Nature Is Cheering for the Raccoons

QUESTION: I live in Topanga Canyon, and in October I put down sod. About a month later, raccoons began to roll it up at night, presumably looking for grubs. I’ve tried Cayenne pepper sprays and even live trapping. I’m about to give up. Any suggestions?

--A.B., Topanga

ANSWER: You really shouldn’t get me started on this subject. Maybe the raccoons are trying to tell you something: A sod lawn has no business in Topanga. Why move to the wilds only to bring along the suburban lawn? Topanga has natural meadows (though most are composed of exotic, European annual grasses), and this is the look you should be inspired by, not suburbia.

I’ve seen several “lawns” recently that were made up of perennial ornamental grasses left unmown, at least until fire season, that looked beautiful in a wild kind of way. The grasses were a variety of heights and types and shimmered in the slightest breeze. Planted among the grasses were other wild-looking plants--tiny bulbs, perennials, even herbs.

If you want to see what a truly wild meadow looks like, hike up into the La Jolla Canyon at the far end of the Santa Monicas by Point Mugu. It’s one of the few left that is made up of mostly native perennial grasses.

The other option, of course, would be to have no lawn at all. Many new gardens have no lawn, just paths surrounded by low perennials, shrubs and herbs, with wide areas here and there for outdoor dining or sunning. Make the paths wide enough so rattlesnakes can’t rest unseen at the edges, one of the hazards of gardening in Topanga.

You could use gritty decomposed granite for the paving, which would look quite at home in the Santa Monicas. Things could even grow in the paths, as they do in trails, and rainwater can soak into the granite.

The raccoons should approve of these schemes, and then you can enjoy their antics, not be at war with them. Forget about outwitting them; only a cage (into which you put vegetables) will keep them out. They’re very clever and inventive, and besides, they were there first.

Peaches and Beaches Generally Don’t Mix

Q: I live about 10 blocks from the beach and would like to grow the flowering peaches (I believe) that grow at Cal State Long Beach, as well as blueberries, raspberries and lilacs. Would these work?

--N.I., Long Beach

A: They’d work better in Poughkeepsie. You could probably coax all of these to grow, and some people make a hobby of trying to grow the impossible. But I would plant things that thrive at the beach, and most of the plants you mentioned do better back East, where winters are really cold and soils acidic.

You should be growing ornamental plants like metrosideros, leptospremums, begonias and fuchsias or edibles such as artichokes, ollalieberries or any of the subtropical, frost-tender fruits. The beach, Sunset magazine’s Zone 24, is a privileged climate where you can grow things that nobody else can.

The flowering peach at Cal State Long Beach is named ‘Helen Borchers.’ According to grounds manager Jeff Riggs, it’s the signature tree for the campus, blooming around commencement time, and there are about 3,000 of them there. The campus is in Zone 22; Sunset says the tree will grow in Zone 24, though it may leaf out oddly in spring. Flowering peaches are generally more adaptable than their fruiting cousins.

Blueberries from the Southern states, such as the southern highbush varieties with names like ‘Georgia Gem’ and a new one named ‘Sunshine Blue,’ can be grown in containers filled with an acidic soil mix, but you won’t get much bang for your buck.

Raspberries also like more cold in winter, but there are some varieties, such as the Bababerry, that will fruit several times a year in Southern California, though growing them that close to the coast is a little problematic. Blackberries such as the ‘Olallie,’ on the other hand, will do really well (and the excess makes better jam).

Lilacs are a lost cause that close to the beach. They may leaf out and try to flower several times each year, but each time they will wither back. This is true even for the varieties like ‘Descanso,’ ‘Lavender Lady’ and ‘California Rose,’ which supposedly do well in the Southland. Even these want colder winters, such as they get in the canyon bottom at Descanso Gardens in La Can~ada Flintridge or in the hills around the high desert.

Bare roots of these plants are sometimes available in nurseries at this leafless time of the year, but I’d pass them by and be very careful not to buy varieties of these plants that don’t have a chance here. Find a reputable nursery and do your homework to discover what grows near the beach and what doesn’t. Looking each plant up in the Sunset Western Garden Book is a good place to start. It will tell you if it grows in your Zone 24.

Propagating Wisteria Is Simple but Slow

Q: Is it possible to propagate wisteria? I have one in the backyard and want to use it in front also.

Note: This e-mail question came without a name or town attached. E-mail users, please remember to put your name, town and phone number in the message, not in the header, so we can clarify things with you if necessary.

A: It’s possible to propagate anything, but I’m glad you asked because it gave me a chance to look up wisteria in a new book called “The Complete Book of Plant Propagation,” from Taunton Press (Taunton; $29.95).

Originally published in England, it is quite thorough and says you can propagate wisteria by “serpentine layering” and from softwood cuttings in spring.

The book explains that serpentine layering is similar to ordinary layering, when you bend down one of the stems and cover it with soil so it grows new roots. Don’t cut it off the plant, because that’s where it’s going to get its energy at first.

For serpentine layering, bury a whole length of stem. It will root in several places, and you then cut the sections apart to get several plants.

To prompt root formation, the book suggests “wounding” the stem first, by making little angled cuts or shallow slices--between leaf buds--on the underside of the stem. Cover these with soil; roots should form wherever the cuts were made, and leaves should start growing from the exposed leaf buds.

However, it will take nearly a year to root and several more years before it’s big enough to plant in the garden. Softwood cuttings take nearly as long and require a greenhouse or a mist system, so they aren’t very practical for home gardeners.

Seed won’t work because you have no guarantee that seed-grown wisteria would have the same characteristics as its parent. It might have tiny flowers, for instance. Chinese wisteria is the only kind commercially grown from seed.

Most nursery plants are grafted or grown from cuttings and are already a few years old when sold. Bare root plants are sometimes available at this time of year and are a bargain, though it’s always fun to try growing your own.

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