Question from Zane:
I have 200 plants Pelargonium Violareum, I never grow them. Can you tell me more information about these plants? I would like to know about soil, moisture, about propogation with making cutings. Thank you before!

Answer from Pat:
Pelargonium violareum is native to rocky hillsides in South Africa, tends to grow rangy and blooms mainly in spring.

Even if there is a flower on every tip, pinch back the tips of the plant progressively to make it branch. Otherwise the branches will become lengthy and lean on the ground and stems will be bare of foliage. This plant prefers well-drained soil with neutral pH. Water enough so water flows out the bottom of the pot. This plant does not do very well on drip system, but can be done if managed properly. (Experiment but don’t allow it to have wet feet or it will die.) Needs full sun and responds to weak solution of balanced liquid fertilizer once or twice a month. Good air circulation is beneficial.

P.S. To propagate Pelargonium violareum from cuttings, cut off a growing tip approximately 5 inches long, or of a length appropriate for your needs, remove the lower leaves, if any exist, and stick the cutting into a pot filled with well-drained potting soil. Plants take off much quicker if you root them directly into the potting soil you intend to grow them in than if you root in sand. If you wish roots to grow more rapidly, dip the cuttings into Clonex® or Rootone F® or a solution of Dip’N'Grow® (diluted according to package directions), or similar rooting concentrate prior to planting.

When using powders, such as Rootone®, after dipping the cutting into the powder always knock the excess powder off the cutting back into the package before planting the cutting. Then use a chop stick to make a hole in the potting mix before inserting the cutting, and then close up the potting mix around the cutting with your fingers. This keeps the powder from being wiped off the cutting as you plant it. In mild climates, just stick the cuttings into the ground. They root quite easily.

Related posts:

1. Growing Plants in Containers: Dealing with Spent Soil
2. Runner Beans Have Stopped Growing
3. Growing Healthy Blackberries

Question from Brandon:
Please help! My wife and I, as inspired by your book, are setting in motion our plan to start our fall planting by starting seed in August. We’re planning our beds for cool season flowers, but we are having a giant disagreement about warm season blooms. Here’s the question: When should we plant rudbeckia, shasta daisies, conefower or other warm-season perrenials? What I’ve learned from your book says May, my wife says October. We live in Beaumont, CA which is inland. In order to draw up our plans, we need to know when to plant them.

We’ve basically followed your book for our lawn and our roses since last october – to spectacular results, and we’re setting our sights on our annuals and perrenials this year with your help. Thanks in advance for your expertise.

Answer from Pat:
Even though you live in Beaumont, California, at the foot of the San Bernadino Mountains, you are still living in a Mediterranean climate with a relatively mild winter. It just happens to be somewhat cooler in winter and hotter in summer than ours along the coast. And regarding your disagreement on when to plant seeds, luckily, both you and your wife are partially right. Also, it’s a complicated subject and I’m glad to have the chance to at least try to set it straight, including the cool- and warm-season annuals and biennials (just in case this helps.)

To begin with your question: To plant most conventional, summer-blooming, bedding perennials from seeds in flats and then pots, cold frames, or the ground, one needs to begin a full year in advance. This is not an easy task and it takes over a year of work and care but can be done and is hugely rewarding when it works. (See page 246 for basic instructions.) June is the time for starting seeds of perennials along the coast and April or May inland. This means that if you wish to grow your own plants of such items as Shasta daisies and the best rudbeckias, to bloom next year, it’s none too late to start. But for the wilder types of Rudbeckia and gaillardia and ratibida—even Echinacea purpurea, all things that are more like wildflowers, fall planting is fine, especially if you are planting in the ground right where you want to grow them.

But though all of the old types of conventional bedding perennials have to be planted a whole year ahead in order to have plants that will bloom the following summer—and here is the tricky bit that makes you both right—some of the new improved, more compact perennials can be planted from seeds in spring, and still give you flowers the same summer. (Read the seed packages; some new varieties are also described online.)

You didn’t ask about planting seeds of annuals and biennials, but right now in July is the best time for starting biennials such as foxgloves, sweet William, Canterbury bell, and cup-and-saucer from seeds. By starting now, you will have little plants ready to plant out into beds in October and they will bloom next spring. Protect tender plants from frost, and please see page 265 in my book for a discussion of biennials from seeds.

