Water your tree.  How often?  Hard to say.  But when you water, soak the soil to make the water go deep.  Then let the top 6″-12″ of soil dry out before watering again, to train roots to grow down.  When its super hot and dry, this might be once a week.  In winter it might be once a month.  As the tree matures, you can back off watering.

Here’s a chart that attempts to standardize maintenance for fruit trees.  It can also apply to native trees if you’re hyperactive, but for the most part, all you really need to do for the natives is keep them watered.

A stripped down plan is this:  keep your tree watered once a week during the first year and you should be fine.

There are no easy answers.  Austin is not Phoenix or Seattle, with predictable rainfall and temperature patterns.  2011 was El Paso precipitation with a Minneapolis winter blast.   2006 was  New Orleans rainfall and a Miami January.  We can’t grow desert plants because it gets too cold, and we can’t grow sub-tropical plants because we experience long-term droughts.  We are the bastard child of normal climate patterns.  ”What’s a poor Fort Worth (or Austin) boy to do”?

For Dead Lawns in Full Sun

Chances are that the dead grass that used to live in full sun conditions was St. Augustine.  I like St. Augustine, it’s a super drought tolerant groundcover over rich, well-drained soils, in the shade.  Otherwise, its a brass handrail on the Austin Titanic.  If you must have a lawn in full sun conditions, then you must flex your compromise muscles.   The below options will only work in low-traffic sites, and if you’re willing to bend the idiotic notions of pristine suburban lawns and forgot all about St. Augustine.

Full Sun Lawn – Option 1 – Native Grasses by Seed

We have successfully established lawns using a mix of native grasses  (Buffalo, Blue Grama, Curly Mesquite) started from seed, which is now available as a standard mix called Thunder Turf from Native American Seed in Junction.  These folks are, to me, the best native seed supplier in the state.  But, there are two huge hurdles that you’d have to overcome to make this work:

1.  Water.  Seeds need a constant soil moisture to germinate, which means daily watering for at least two weeks in the form of rain or your sprinkler system or garden hose.  If you plant in spring, it will take the entire summer under ideal conditions to get the grass to establish.  After two weeks of daily (or even twice a day) watering, you can start to back off, but still, you will have to water at least once a week during the entire summer.  If you let young grass seedlings dry out once, it’s all over and you have to reseed again, and these seeds aren’t very cheap.

2.  Weeds.  Even though the Thunder Turf mix can eventually be the turf grass option that requires the least maintenance, it takes years for it to become that way.  Once established, it requires very little water, no fertilizer, and very little mowing to stay happy.  But before then, and during the first three months especially, you will have to spend an insane amount of time weeding all of the opportunistic jerks that love the freshly prepared soil and constant water that you are giving the native grass seeds.  Weekly weeding all summer will be absolutely mandatory.  The amount of effort required will depend on how weed-infested your current lawn is now and what the soil is like, but a reasonable expectation is at least 1-2 hours per week through the summer, then gradually tapering off.

Cost to do it right ranges from $1.25/2.50 per square foot, depending on current level of weed infestation and how committed you are to chemical avoidance.

Full Sun Lawn – Option 2 – ‘Density’ Buffalo Grass from Sod

We have also successfully used a variety of Buffalo Grass known as ‘Density’, grown at a farm in Poteet south of San Antonio.  It will cost something in the ballpark of $2.25 per square foot to install it properly.  Density still requires regular water to get it established, but will have fewer weed problems than starting from seed.

But it will still require weeding to make sure Bermuda or other noxious weeds don’t take over, and uncommon attention to make it perform the way you want.

Full Sun – Option 3 – Trees or Beds or Vegetables

It’s possible that your lawn just needs a little protection from afternoon sun to survive the summer without supplemental water.  There are plenty of non-irrigated St. Augustine lawns in Austin that did fine last summer with the help of some shade trees.  So plant some trees!

Or, maybe you don’t have kids that like to run around barefoot, or maybe you live close enough to a park where they can run wild and free on the public dime.  Maybe a lawn is just a silly notion that you forgot to let go of when you moved out of your parents’ house.  There are options.

