have so many cool and unusual plants there that it is well worth the trip.  Just plan on bringing cash only so that you can limit how much you will spend before getting there!  It is dangerous!  I also went to Bay Natives on the way home which only sells natives and is a great resource but not nearly as much fun as BHN.

New dry stacked wall and trellis

Cas and I just took out the railing.  Didn't need it and
now it looks much better.

Close up of the beautiful rocks!

Thankfully I went with a preplanned list of plants that I was looking for so that I didn't impulse buy.  The plants for this planting strip are not limited to locally found species as the meadow is.  Instead, it is our place to showcase beauty, fragrance and edibles!  The plants that we selected for here are all low water to drought tolerant.  I did put in drip irrigation for some of them so that we can supplement water to specific plants.

THE PLANT LIST- & why they were selected.

Large Shrubs and Vine to cover the stucco wall, provide fall color, food for birds, give spring flowers and provide fragrance.

Native Grape (Vitis californica)- I went with Rodgers Red as a variety and so it is not strictly a native. Although we have a true native grape, this one happens to be a hybrid of our native and an European grape.  It was originally collected along a creek in Sonoma Co and stood out for it's particularly brilliant red fall foliage.  Genetic tests have revealed that it is actually a hyrbid, but it is still often sold as a "native".  I picked it because I wanted to have truly brilliant fall color, food for birds and a visual screen for our stucco wall.  I forgive it for being a hybrid. Takes full sun to part shade.  This exposure only gets morning sun so hopefully the grape will like it and will make short work of my ugly wall in no time.

Native grape- Rodger's Red

California Bush Anemone (Carpenteria californica)- This is one that I am particularly excited about.  This is an evergreen shrub that will help to be a visual screen for our ugly wall.  It also has lovely large white flowers that are super fragrant and smell like orange blossoms.  It is in the "mock orange" family because of the fragrance.  It is a plant that does well in shade and takes little water.  Like the grape, I have it hooked up to drip irrigation.

CA Bush Anemone

Spicebush (Calycanthus occidentalis)- This is a deciduous big shrub that I picked as another part of our visual screen and it also produces beautiful and fragrant flowers, but these flowers are red and have a spicy red-wine fragrance.  It can take some shade and little water.  Again, like the others, it is on drip.

Spicebush Flowers

Pink Flowering Currant (Ribes sanguineum glutinosum)- I fell in love with these after seeing them bloom around this time of year in Palo Alto.  It has spectacular pink flowering clusters in early spring and beautiful fall colors.  It is a plant that does great in shade and can take little water.  After it is done flowering, it sets fruit that will provide food for the birds.

Pink Flowering Currant

Low growing perennials and ground cover- to provide food for birds (& people), give spring flowers and protect soil.

Beach Strawberry (Fragaria chiloensis)- YES, we have a native strawberry!  This is actually often planted as an ornamental strawberry for ground cover and that is what I am using it for.  It can take traffic, shade and very little water.  What more could you ask for in a ground cover?!  Oh, pretty white flowers and tiny little red berries (bird food).  This ground cover can even be mowed... you really can use this as a lawn substitute in the right settings.  This is a fast growing and aggressive ground cover that I expect to beat back into submission as the years wear on, meanwhile it is protecting the soil underneath without wood chips.  I do not have this irrigated and do not plant on supplementing water-Bonus!

Beach Strawberry

Red-Flowered Buckwheat (Eriogonum grande)- Buckwheats are a great drought tolerant flower, but they are not always my favorite.  I was able to find the Red-Flowered, which is a bit harder to source, because it is one that I am more drawn to.  I am planting this for spring flowers, but also as a filler to bring in some height to the lower part of the planter.  Buckwheats can usually take some part shade, but I am not sure how well it will do in this spot with only morning sun (eastern facing), so it is a gamble.  No irrigation needed for this guy.

Red-flowered Buckwheat

Foothill Penstemon (Penstemon heterophyllus)- Penstemons are great plants for neglecting... they take full sun, dry soil and are a favorite of hummingbirds.  They are wonderful and should be a staple in any native garden.  I adore Penstemons and this is a particularly exciting one.  HOWEVER this is probably not the best spot for it since it doesn't get a whole lot of sun.  I know that it would do great planted in the meadow... but I have committed myself (for now) with trying to keep those plants local and this one is not found at Edgewood preserve.  I don't really have many full sun spots in our yard that are not part of our "local" meadow so I am trying the Penstemon in the front planter.  It is a gamble but one I hope pays off since it is great for beautiful flowers, hummingbirds, and bees.  Fingers are crossed that it will like it there... ya never know until you try!  No irrigation needed.

Foothill Penstemon

Island Alum Root (Heuchera maxima)- I love the Heuchera and this is a particularly fun one because it is HUGE (for a Heuchera)!  I planted this one to provide some height to the lower part of the planter and to bring some fun spring flowers.  The flowers are not showy, but a sweet little white dainty flower.  It likes to have a little water, so I did put it on a drip.

Island Alum Root

Chaparral Clematis (Clematis lasiantha)- I planted this to help cover the front of our garage and for it's unusual flowers and seed pods.  It is a dynamic plant that will change throughout the season.