And next month, in August, (page 297) is the time for planting fall and winter-blooming annual flowers from seeds. A lady I knew years ago who lived in an interior climate zone like yours always planted such winter annuals as dianthus, stock, schizanthus, and Nemesia strumosa in flats from seeds August, and she had loads of bedding plants with which to fill beds at low cost in October to bloom for winter and spring bloom. She also planted ranunculus and her garden simply overflowed with color. To get an idea of what will work, look around to see what flowers do well in other gardens at various times of year and then count the months backwards and read the seed catalogues for days from seed until bloom to find when to plant.

Now for summer items: In your climate zone (if you were planting summer annuals from seeds), plant them under lights or indoors early enough so you can put them out in the garden after spring flowers fade. But in my climate zone (coastal) I plant seeds of warm-season annuals (things like zinnias, red salvias, and marigolds) straight in garden beds after the weather warms up in May. The important point is that if you were plant most perennials from seeds that late (i.e.: in May) they won’t bloom until a whole year later, but some new varieties will do so.

Three years ago I planted seeds of Gaillardia ‘Arizona Sun’ in fall along with some spring-blooming wildflowers. By spring, the wildflowers which had bloomed earlier were finished and I pulled them out. I then had a bed full of Gaillardia ‘Arizona Sun’, and they began blooming as soon as the spring flowers were finished, but when I pulled out the other flowers it had left a few gaps. I still had some Arizona Sun seeds so I popped them into the gaps. The later-planted gaillardias grew more rapidly in warmer weather, but ended up much smaller and not nearly as floriferous as the ones I’d put in earlier. Thus, though spring planting will work with any of the brand new perennials designed to bloom the first year, I would stick to fall planting. You don’t really have to begin as early as August except (as explained above) for the bedding plants of winter annuals and for biennials.

One last comment: I had another friend in an interior climate zone whose garden got frost every night in winter, who liked planting from seeds like I do right where the plant is to grow. She planted all her annuals and perennials, cool-season and warm-season ones at the same time in October. She did not get a lot of winter bloom as I do, but she said that her little plants got pinched back by frost and if anything it was a benefit since they were compact and sturdy and she didn’t need to stake them as I’ve always needed to do.

Related posts:

1. Plant Zinnias Seeds
2. Self-Sowers & Plant Volunteers
3. Patio Annual Color

Question from Eliana:
Thanks for all your wonderful writings!

I am thinking of siting a duranta erecta in a small area next to a house with full sun, where preferred height is really only 7′ high x 5′ x 3′ wide and deep.

I realize this is asking the owners to keep the thing in major check – too much? I was also considering Senna artemisioides – that could also involve some pruning, but less, though it may not reach the min. 5′ they want to cover a bathroom window.

All the surrounding plants are low water, probably lower than the duranta.  Beyond that are kangaroo paws with natives perennials in front of them.  I need something tall and pretty narrow that does not have to be cut back and is not Nandina.
Should I plant it in a pot? Do you have some other suggestion?
Thank you!

Answer from Pat:
Durantaerecta is a lovely plant, one of the most beautiful we can grow. The problem is it’s too big for the space, but if I were you I might plant it anyway and just cut it back on top since it might be worth a try. A neighbor of mine has it growing on a south wall and it’s not yet 5 feet tall, been there a year facing south and looking great—about 4 feet tall now and reaching taller, so maybe not a good idea but it certainly is providing months of color. A plant such as Rhaphiolepis ‘Springtime’ is a much better choice since it is a shrub that you would never have to fight to keep down in size since it only grows 5 feet tall. Another idea more drought resistant idea is to look through the list of Ceanothus in Sunset Western Garden Book and pick one that grows to five or six feet, such as ‘Julia Phelps’,  ‘Joyce Coulter’, ‘Concha,’ ‘Dark Star’, or ‘Louis Edmunds.” Among natives, have you thought of Romneya coulteri? Very drought resistant and flowers look great against a wall, but probably too invasive.

Senna artemisioides is lovely also but a lot more feathery. Another thought that comes to mind is Grevillea ‘Moonlight’. It grows six or eight feet tall and only six feet wide. Some other grevilleas might work too, but I think ceonothus might be the best idea. Great with your kangaroo paws especially if they are the gold ones.