Convert that dead lawn into a heat and drought loving native bed, filled with a diverse set of plants that might not look pretty when the going gets tough, but at least they’ll survive and recover when the rains come back.  When they’re happy, they’ll even feed the birds and butterflies and bees.  Just be sure you plan for those New Orleans/Miami years; the low-maintenance xeriscape in dry years is a very, very bad maintenance hangover in wet years.

If you’re gonna use the water in a landscape, then make those drops count.  Convert your dead lawn into a mini-farm and grow veggies instead.  At least you’ll have something to show (and eat) for those water bills.

Of course, trees and new beds and veggies will need a different kind of lovin’ than traditional turf grass, so like the other Full Sun Options, they are not Get Out of Jail Free cards.  You will either need to put on your experimental hat or hire a pro to help overcome the learning curve to make these options work.

Dappled Shade or Full Shade

Some lawns have managed to stay on the fringes of survival in this drought.  Super weedy, thin and crappy looking, but with the benefit of shade.  In some cases, its best to just work with what you have, instead of tearing it all out and starting from scratch.   Applying 1/4″ of compost over the entire lawn can significantly increase the organic content of soils, as well as improving nutrient levels and soil drainage.  A monthly feeding with liquid seaweed, compost tea, fish emulsion, and liquid molasses can help wake up the soil and stimulate root growth.  Proper mowing and occasional but deep watering can do wonders too.  Sometimes, you’ve gotta work with what you’ve got.

Too shady for St. Augustine?  Then do what nature does under a thick canopy of Ashe Juniper, and mulch it deep.  If you must have some green in your duff, try out some native Sedges.  Or maybe some Horseherb mixed with Twist Leaf Yucca, or Tropical Sage for color.  And that’s just for those who can’t deal with the simplicity of plain natural mulch.

Rain Water

Until recently, the main purpose for engineers was to make sure 14″ of rain over a 24-hour period exited the property as calmly and quietly as possible.  That’s changing in Austin as we re-think the value of rain water, and now most commercial developments in Austin implement ways to capture that water, and keep it on site as long as possible for the benefit of plants and water resource conservation.

Rain gardens, rains water collection systems, and other creative paradigm shifts in precipitation strategies are all the rage in Austin for good reason.  And they don’t have to be complicated or expensive.  We can help design and build 2,500-gallon rainwater systems for about $2,500.   That’s enough capacity to keep a typical garden irrigated for at least 6 months without turning on a tap.

No Easy Answers

Ugh, and this is just the simplified version.  Every landscape is different, every users perspective is different, every year sees a different weather pattern.  What works on Holly Street might not necessarily work in Hudson Bend, so it takes a customized plan and a flexible approach.  We don’t have all the answers, but at least we’re thinking about them.

Desert Grasses as Alternative to Traditional Turf Grass

Full Sun Site Prepped and Ready for Thunder Turf Seed Mix

Irrigated Veggie Boxes in a Drought Affected Landscape

Cristina Pulling Weeds at Fonda

Fonda San Miguel’s garden is transitioning into spring. The giant squash, the prolific cherry tomatoes and the Mexican herb, papalote, were felled and frozen by the hard December freezes. Taking their place though are versatile cold hardy spring plants like broccoli, turnips, radishes, arugula and carrots which we planted from seed. The rains were helpful for their establishment. Unfortunately the rain also contributed to weeds galore, so weeding by hand is necessary. After the previous summer without rain, our motto is “we’ll take what we can get.”

In full swing as I write this are Swiss chard, strawberries, lettuce, wild onions and calendulas and some self seeded broccoli from last year’s crop, all of which handled the cold like a polar bear feathered in crisp, non-polluted snow.

This spring we’re looking forward to adding a variety of native Texas wildflowers to the garden. Being a Certified Wildlife Habitat, the added buzz from pollinating insects and birds will add to the community of rhino beetle larvae and earth worms already digging through the organic nutrient laced soil.

It happens every year.  We get all gushy thinking back on another year of hard work, great clients, good times, and want to celebrate.  But instead of breaking out the 60% ABV Dutch brew, we’re gonna do something much more productive and announce our annual Tree Sale!   All native trees come from local Austin growers, all fruit trees come from East Texas.  Prices include purchase, delivery, installation, a little compost for the fruit trees, and a big mulch ring, but not sales tax.