Chaparral Clematis

Huckleberry (Vaccinum ovatum) (Native blueberry)- I was super excited to find this at Bay Natives.  It is not always an easy one to find, nor, apparently, an easy one to grow.  We love eating wild Huckleberries when we go hiking in the Redwoods, so I was excited to try one in our front planter.  Not only are the berries tasty, but the flowers are really pretty as well.  I have it on drip and it takes partial shade.  It will be getting morning sun and afternoon shade.  I plan on also feeding it coffee since it likes acidic soils.  I typically dump my dregs on my blueberries but now will give Huckleberry some too!

Huckleberries

Transplanting- Egg crates looking good.

I am not sure where I got the idea to start seedlings in paper egg cartons, but I know that I did it a few years ago when I had my first veggie garden and I started most plants from seed.  It worked great and so I decided to do it with some of my natives- mostly I did it to start my Silver Bush Lupine (Lupinus albifrons).

Last week, it seemed like a few of my L. albifrons were getting big enough for me to go ahead and transplant and so I wanted to share with you about how it all went.  First, I have to say that I am a rookie at this whole gardening thing and growing from seed and I didn't do things the way I should have.  I should have used seed starting mixture (there are all kinds and mostly mixes of sand, moss etc) instead of just nursery blend.  I also don't think that I did a good job of my scarification of my seeds for the Lupines and had a few germinate and then die.  I think that had I used a seed starter blend, I would have had fewer seedlings die.  That being said- the basic concept of planting in the egg cartons works great- they germinate and have no problem sending roots down through the carton.  I then just cut out the individual egg unit with a plant and put the whole thing in the ground.  No disturbing the roots and an easy transplant by just scooping out a little dirt with a spoon.  So, although I would do some things differently- I am whole heartedly advocating starting seeds in egg cartons and transplanting directly into the ground.  So far, so good.  It has been about a week now and my babies are thriving.

Seedling cut out from carton and ready
to transplant.

You can see the roots have started to grow
through the carton wall.

Used a spoon to scoop a small hole to
transplant the entire carton.  Peeled back
paper rim and just planted directly.

Little seedling is all nestled in and ready
to grow.

I have also started transplanting some of the other plants that I have grown in the flats but it has not been going quite as smoothly.  Mostly, I think that some of the problem rests from me disturbing the roots as I dig them up to transplant them.  I transplanted a few CA Bottlebrush Grass and it is just not happy. I also realize that, typical of me, I planted too many seeds in the flats and many have crowded each other out.  For those that did germinate well- I have too many plants in the flats.  For those that didn't, I blame my nursery mix and I should have too many crowding each other out.  Either way- I do think that I vastly prefer to plant in the egg cartons so that I can just transplant the whole gizmo without damaging the roots- I am not very patient OR very gentle...

The fireworks begin!

Caspar and I were out of town last weekend and came home to the beginnings of a firework display on our back hillside.  The Baby Blue-Eyes and Five Spots are starting to come up in mass.  They are already starting to look beautiful, but the exciting thing is realizing that every little flower that we see pretty much represents an entire plant that can grow to a mass of flowers about 2' across!  Although it is beautiful now, it is fun to know that this is just the beginning of things to come!

Hard to see in the photo, but the hill is starting to come
alive.  Each little dot represents one plant that will
eventually produce dozens of flowers in a big mass.

Five Spots and Baby Blue-Eyes dotting
our back hillside

 It was fun to be away for only three days and see such dramatic changes.  I am out inspecting our yard every day so it often makes it hard to see the buildup of all the gradual changes that are taking place.

One of my favorite aspects of wildflower gardens is how they sleep and then seem to come alive overnight.  The flowers time their blooming so that they seem to come out of nowhere.  One day the hill is green, the next it is a profusion of color.  The seasonal firework display comes on like that... right now, we are just watching the sparklers of twilight, what is only the anticipation of the big show.  The show has started, but my lone blooming buttercup and the Clarkia, lupines and Phacelia are all waiting to join in the party and really get things going!  I can already see buds and I know that in one, two month's time... things will be really exciting!

Can you see the buttercup?  I saw it and came RUNNING out to get
a better look.  I ADORE buttercups!

My first Ranunculus- Buttercup.

I look out over my back hill and our front yard every day- looking for new emergence and to get angry at the weeds that have the audacity to show their weedly little heads... The other day I was thrilled when I spotted a tiny little yellow dot amidst the green, blue and white.  A BUTTERCUP!  I simply adore them- partly because of their name... I can freely admit that it brings back memories of "The Princess Bride", but mostly because they are a sweetly cheery little yellow flower with a glossy (some might say "buttery") sheen to its flowers.  The glossiness of these flowers is what gives them their name and also makes them easy to identify.

What I did not know before embarking on this gardening adventure, is that this sweet little flower is not actually an annual, as I would have expected, but it is a perennial.  The reason they seem like annuals is that their foliage is not very eye catching and they die back in summer.  Having perennials on our hillside is great not just because once it gets established, I can name it and have it return year after year, but also because the living roots will persist and help to stabilize the hill.  I have already planted many perennial grasses on the hill for that reason, so my lone Buttercup will not have urgent work to prop up the back yard... but it is still nice to think of it that way.