Related posts:

1. Colorful Low Shrubs And Trees For Banks
2. Colorful Taller Shrubs And Trees For Banks
3. Colorful Very Low Shrubs And Trees For Banks

Controlling Algerian Ivy & Plants that Attract Birds

All nurseries will provide you with information when you purchase plants as to correct spacing of the plants you buy. Most plant labels have size and spacing listed on the label. Always ask the correct spacing of plants at purchase time. If you failed to do this, you can find information on spacing in paperback books on landscaping and ground covers, and on the internet. As a general rule, it is not an appropriate use of my time to be providing it since there are so many thousands of different plants that we grow here, and each have different spacing. Nonetheless, since you wrote to me, I will provide it this time, but I would like to help you find this sort of information for yourself. For example, if you had simply Googled “Correct spacing for Bougainvillea ‘La Jolla’ “you would instantly have gotten the information: 6 to 8 feet apart. Now it’s time to use your head. Ask yourself: “Am I going to plant in drifts for an all-over look? Or am I going to dot these plants on the hill with the ground cover between them?” These kinds of thoughts in your head will help you to come up with sensible answers: For example, you might decide to put the plants further apart—as much as 15 feet apart if other plants such as plumbago and lantana are going between them.

Here is an example for how to find out correct spacing of all garden plants. Look at the label of your plant. It may provide spacing. Most plant labels do. Or it may provide mature size. Or to find out the mature size, if the label fails to say, look up the eventual size of the plant up in Sunset Western Garden Book, a plant encyclopedia every gardener needs. (My book does a different job. My book tells you when to do what and how to do it.) Sunset is a complete encyclopedia, an alphabetical list of almost every garden plant we grow in the West. It provides correct spacing for many plants or when not providing spacing it provides mature size. My book does not try to replicate this, that would be senseless. My book belongs side-by-side with the Sunset Western Garden Book and the two books work together, Sunset naming and describing the plants, and mine telling you what to do when.)

(Also in Sunset, there are some informative pages in the back on basic information. Please read page 726 How to Plant Shrubs and page 691 How to Plant Groundcovers. Also look at the index on page 764 for other planting guidance that might help you.)

Now here’s how to use Sunset to find out correct spacing when it is not provided: In the latest edition of Sunset Western Garden Book on page 552 (the most recent edition), it describes the mature size of Plumbago auriculata as making a mound 6 feet tall and 8—10 feet wide. Plant the specimens so they are exactly the same size apart as the eventual mature size of the plant, that is 8 to 10 feet apart. This is fine also for ‘Royal Cape’ or ‘Imperial Blue’, whichever one you purchased. (You mentioned ‘Royal Robe’, but I think you said that by mistake. ‘Royal Robe’ is the name of the best Solanum rantonettii, another lovely plant but it is 6 to 8 feet tall and wide and looks best with more water, so not as good on this bank.)

Find the spacing for all your other plants in the same way as I have described above. The correct spacing for every ground cover should be provided on the plant label or provided by the nursery if you phone them, but for many 6 to 8 inches apart is about right. Some shrubby plants should be place 12 inches apart. It all depends on the mature size of whatever you are planting and the way a plant grows whether creeping or not. Take the mature width of the plant and you then have the correct spacing, or for a quick cover you can put them a little closer.

Yes, you can purchase lantana in flats and if you do, then plant them closer together. But the variety of lantana that is most frequently available in flats is a species called Lantana montevidensis, which is a purple, trailing lantana, not the same color as ‘Radiation’, which is a whole color scheme in one plant and is a more shrubby type. When planting lantana from small plants from a flat, put them closer together, —about one foot apart— than you would if planting from one-gallon or five- gallon size.

Regarding the ivy (probably Algerian ivy) it would be best to cut it off and keep it cut off and pulled out on your side of the fence. This is what I do in one part of my property where a old bank of ivy is separated by a flight of steps made of concrete sacks from the rest of the garden. We just keep policing and cutting it off and pulling it out and this way have successfully controlled it for many years. You can plant right over the ivy if you want, but unfortunately it will eventually climb up and cover over some of your plants, spoiling their appearance. It will, however, help hold the bank.