Monterrey Oak, aka Mexican White Oak – Big shade tree, semi-evergreen.  Our favorite oak for its manly resistance to oak wilt and its ability to woo the ladies with its pinkish new growth in spring, plus the bonus of its childish ability to grow like a corn-fed 10-year old.  It might be a legal Mexican but just like Newt, we love it so much that we’ll just call it a native.  3-gallon, $35;  7-gallon, $55; 15-gallon, $95.

Montezuma Cypress – Big shade tree.  Arborists love this tree for its symmetrical upright shape, and its tendency to hang on to its limbs.  It’s a Mexican cousin to our Bald Cypress, which makes it fonder of peppers, breasts, Mary, truck murals, and hot dry weather.  It also grows about 3 times faster than any oak too, so its like, the perfect tree.  3-gallon, $40; 10-gallon, $100.

Texas Mountain Laurel – Evergreen understory tree, 15-20′ Sun or Shade.  One should be careful when describing TMLs.  What if it’s true that plants are way more evolved than humans, and that they really have total control over us?  Nobody would want to be on record for saying anything that sold the king of the natives short when the reign of power is transferred from inferior humans back to the plants.  Texas Mountain Laurel, booya.  10-gallon, $110; 30-gallon, $230.

Texas Kidneywood – 12-15′ Sun or Part Shade.  Don’t call it a shrub to its face unless you want to get knocked out.  It can take the drought like a cactus, only it’s much softer and the bees love it.  A nice tree to plant along the fringes of the shade line of bigger trees, to eat up just a little more St. Augustine from full sun lawns for those of you heading in that direction anyway.  5-gallon, $30; 10-gallon, $90.

Palo Verde ‘Desert Museum’ – Small tree.  This is my favorite weed on the planet.  It usually grows with Retamas and Baccharis all over the nastiest, most disturbed places imaginable.  When the human population is wiped out by the Overpopulation Plague, this will be the most common tree in the New New World.  Some plant nerd in Arizona made a version of Palo Verde with no thorns, and I hope that man is the richest horticulturist that has ever lived.  Give it a little sun, super crappy soil, and either desert or swampy conditions and it will be happy.  10-gallon, $175.

Mexican Buckeye – Small tree happy in sun or shade.  Austin native takes drought like a champ, eats up alot of space that St. Augustine won’t grow in, and is the first tree to bloom in spring with the Redbuds.  5-gallon, $30; 10-gallon, $90.

Bigtooth Maple – Smallish tree.  This one is the wild card for the year.  Mitch grows them, and Mitch is pretty awesome so its good enough for me.  These are the trees that make Lost Maples what it is.  3-gallon, $35.

Fruit Trees – Some will need more than one variety in order to fruit: Apples, Pears, and Plums.  Others self-pollinate so you only need one:  Peaches, Figs, Persimmons, and Apricots.   But the more you have, the better chances of getting fruit after the birds and squirrels have their share.  We will choose the best varieties of each tree for the Austin area.  All trees are bare-root, 2-3′ whips, so they look like sticks until they leaf out in the spring.  They all grow fast, and should start fruiting within the first 1-3 years.  $60/each; $50/each for 3+.

WINTER PRUNING

Some tasks to think about in the landscape for the next few months:  1) plant trees; 2) make your irrigation system more efficient; 3) don’t prune perennials.  It’s been a weird year.  Plants are pretty stressed out right now, and a few of them have already gone to sleep for the winter, only to flush out a little after these teasing spits of rain.  Don’t be tempted to cut them back just yet.  With the warm temps and a little rain, cutting them now could potentially encourage more growth, which would end up getting nipped hard during the inevitable freezes heading this way.  And after such a brutal summer, it could be the last straw for some already stressed and confused plants.

So for now, enjoy the winteresque landscape and allow those perennials a little break for as long as possible.  The skeleton can actually help insulate roots a little, maybe buying a few degrees of warmth during cold snaps.  Let the leaves build up as an extra blanket, and wait until mid/late February to cut back the dead winter growth.

