Our gardens after we're gone

I've just returned from a 2-week pilgrimage in India conducted by Eleven Directions. It was a truly amazing trip, and I'll write more about it in another post. While I was gone, Country Mouse did a number of delightful posts and a new banner, and also posted a few posts I had prepared before I left (Thanks!).

I was giddy with relief and delight when I returned to find my garden unharmed and green, drenched by 5 inches of rain. A few arm-thick redwood branches had come down in the storm, but the trees still stand, thanks to some heavy pruning our neighbor had done 2 years ago. Then I read the interesting post our gardens after we're gone by James at Lost in the Landscape. And since I'd just gone, it really struck a cord with me.

What would happen to my garden if it were just left to fend for itself? No irrigation, no weeding, no fertilizer? Here's what I think would happen.

The biggest problem would be water. Without irrigation, the beautiful ferns and other water-loving natives such as the ginger (asarum caudatum) in the blue pots would not survive. 

The same is true for some of the redwood habitat. Redwoods are not locally native, and the redwood sorrel and ferns would not make it.

In contrast, the huckleberries (Vaccinium ovatum) might pull through, though the 3-year old plants have better chances than the 1-year old plants. I also hope that my blue elderberry (Sambucus mexicana) would continue to feed the birds, and grow into a big, beautiful tree.

Of course, the birds would be upset that no one fills the bird baths. In winter, that's not a problem. But in our summer-dry climate, they'd have to fly upstream until they reach the headwaters of the creeks. Without humans, water would be hard to find.

 

Walking around, I was actually surprised how many of my plants would probably do fine without me. On the Mediterranean mounds, the ceanothus (California wild lilac), arctostaphylos (Manzanita), grasses, and salvias wouldn't look as good in summer, but would green up and grow with the winter rains. 

I'm not quite as sure about the lavender and the Salvia spatacea (Hummingbird sage), which prefers a shadier spot. But I expect the sage would go summer dormant and return with its bright green leaves in the fall.

Of course, the mounds would be covered with Spurge and with Poppies. They seem to coexist happily, and the Poppies reseed so vigerously that I'd expect they'll spread throughout the garden, and over to the neighbors' gardens.

Many other native plants, and some of my drought-tolerant non-natives such as the Tea tree (Leptospermum), the Australian fuchsia (Correa), and Clivia would get by fine without me. Even the succulent pots would probably make it through the dry summer and revive with the rains.

The Camelias, I'm sorry to say, would probably dry up and perish, though they're very well established and in the shade. Who knows, maybe they'll survive? But I'm more optimistic about the newly planted checkerbloom, which I've seen in the wild so I know it survives the dry months. 

 

In this picture, the checkerbloom is surrounded by Clarkia leaves, and I'm sure that annual would go through its cycle of blooms, die-back, and regrowth from seeds without me because I rarely water that area, which has no irrigation.

Lack of fertilizer won't be a problem for most of my plants, with the exception of the Abutilon,  which really does need a regular shot in the arm. In fact, it's just coming back after I almost killed it by neglecting to feed it for too long.

 

I also do expect weeds coming in from neighboring gardens. Privets, which I pull often, and different Oxalis species. In winter, grasses from lawns. But fortunately the ivy that threatens to come over the fence from the neighbor will probably die in the first summer (or the second) if it's not watered, so my native irises have a good chance of spreading and thriving. 

The biggest change in the garden would probably come when the neighbor's redwoods, which rely on irrigation to thrive here away from the hills, weaken and topple over during one of the early winter storms. 

 

As it is, redwoods require extra pruning so the wind goes through the open spaces instead of catching on the branches and pushing all or part of the tree to the ground. The worst storms come from the north, which would mean the tree would become part of the garden (and possibly the house). 

Would it still look like a garden? Probably not. But the birds and other critters would appreciate the shelter from the dying tree, and would also enjoy the many different plants already in the garden. "We have nectar, pollen, and berries here; we have seeds and shelter," I want to say "And how about pulling some privet seedlings while you're here?"