Yes, birds will be attracted to these plants, but you didn’t mention until now that attracting birds was a priority. Had you done so I would have suggested an entirely different group of plants. However, hummingbirds will visit the plumbago and lantana flowers. Butterflies will visit both of them, but for lists of plants especially attractive to birds (and other pages of plants attractive to butterflies, and many other specialized lists), please see the book I wrote called “The American Horticultural Society Southwest Smart Garden™ Regional Guide.” I wrote this book of lists to help gardeners such as you choose plants according to where you are going to plant them and how you will use them. Plants that are especially attractive to birds are listed, described, discussed, and pictured on pages 132, 133, 134, 135, 208, 209, 210, 211, 242, 243, 298, and 299. (Also see the list of all the lists contained in the book on page 82.) In my copy I have written the page numbers on every page, since many page numbers were omitted by the publisher, D.K. This is a beautifully designed book, but the publisher D.K. had the crazy idea that page numbers on every page would screw up their pretty design, so they would not listen to me when I told them there should be a page number on every page. Reference books need page numbers, and this is a reference book, not just a coffee table book.

Related posts:

1. How to Space Plants when Planting a Bank
2. Formal Garden and Informal Plants
3. Vegetable Gardening and Edibles in a New Garden

From Kathy:
Oh for goodness sake I never thought of Ellwood’s as I hardly go there.  I got turned off by coldness in attitude there and never went back.  I’ll check it out.  Okay will cut off the thatch too.  Thanks again.  Now I have to try and figure out how many bushes to buy.  The hillside is about 60′ wide x 30′ at the top part above the easement which is all the old ice plant and weeds.  I wasnt to spot this part like you suggested with bushes.  The washout mud slide is at the bottom part below the easement to the street.

I thought maybe two bushes on the bottom in the slide area one aon  the top part of the easement on the bottom slope  and then put another one further down toward the street.  How many do you think I need for the upper part?

Answer from Pat:
To space plants properly, first measure the space, then look up the plants in Sunset Western Garden Book, or in paperback books on ground covers, or ask your nursery. Every plant has appropriate guidelines for spacing. (ie, how many feet or inches apart the plant needs to go.) Some landscapers put plants much too close together for quick effect.This is a bad idea since after a year or two the homeowner is always needing to cut back. You can figure out how far plants need to be put apart from each other, simply by knowing the eventual size of the plant, and doing a plot plan so each plant fills that amount of space and the edges touch. For small groundcovers. make a triangle of cardboard, each side being the distance apart. Use it for placing plants at appropriate distance from each other in a triangular, diagonal pattern.

Related posts:

1. Planting California Native Plants
2. Companion Planting Has No Scientific Basis but Planting a Wide Range of Crops Works
3. Plant to Prevent Erosion on a Steep Hillside

Question from Kathy:
I love your book and use it as my garden bible.

I have a new problem and do not know what to do. I live on top of a steep hillside and have been here for 34 yrs. I have never had a mudslide. However, the hillside is in three levels and the bottom one had a some mudslide last winter. It was covered weith the old heavy ice plant and the woman who lives across the street from my hill started pulling it out and planted red apple and some nasturtiums as she didn’t like the weeds in between the ice plant. Now I need to know how to fix this problem.

What is the best and toughest ground cover ?

I live in Rancho Palos Verdes. The slide is about 3 feet deep by about 4′ wide at the top and a narrow 9′ down to the street . It has thick red apple on one side and scattered old ice plant on the other side. Thank you so much

Answer from Pat:
Thanks for kind comment. Below are a lot of ways to fix a steep bank. I think I was considering a larger space than you actually have, but I have given you so much to chose from you can make it fit your needs. Also this advice may help others who read this site.

As you undoubtedly know landslides on the Palos Verdes Peninsula can be a serious matter since they might signal a problem with an entire strata of wet adobe soil slipping down over a harder layer of soil below. This kind of slide can happen when the “tow” of a hillside has been unwisely bulldozed or cut into. It might be wise for you to contact your UC Extension Home Horticultural Advisor, Department of Agriculture, or your local city officials before trying to do anything to correct the slide so you can first make sure there is no serious slippage problem in this case. In many cases in the past mudslides have endangered houses or even lives, though yours sounds smaller in scope than were those.