CASH FOR THE CREW

Remember when it was 104 for the 89th time this summer?  And your hard-working landscape crew still showed up on Tuesday afternoon just like they always do, to take care of the unpleasant business of weeding those beds and mowing that grass, without pausing to complain, or without cutting a corner to get out of the heat as quickly as possible?

One could argue that a prompt monthly payment is thanks enough, and I would completely agree.  I have no problems with that argument, I think its a fair and sustainable financial strategy for most folks.  But if you happen to find yourself with a little abundance, and you feel that the guys gave you a little something extra this year, please feel free to show your gratitude by sending a little extra kiss in your November payment.  Just like every year, this extra money is distributed to the 4-man maintenance crew just before they take their one week of paid holiday vacation.  It’s nothing we expect, and nothing we take for granted, but it’s always appreciated.

Claudia Alarcon and the Chronicle checked in recently to make sure the garden still had a pulse after the beating it took this summer.  Still alive!  http://www.austinchronicle.com/food/2011-10-28/roots-to-riches/ Glad to report that our late-season bounty is complimented with cool-season plantings of calendula, Mexican herbs, nasturtium, other flowers, and my favorite, strawberries, which should give us another great crop next spring.

To survive another summer, we’re gonna go deeper, just like roots chasing groundwater.  We want to make every drop count.   Those drops might as well support plants that make viable seeds, heirlooms that we can use over and over each season and support a more sustainable and self-sufficient food system.  And a more diverse set of plants to feed pollinators and other wildlife, or that don’t need as much water to produce something useful for the restaurant, like flowers.  We plan to go deeper in our uses of compost teas and mulches and smart water use to reduce our need for water to begin with, including the addition of rain barrels to supplement our water use.  We’ll start with the simple stuff, then start experimenting.

Until then, look for the fruits of perseverance in the restaurant this month – tomatoes, squash blossoms, papalo, Swiss chard, lettuce, mint, verdolaga, and cut flowers are making an appearance, all straight from the garden, fresh and chemical free!

Even though we consider ourselves as low-impact landscapers, it’s a struggle for me to be excited about landscaping in this horrific drought.  I might as well be bulldozing garbage into the Guadalupe River.

We use alternative fuels in our equipment, but propane and waste veggie oil and biodiesel in combustion engines are still air-choking pollutants.  What if we figured out ways to avoid using those engines altogether?

Avoiding chemicals doesn’t make us greener, it just makes us work harder and with less efficiency.  What if we could change clients’ perspectives, and show them the value of plants that most people consider to be weeds?

Replacing lawns with native beds doesn’t necessarily reduce water use, it just makes us look like we’re trying.   What if sometimes, the best way to conserve resources is by working with what we have, and by waiting for better conditions before attempting improvements?

Sometimes, doing nothing in the landscape is the best solution.

In severe drought, all newly installed plants need regular water.  We actually killed Agaves and Texas Sotols when we planted them in May and failed to add a drop of water this summer.   The weeds that were replaced by these now dead plants would have done better.  The reality is that those weeds were probably the most sustainable option at the time.

If we actually had a little rain this summer, it’s a different story.  A little supplemental water to get properly selected drought-tolerant plants established during normal planting seasons is not a big stress on regional water resources.  Once these plants have a solid root system, they can survive future summers of two-thousand e-hell-ven without any help, AND can improve a site by providing more cover and food for wildlife, shading soil microbes and your house, preventing soil erosion, and maybe even providing a bloom or two for the ladies.

Sometimes, using resources in the short-term actually saves resources in the long-term.   Now is a really bad time to use those resources.

We really shouldn’t be planting anything in landscapes this fall, even if the weather does cool a little.  I’m just too chickenshit to stand by that, so we’re planting anyway, because anything can be justified.  But if I had a spine, I suppose I would try this out:

Un-irrigated Landscapes – Keep them un-irrigated.  To save soil resources, only focus on areas that are now bare soil thanks to drought.  Delineate these areas into natural shapes, leaving the majority of any vegetation that is still alive untouched.   Add an inch or two of compost, cover with four inches of mulch, hand-water it long and deep one time.

