My life has been a bit upturned the last couple of months because I managed to fracture my right foot when I was just finishing up my workout at the gym. I ended up wearing one of those big, clunky orthopedic boots which was not exactly conducive to walking in my garden and allowing me to spend any time in it this past summer.
I am finally out of it but still limited on doing things such as hiking or conditioning walking and I have been told not to do any repetitive movements on my foot until the fracture is completely healed, which at this point it, isn’t.
But with the arrival of Fall, I know that soon I will need to be doing a lot of cleanup and maintenance in the garden. When it comes to using California native plants and in my case those of the chaparral-sage community, there isn’t much to be done during the summer months because most of the plants shut down for the season and become semi-dormant.
With the arrival of Fall and then winter, that is the signal to get busy in the garden. The plants are waking up and getting prepared to grow and that means it’s important to groom, trim, prune the plants that need a “spa day” and of course it’s the best time to do planting. Plus I have a number of projects in mind this season and am only waiting for the weather to be cooler before I get involved in them.
Although it is quite hot here today, about 102 degrees which is typical for Fall in Southern California. I know that I will be removing more plants in the next few months but I will need some help when I do. I can’t do any digging with my right foot to remove the plants I want to take out. So I will be hiring my P/T garderner, Nelson to do the heavy work.
It is approaching the 5th. year when I decided to remove my lawn and put in it’s place, native plants and I’m finding it difficult to believe that it flew by so quickly. But since that time, there has been more discussions, books and articles about creating landscapes based upon using less water, no fertilizers or pesticides and becoming sustainable.
And not to forget, the joy of drawing wild birds and butterflies into a new “wild” space. Especially the humming birds…..
I’m happy that I have done my part and I certainly have learned a great deal about using natives for landscaping. And yet, the adventure continues as I learn more about this unique method of landscaping. And I’m already thinking about the changes I will be making to the garden in the next few months.