Once you have determined that this is not a widespread or potentially dangerous situation, then you can undertake some steps to try to correct the problem. First, ice plant is seldom a good solution for a very steep bank, since it can actually pull a bank down by its own weight. Nonetheless if it is growing there already and hold ing a bank it’s unwise to pull it out as your neighbor did since this can make the whole bank slide as happened in this case. A wiser way to make a change is to cut the ice plant short and leave the roots in place, then plant right through it. The roots will continue to hold the bank while the new plants take over. It’s too bad your neighbor didn’t know of this old-timers trick, a common practice in California gardens fifty or sixty years ago when people with new homes covered banks with ice plant quickly to hold them through winter rain then soon upgraded to something better.

Also, red apple ice plant is not a very good solution for steep banks since it needs a lot of water and calcium nitrate fertilizer to stay green. It’s far better to plant something more environmentally responsible. When trying to plant a bank for the purpose of stabilizing slipping soil, the very best way is to plant a mix of deeper- rooted larger plants along with shorter-rooted ground covers to cover the ground between them to hold the ground as the larger plants are getting going. Examples of shorter rooted ground covers are gazania or arctotis. Then you could dot such plants as shrubby bougainvilleas all over the bank, along with something like ceonothus ‘Concha’. I recommend bougainvilleas as one of the better plants for such an area. They will grow on a drip system and grab deeply into the soil. Once fully established they become very drought-resistant and you get a lot of bang for the buck. Another fairly deep-rooted bank cover plant is Acacia redolens ‘Desert Carpet’ or ‘Low Boy’. This too is very drought-resistant once established. Lantana montevidensis is hugely colorful with lavender flowers almost year round and also very drought-resistant, easy to grow and good on banks. Finally consider blue plumbago. For a gang busters combination on a bank and drought-resistant year-round color, plan yellow trailing gazanias to cover the ground, then use an equal number of the the following plants to send down deep roots and hold the soil: Bougainvillea ‘La Jolla’, Plumbago ‘Royal Robe’, and Lantana ‘Radiation’.

Another way to go and perhaps more exciting, but best planted in November: You could do the whole thing with native plants. You might try toyon or Calfornia holly (Heteromeles arbutifolia ) at the bottom of the slope. (Get the one from Catalina that has bigger berries.) For a native shrub requiring no water whatsoever in summer, plant flannel bush (Fremontedendron ‘California Glory’.) Or, for a compact one, try F. ‘Dara’s Gold’. Plant this next to ceonothus for a great color combination blooming at the same time in spring. I think natives are probably the way to go with this slope but you could get a ground cover going first to hold everything until fall. Matilija poppy (Romneya coulteri) is a great way to grab a bank but not a good time to plant now. I planted three of these last November and they are all growing and blooming. All natives are best planted in November but it would be all right to cover the bank now with some native ground covers though perhaps not California perfume (Ribes viburnifolium)—great on banks but might not survive planting now. But bear berry (Arctostaphylos urva-ursi) or coyote bush (Bacharis pilularis) I think might mostly survive along the coast even if planted now since we’re having cooler than usual weather, and then plant the bigger things in fall.

Related posts:

1. Colorful Low Shrubs And Trees For Banks
2. Colorful Taller Shrubs And Trees For Banks
3. Colorful Mid-Height Shrubs And Trees For Banks

Question from Robin:
Hi. I have a problem and I need some advice.

I spread granulated sulfur on the top of heavy clay soil. Hindsight shows me this is not optimum, and I would like your opinion on my options. I want to establish vegetables on the site. And I had wanted to do it ASAP.

The garden is 10 x 15 feet and I spread most of a 5 lb box of sulfur “lentils.”

The following is a list of options I have thought through. I would like your opinion and suggestions.

Scrape it off and start over. (e.g. Amend with gypsum and compost.) -Removal poses safety and disposal problems. I would need advice on the best way to go about this

Till it in

• I worry that this might throw sulfur out of the garden area, endangering the dogs. (I’ve never used a tiller) I burned my hand on the dust so I’m a bit nervous.
• It will burn any earthworms under there.
• It may burn the roots of garden plants

Till it in, cover with 6” Agromend, and plant my veggies.

