Now Is Time to Dream of a Green Christmas : Seeds and bulbs sowed during the holiday season will blossom in early spring.
Are you on the lookout for some gardening and landscaping tips for the holidays? Nature has decreed that this is the season to be sowing seeds, planting bulbs and fertilizing your lawn. Even if the custom in the “old country”--those colder states--decrees that it’s time to be sitting around the hearth or TV set, in Southern California it’s time to get into the sunshine and do something else. On the slope behind your house, plant some organic, drought-tolerant, native California wildflower seeds, or plant bulbs in your garden, bare-root roses along the walk or rye cover to nourish the soil where your summer veggies will go next year.
There is a growing selection of products available at Ventura County garden stores and nurseries that make it easy for gardeners to do the right thing at the right time and in the right way--the environmentally friendly way.
Camarillo residents Holly and Doug Stone took over the former Jasmine Nursery in Ojai a few months ago and re-christened it Matilija Gardens. “Our goal is to have only organic products--gradually,” Holly said. Standing among racks of organically produced seeds, fertilizers and mulches, she gestured toward another side of the store festooned with containers of petrochemical sprays and plant foods.
“We’re tearing down part of the ‘Wall of Death,’ ” she said.
After 18 years in the nursery business and seven years as an employee at the location where she now runs the place, she’s gotten to know her public, and she thinks they’re ready for the change. “People say ‘Oh, I’m so glad you’re carrying these products,’ and if we don’t have exactly the native strains or organic products they want, we refer the business to other places that do.”
Indeed, the Stones are not the only local source of products for environmentally conscious gardening. Green Thumb International, Armstrong Garden Centers, Baron Brothers Nursery and Home Depot are among the retailers selling such products. Evidently they have picked up on a trend reported recently in Organic Gardening magazine. To determine if they have a future in the business, the publishers annually poll gardeners around the nation. This year, for the first time, slightly more than half called themselves “organic gardeners.”
So it’s not surprising that Rubbermaid is selling composting bins and Sears Craftsmen water-miser soaker hoses made of recycled rubber. And some Long’s Drug stores are carrying $12 items called PooPets, natural fertilizers molded in the form of bunnies, frogs and even a sleeping piglet.
Details
* PLANT NOW: December is the month to plant native, drought-tolerant wildflowers for ground cover or decoration. Organically-grown brands to ask for at local stores are Shepherd’s Garden Seeds (at Matilija Gardens in Ojai) or Seeds of Change (at Mrs. Gooch’s in Thousand Oaks, or available by calling (800) 957-3337).
* SOURCES: Other Brands of California and Western plant seeds are Stover Seed Selection and Ferry Morse, (available at Baron Brothers’ Nursery, Armstrong Garden Centers and Green Thumb International. These locations also have bulbs and bare-root roses, which are supposed to be planted this month.)
* COMPOSTING: Composting bins by Rubbermaid and by Ringer are available for $50 to $90. Nontoxic insecticidal soap-based sprays such as Safer Brand and Bio-NEEM are recommended for pest control and clean water-runoff. Whitney Farms and Gro-Power are organic enhancements and fertilizers to look for.
* THINK GREEN: For folks without a garden--but still with the urge--The West Ventura Community Pride Project will be breaking ground Saturday on a Community Garden Project. Volunteers and donations are needed. 648-1895.
* PLUGGED IN: For environmentally oriented home computer owners who want to transition into gardening this holiday season, there’s a prize-winning CD-ROM, “The Forever Growing Garden,” full of ecological tips. Available at software stores--pricey at $50--but great family fun for condo-bound naturalists.
* READING: For the best organic-oriented California gardening guidance in book format, read “How To Grow More Vegetables” by John Jevins (Ten Speed Press; $16.)
