A garden hit can be a myth
It’s just a fact of life that we often — sometimes daily — get advice that sounds like, well, fact.
When it comes to the garden, we hear: “Bone meal is the best fertilizer for plants.” Or: “Native plants are always the best choice.”
You would think that life experience would have taught us that there are few facts of this sort in life. But things are not always so clear — especially in the world of horticulture.
A website based at the University of Washington State attempts to bust a lot of popular notions that we have about how to be successful gardeners.
We offer a handful of the more common gardening myths, and our thoughts about what they really mean:
■ Myth of xeriscaping: We have written about the use of plants that manage high and low amounts of water. For instance, once a sedum plant is established, it requires no water beyond what nature provides. According to the U of Washington experts, “Xeriphytes (plants commonly used in xeriscaping) are particularly adept at taking up and storing water when it’s available.”
But know this: Plants that do not require a lot of water often go dormant when dry — dropping leaves and flowers. Ironically, a study in Arizona found that homeowners understood the ecological benefits of xeriscaping but often ended up watering more to maintain esthetics throughout the dry season.
The lesson? Resist the temptation to water a xeriscape garden in times of drought, no matter what they look like while dry. The important thing about xerophytic plants is that they will come back when the drought subsides. Just be patient.
■ Myth of native plant superiority: We are advocates for native plants and gardens. Mark is president of Trees For Life, a not-forprofit organization dedicated to planting native trees in the urban environment.
But there is a caveat. Native plants, according to the U of Washington website, can suffer “significant compaction and other physical disturbances because of animal, pedestrian and vehicular traffic. Alkaline pH due to leaching of lime from concrete. Lack of mulch or other soil protection, lack of adequate water in summer months, increased heat load from asphalt reflectance and air pollution.” It’s hard to argue that the urban environment can be very hostile to plants, native or otherwise.
The bottom line is to choose plants that are suited to their growing conditions. Sun and shade are easy to determine but also consider soil (clay requires a thoughtful plant selection), compaction from human traffic, and only plant woodland plants in a woodland.
■ Myth of landscape fabric: The intention of this commonly used gardening material is to permanently banish weeds.
Our experience tells us that the reverse is true. Once the geotextile (synthetic) landscape fabric is laid down, it harbours weed seeds, can become entangled with existing plant roots, and will begin to degrade — but never completely goes away.
The claims of complete weed control are, indeed, a myth. Mark recently bought a house where the previous owner used copious quantities of landscape fabric, for whatever purpose. He pulls the stuff out by the handful, Mark tries to imagine what went through the previous homeowner’s mind.
Bottom line: there is no substitute for regular weeding and mulching with a natural material like cedar bark.
You might enjoy reviewing the U of Washington’s myth-busting contrarian views at puyallup.wsu.edu/ lcs/, or consider joining Canada’s own garden myth-buster Robert Pavlis at his website gardenmyths.com and his very active Facebook group by the same name.
And whether you agree or have alternatives to the views offered here, we’re planting these seeds to help stir your mind on a cold winter’s day.