• any chance I can get away with this? It will still probably kill earthworms, but would the plants survive?

Scrape it off, save it, till the soil and apply properly at appropriate depth. After tilling in the sulfur, cover with 6” agromend and plant veggies.

• I feel this would be the best way if I want to grow veggies this summer, but I wouldn’t know what to save it in. Again I would need some safety advice.

The most sensible and least desirable option that I have come up with:

• Till it in, leave it till fall or next year, then establish my garden.  I’m unemployed and this was my chance to make a break from the office retrace. I want to sell at farmer’s markets to get myself known, and eventually open a nursery. This is a long time dream. I don’t want to go back to an office.

Corollary question:

Green humb carries an adorable garden boot, but will I need industrial type chemical resistant boots if I walk in this stuff? I haven’t yet stepped into the garden.

Answer from Pat:
As explained below, I don’t advocate that gardeners use soil sulfur but despite that, a five-pound box of granulated sulfur spread over a space that is ten by fifteen feet in size and then dug into the ground is not going to do any huge amount of harm. The correct proportion of soil sulfur to garden soil (if one were to add it) is 5 pounds for 1,000 square feet twice a year. (This is supposed to bring down the base of calcium in the soil and raise magnesium.) It would do more harm to the environment for you to scrape it off and dump it. I doubt also that it is going to kill earthworms since you are digging it into soil that I presume you already know is alkaline. Add plenty of organic matter into the ground and as mulch on top and you’ll get any number of earthworms. Also, once you have combined the sulfur with the soil, the alkalinity in the soil will neutralize the acid in the sulfur. That is a backwards way of saying the whole point of adding soil sulfur is to create a less alkaline condition in the soil. Your best option since you’ve already spread the sulfur is to dig it into the top foot or more of the ground. It will gradually combine with the soil over the years as you dig and amend your garden soil with organic matter twice a year prior to seasonal planting spring and fall. You could, however, rake it up and dig it into the ground in another part of the garden where you are not planning to plant seeds, but I really don’t think this is necessary.

You mention that you don’t use a tiller but amending the soil includes first spreading on the amendments and then using a garden fork or a garden spade and turning the soil over to combine ingredients into it. One does not need a tiller to do this, one just needs a sharp spade or garden fork and strength like I once had and don’t have any longer. Or you need a willing workman to do the job for you. Either that or become a “No Dig” gardener, but in that case never use anything like soil sulfur that has to be combined with soil in order to work.

Companies make granulated sulfur because it is considered safer for the environment than liquid sulfur which is a by product of some industries. Soil sulfur is a mined product, a natural mined element that comes from the earth. Sulfur is acid, not alkaline, and sometimes farmers add it to soil to try to correct problems with alkalinity. Soil sulfur differs from dusting sulfur. Dusting sulfur is one of the most ancient garden products. It has been used by mankind for thousands of years for dusting onto plants to kill some insects and plant diseases, such as mildew and blight. (American Indians dusted sulfur onto plants long before the white man discovered the New World.) Soil sulfur is sold by some nurseries as an acidifier for alkaline soils.

Despite all this, I do not advocate the use of soil sulfur by the home gardener for the purpose of acidifying soil. Instead, I have always felt the best way to acidify garden soil when necessary is to work in acid organic soil amendments, such as wood shavings. The main reason that I don’t recommend the use of soil sulfur for soil acidification is not so much because it’s dangerous, but more because it doesn’t work. In order to have soil sulfur work one would have to work it into the soil so that it is evenly distributed and so each grain of sulfur actually contacts individual particles of alkaline soil and then it also takes time to work, so you would have to keep it up twice a year. For example, simply spreading sulfur on top of the ground around camellias and azaleas and hydrangeas and then watering it in, as some gardeners have done, won’t work because sulfur doesn’t water into the ground that way.

You should also be careful not to breath sulfur into your lungs and you should use protected clothing, including gloves, when handling it. Also, soil sulfur can sometimes inhibit seeds from sprouting rather like corn gluten meal does but this action won’t last forever. It’s temporary.