If and only if it ever rains again, and if an only if it happens to be during a cool season, plant however many 10-gallon trees will fit into the mulched space, matching plant material with soil type found on the site and that will survive prolonged drought once they’re established.  Good luck figuring out exactly which trees those are, and be prepared to show your neighbor a finger when he asks why you are planting giant weeds.  Wait a year or two, then repeat with shrubs and perennials only if needed to keep up with Jones’.

Irrigated Landscapes – Shut off your irrigation system, sell your house as quickly as possible while everything is still sort of alive, and move to Oregon.

Water Restrictions

Austin is officially in Stage 2 watering restrictions.  So we can only use sprinklers once a week.  Let me know if you need help resetting your timers.

Vegetables

I’m a lost soul on the topic of veggie gardens.  The edibility of certain plants can justify their needy existence, but even in droughts like this?  Our garden at the house is dormant, save for a single basil plant that came out of nowhere.  This year’s excuse was lack of rain.  So I’m copying a yard sign I saw in San Antonio that insecurely excused the state of a parched landscape by claiming that the owner is “Sharing Our Water with Local Farmers.”  Ya, let them use our water to grow our veggies, hell, I’ll take food over a shower any day.

But I did learn something this summer, and it gave me hope that a symbiosis can exist between veggies and responsible water use in tough times like these.  Sun Gold tomatoes love drought.  We planted 40 of these plants at Fonda in April, turned off the water in July, and as of today, they’re all still loaded with sweet, juicy, beautiful cherry tomatoes.  Not a drop of water in 6+ weeks of the hottest part of the hottest summer on record, and we’ve got golden balls of manna stacked seven feet high.  Throw in some edible weeds that don’t care what the weather is doing, and we’ve got an indestructible and bountiful garden.

Sometimes, You Gotta Get Up to Get Down

Or vicey versey.  We have been turning down new clients all summer, and will continue this trend through the fall for two reasons.  1) The guys have been working overtime all summer to keep up with obligations to exiting clients and those obligations are increasing as we approach the alleged planting season;  and 2) my failure to deal psychologically with this drought have kept my ambitions at a healthy zero.

Droughts are part of a natural cycle of life in this part of the country.  95 had never felt so good as it did last week, I’m guessing the first thunderstorm will be 100 times better than that.  The drought brought tragedy to thousands of families around us, but as thousands more rush to help their neighbors, it has also strengthened communities and created new ones that will stand together during the next tragedy.  That’s pretty inspiring.  It’s the lows of life cycles that makes the highs so magical.

Anyway, we’re still here living and learning, thanks for being part of that process.  Let it rain.

jeremy

The Heat

We haven’t turned on the A/C at the house yet, and it hit 100 this week.  Princess Winecup does not tolerate discomfort, but she’s discovered a benefit to the heat that outweighs her greatest intolerance:  the heat gives you an excuse to slow down. 

So in the evenings, after the heat has accumulated in every corner of the house, the three of us will gravitate towards the living room under the fan, close enough to feel the breeze but far enough to avoid body heat, and be still.   We read.  We doze off.  We talk.  And in the delirium of discomfort, we find comfort in stillness, and we realize that we have somehow become one with the heat.  And suddenly the heat’s not so bad.  Until you move.

This discovery translates very easily to work.  I’ve averaged 16 hour days since March, and got into a grove of sun-up to sun-down doing some form of work.  It’s a pleasant grove when there’s reward in the work, but committing that much energy to one single thing requires some serious trade-offs.  So it’s time to slow down.

The Epic Journey

BioGardener is wrapping up spring projects, and is shifting into auto-pilot maintenance mode for summer.  We are regularly turning away new clients, and are pushing others to wait until the fall when the weather cools and new planting becomes feasible again.  The crew is taking some paid vacation, split over a two-week period.  The little family is packing up the Frankenstream, sticking our fingers to the wind, and hitting the road.  First to Montana, then to Vermont, then to North Carolina.  That’s about 600 gallons of vegetable oil, 50 pounds of books, 4 gigs of photos, 2-3 miles of writing, 350 buckets of laughter, 30 naps, and 4.5 tons of doing nothing.  A trip to remember.

