Gardening and Your Greater Environment

My daughter at a local park in the fall. 
Knowing your seasons and local plant life
can be beneficial to how you garden. 

 This year I had the enjoyment of listening to an audio book called "My Garden World" by Monty Don. He goes into great detail (in a very amusing and easy to listen to way) about the natural world surrounding and invading his garden. If you have a garden, then there are many aspects you can control but also many, many influences from outside your garden that you can't do anything about. The more you understand these natural forces, the more you can work with them and experience greater success. 

First, and probably the one we're most familiar with is temperature and length of growing season. Everyone should know their climate zone. (If you don't, you can find it here). This will tell you when average last and first frost dates are and also how hot it gets in the summer and how cold it gets in the winter. You can't begin to chose good plants for your garden if you don't know your zone. I could try to grow oranges and avocadoes but it would not go well for me. 

Second, know what your soil is like. The easiest way is to get a soil test from the local Extension Office. This can tell you how much clay or sand you have as well as nutrients. Soil can be amended and improved of course but it helps to know what your starting out wi
th. My soil is hard clay so I know if I put in shrubs that need really good drainage, then I'm gonna be in trouble. 

Third, what kind of rain fall do you get? If you live in a wet environment then your climate will be different than those in the south west even if the temperature is the same. Were I live, we tend to get plenty of rain in the spring and early summer before a dry July, August and September. Not that 2021 has been that way. You can find information on that here. 

Fourth, what kind of wildlife do you have around you? Squirrels, hawks, insects, deer, rabbits, and so much more can and will end up in your yard and garden. Be observant! Fortunately, we don't have too much trouble with rodents in our garden partly because we've seen lots of hawks in the area. We've found 2 dead rabbits in our back yard that were obviously eaten by hawks. Wild life does impact your garden but it's also nice for it's own enjoyment as well. 

Finally, (at least for this post) know what kinds of garden pests are in your area. Your can tell you what insects and diseases they struggle with the most so you can be prepared. Powdery Mildew is a given where I live. The only question is how early and how strongly it will come on. I know this so I can look for powdery mildew resistant varieties of plants and take other steps to minimize it. 

So you see, knowing the bigger picture of the natural world around you can really make you a better gardener. What have your learned about your particular corner of the world? Feel free to post in the comments below.