Please refer to the pages at the beginning of my book for ways to treat alkaline soil, such as clay and for ways in which you can improve clay soil and make it drain better. Yes, gypsum is a harmless and helpful addition if your clay soil is compacted due to its alkalinity. (Please refer to other discussions about gypsum on this site.) Also, there is no better way to make clay soil drain than mixing in a layer of well-composted organic matter and keeping it up throughout the years.

Related posts:

1. Soil And How To Fix It
2. Growing Healthy Blackberries
3. Plant Zinnias Seeds

Question from Katie:
Hi Pat, just found your www site and saw it said, “Send a Q to Pat”, so, here goes… location: seaside, south-facing (in England: the sunny side), sheltered terrace.  Required: architectural, evergreen, “WOW!” plants that will tolerate minus 5 centigrade in winter, occasionally a little lower, but not “cold & wet” as some will be under canopy. (we can put big palms out on the edge where it is most exposed.)  Must be tolerant of mild/distant salt-spray in winter storms.  Any ideas? please

Answer from Pat:
It is fun having a question from England. I was born in Halifax, Yorkshire, England, and returned last year to visit. The North Yorkshire Moors are as unspoiled as ever. We also enjoyed the Lake District and the amazing Crop Circles in Wiltshire for ten days. Of course, some are hoaxes, but many are a genuine mystery. Some are mind-blowing in size and mathematical complexity, appear to have some kind of magnetic forces inside them, and contain exploded plant nodes where they are bent over as if from a microwave oven. There are also some very odd lights zooming around at immense speed. This phenomenon has been going on for centuries and is still unsolved. Fun just to see it and wonder at it. (We saw 28 formations on the ground and from the air in a helicopter.)

But now to your exposed, south-facing, ocean-front site which sounds as if it is located in a climate similar to our (Western USA, Sunset Zone 5), a zone subject to salt spray in Oregon and Washington, though facing west, not generally south, —unless on the north side of an inlet. But this should not make too much difference. (For your information, our Sunset Zones work better for us in the West than do the United States Agricultural Zones because we have so many climate zones here in the west and thus having many zones instead of just a few, makes it easier to choose plants that will work for each.)

Among plants that should survive and give a pleasant architectural look are hardy ornamental grasses (such as Festuca gautieri and Festuca amethystina that are not too invasive. It would be best to choose local varieties, making sure they are not invasive); heathers (Calluna’s) such as Scotch heather, but many improved varieties should be available in local nurseries; and heaths (Erica’s). Many of these are native to the English coast and by choosing various types available in your local nursery you could create a colorful mounded tapestry of different ones with long-lasting color. Heaths and heathers need moist acid soil, so you will need to amend your sandy soil with acid amendment such as peat moss (though this is not a renewable resource and it would be better if you could find another acid soil amendment such as well-rotted wood products, home-made compost, and pine needles.) You will also need to keep the ground moist. Heaths and heathers can withstand salt spray and wind and exposed locations but they cannot stand being soggy on the one hand or drying out on the other. If you can manage this, no lovelier plants can be found. Nestling them against artistically placed boulders can give them a cool damp place under which to hide their roots from drying winds and sun.

Rosa rugosa should thrive in your coastal location and makes a great barrier plant. Allow it to mound, plant it back from paths where its thorns cannot harm people or children and use foreground plants to hide its lower portions, which are less attractive as they grow taller. Several colors are available. Among trees, I recommend katsura trees (Cercidiphyllum japonicum) needs water, though, especially when young; holly oak (Quercus ilex) which can be clipped into hedges, if you want; strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo), which is drought resistant once established, and some palms such as Washingtonia, and windmill palm (Trachycarpus fortunei) which it sounds as if you you might have already discovered can survive there. (I saw it growing in Wiltshire last summer, and I’ve seen it along the coast.) Among shrubs, Pittosporum tobira, Rhaphiolepis, and Rosmarinus officianalis are some suggestions along with the heaths mentioned above. Among perennials, Yarrow (Achillea), Common thrift (Armeria maritima), Ground morning glory (Convolvulus sabatima), Pinks (Dianthus), Fleabane (Erigeron), and Our Lord’s candle (Yucca), should all survive. Also try sea holly (Eryngium alpinum and E. amethystinum.) Lovely to behold when evening sun shines through their silvery blue bracts. I’ve found these easy to plant from seeds and not overly invasive.