During the epic journey, I will be available on email and phone, though I won’t be as responsive as usual.  Jose, Beto, Papa, Willie, Ruben, and Jake will be holding down Fort BioGardener, doing what they do, only a little slower.  There will be a couple of weeks around Independence Day when our schedule is whack, but hopefully you’ll be too busy embracing the heat and being still to notice. 

Summer Chores in the Landscape

Sometimes it’s a chore to do nothing.  If the grass isn’t growing, don’t mow it.  If the plants go dormant, don’t panic.  If a pepper is ready to harvest, don’t not eat it.  Study the response of plants to our truly dormant season, and marvel at the beauty of stillness. 

As stewards of the urban environment, there are still some responsibilities for us though.  In extreme droughts like this, trees, shrubs, perennials, and lawns that have been planted in the last 2-3 years will need some help.   Shoot for a slow, deep watering once per week, or maybe every two weeks if you’ve soaked in too many inertion rays from the sun.  For established plants, including mature trees, once a month waterings are a good idea. 

A little fish emulsion and liquid seaweed once a month, applied during the morning hours, will help keep roots stimulated, and compost tea helps replenish the microbes.  If you haven’t given a spring haircut to Salvias, Knockout Roses, and other long-blooming perennials like Bulbines and 4-nerve Daisies, now is the time.  Taking off dead blooms will encourage another round of blooming just when you need it.

Dream a little.  Use the passive season to consider changes to make in the landscape for the fall season:  vegetable gardens; more trees; larger native beds; beefy walkways; and other improvements to make your space more usable.  Take note of the parts of your lawn that struggle the most in the heat, and figure out what tree you want to plant in those spots this fall, or during our annual winter tree sale.

Please don’t hesitate to be in touch this summer.  I’m not on vacation, and you aren’t interrupting anything.  I have a competent crew, and a solid network of irrigators, arborists, mechanics, landscapers, and pot smokers who can help with anything urgent that comes up. 

Thank you for allowing me the freedom to spend some discovery time with my family, and for the crew to enjoy a little break from their hard work.  I’m fortunate, grateful, and promise to take full advantage of realizing it.  Have a neat summer.

Jose, Willie, and Papa Jose at City Hall

We had free breakfast at City Hall with fellow bike commuters, and even caught notice of Ricardo at the Statesman:

Jeremy, strategically positioned to completely block Papa from the camera, and waving like a jackass in an obvious and successful attempt to steal the spotlight and to blur out Willie and Jose. What a hero.

Thanks to Ricardo for not capturing the spill I took hitting a concrete post while waving to a tree.

For the rest of the landscape, we installed Austin-native foundation plants like Twist Leaf Yucca, Spineless Pricklypear, Kidneywood, Nolina, Cedar Sage, Mexican Buckeye, and Big Muhly, then seeded the rest with buffalo grass and blue grama, and a mix of wildflowers that don’t mind a little shade.

April 2008

Seeds, native or not, generally need constant soil moisture over several days to germinate into baby plants.  Baby plants need regular water to establish roots, which is hard to get during dry conditions when you don’t have an automatic irrigation system.  The first summer after finishing the project didn’t go so well, even after another round of seeding.  With no response to my followups, I assumed I made someone mad and just sorta gave up on it.  It became one of those projects I just cringed to think about.  Until this week.

April 2011

It’s actually starting to fill in nicely despite three years of funky weather and a super slow start.  And in a backyard shed somewhere in Allandale, a lawnmower is corroding from disuse.

Peace Out, Lawnmower

Uncontrollable Horde Attacking Free Plant Stash

We planted over 40 Zucchini plants that are blooming, the corn, blue potatoes, herbs, Cherokee Purple tomatoes, and Sun Gold tomatoes and coming up strong, the broccoli is fruiting, and the bluebonnets, butterfly weed, 4-nerve daisy, jasmine, and dozens of other perennials are blooming strong.  It’s a good time of year to be in the garden.  The masses from today can testify, ask anyone.