Using just the plants named above you can create a wonderfully interesting windswept look. Combine plants with rocks, boulders, and driftwood. Create interesting wandering paths to the beach. Arrange attractive shells, bottles, floats, flotsum and jetsum as ornaments. Even a partially-buried old rowboat overflowing with easy annual flowers such as sweet alyssum and nasturtium, can create a great look in a beach-front garden. Also visit seaside gardens in your area to see what has worked for others. Photos in books and magazines may also provide inspiration. With any difficult site, trial and error is the best way to go.

Related posts:

1. Native Plants of the Southern California Coast
2. How to Space Plants when Planting a Bank
3. Patio Plants For Sun And Warmth

Plant seeds of zinnias now. “Benary’s Giants” (sold as “Parks Picks” by the Park Seeds) is immune to mildew. Choose a spot in full sun, till the ground to spade depth, work in organic soil amendment and balanced fertilizer into the top six inches. Soak the soil, let settle overnight. Plant seeds one by one, barely covered, just where you want them to grow. (Don’t bury too deeply; they need light to germinate!) Sprinkle daily until germinated; irrigate regularly.

Feed camellias and azaleas now.

Related posts:

1. When To Plant Annual, Perennial, and Biennial Flowers From Seeds
2. Self-Sowers & Plant Volunteers
3. Carrot Germination by Boiling-Water Method

1. Choose a site in full sun.

2. Build raised boxes or plant in ground.

3. For raised beds: Nail 1/8 ­1/4 hardware cloth on bottom of each box to keep out gophers.

4. Fill boxes with good-quality topsoil.

5. Cover the ground surrounding the raised boxes with landscape cloth or newspaper, 10-sheets thick, and then cover cloth or paper with a 3 or 4 layer of mulch or pea gravel to provide clean footing and keep out weeds. (gravel is best.)

6. Control Invasive roots of old trees with stepping stones and thick Visquine, under tall boxes.

7. Use hand pulling or a hoe to rid existing boxes of weeds, if these have grown prior to planting.

8. Eradicate or control ground squirrels, gophers, rats and other pests.(If using poisons, wear gloves to handle and use tamper-proof containers. Some licensed pest control companies, specialize in animal pest control.)

9. Other methods for getting rid of animal pests include manual and battery operated traps, sound mechanisms, physical barriers, domestic cats.

Measure square-foot area of boxes, purchase adequate organic soil amendment to create a 4 thick layer on top of garden soil.

Spread soil amendment on to beds and use a spade to dig (or till) the organic amendment into the top 6 of garden soil. In the same manner sprinkle organic fertilizer recommended for vegetables (Chicken manure, commercial brand, or make your own) onto the beds and use a spade or pronged tiller to incorporate the fertilizer into the top 6 of garden soil. Arrange for water system (drip or hose).

Depending on the time of year, purchase seeds and plants of cool season or warm season crops and edible flowers. (Study the seasons of the year and the appropriate vegetables and flowers to grow in each season. Learn about the influence of day length and temperature.)

Build structures to support climbing plants. Decide which vegetable are to be grown in each bed, draw a plot plan in order to rotate crops in future years. Plants seeds and transplants in rows, with tall crops to the north and short crops to the south. (Learn about germination. Different seeds require different planting depth and temperature at which the can sprout. All need moisture; some need light in order to germinate.) Water plants. Seeds must be watered daily until germinated, transplants daily at first, then 3 times a week until established, later weekly or more often depending on the specific plant and weather. Harvest crops when young and tender, according to the rules of harvesting that apply to each vegetable. Control pests by organic methods, such as BT for caterpillars, handpicking, crop rotation. Water deeply and well, plant resistant varieties, keep a clean garden. When not growing vegetables, plant cover crops. Choose a site for the compost heap.

NOTE: If you are growing vegetables year-round there will be some carry over of cool-season crops into warm weather, for example artichokes, which can be put in from transplants in March and harvested in June, or globe onions, which are planted from seeds in November and harvested in late May or June, and strawberries which are also planted in November and harvested throughout spring into early summer.

Related posts:

1. Turnip
2. Companion Planting Has No Scientific Basis but Planting a Wide Range of Crops Works
3. Summer Squash