"Plastics"

1967 brought us "The Graduate" and the movie quote voted #42 (out of 100) by the American Film Institute. "Plastics" is also a line that's been running through my head a lot lately when I've been playin' outside. In spite of my love of rocks, wood, and other things organic, I've noticed a number of plastic items have become workhorses in our little garden.

This is my plastic "Trifecta": the greenhouse, rain tank, and some GrowBoxes.

Probably best known to anyone reading this blog is the big green rain collection tank. Made of polypropylene and piped with PVC, it's undeniably a big plastic statement. Of course the lovely rock, mortar and wood cisterns we've seen at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center or in the James David garden would be preferred for their aesthetic appeal. But our big plastic tank is doing its job well and would be much easier to pack up and move if needed.  What's more important - avoiding something made from petrochemicals or collecting rainwater?  It seems so many of our choices are complicated. 

Less obvious, but essential in my world, is the heavy plastic liner of the pond. Rugged but flexible enough to follow the shape we dug in the hard clay, it allowed us to completely change the way our garden looks and feels, and the way we feel about being outside.

Probably my least attractive plastic garden components are the "Grow Boxes". Initially, I was attracted to the possibilities these self-watering containers offered in making gardening accessible to school children. The boxes are inexpensive to construct, can be broken down at the end of the growing season or school year, and allow kids a way to learn about the source of their food, butterfly gardens, or just the magic of a seed transforming itself to a plant.

Here they are last winter lined up in front of the greenhouse that's made of PVC and heavy mil plastic sheeting with its fiberglass shade cloth.

As I used them, I also found out how convenient it is to be able to leave on vacation and know the tomatoes won't die for lack of water. It's also an easy way to keep food crops out of the "reach" of two large male dogs when they lift their legs.

The funny thing is how much I've learned to appreciate them through the process of teaching people how to make them. Folks are always telling me how much they like them and why. Number one reason for most is that someone with no yard or depth of soil can grow homegrown tomatoes and other vegetables. Older folks enjoy gardening at an elevated height, and that there's no need for hoeing or heavy work involved in gardening with them - just planting and dragging the occasional (plastic) hose over for adding water to the reservoir.  With so many advantages, should they be avoided because they're fairly "tacky" and again, made from a petrochemical product?  If a child develops a love of nature or a better diet and appreciation for vegetables because a teacher grew something in a GrowBox for the class one year, does that benefit outweigh the negatives?

Also built from a plastic storage bin is my vermiculture (that's worm composting) bin.

Although it took a while to really get going, now I'm wishing it were bigger. Guess I'll just have to build another one.  Does it being made of plastic negate the act of composting?

As I've mentioned, many of my plants were grown from cuttings gathered from friends. My success with propagation increased dramatically when I began using cut off soda bottles to increase the humidity for the cuttings. (Since cuttings have no roots, at that point all moisture must be taken in through the leaves.) I couldn't begin to afford enough of the lovely glass cloches traditionally used for this purpose - especially when it's time to prune the roses and I find it impossible to waste all of those potential rose plants. Then it's not unusual for us to have as many as 25 "test tubes", as my husband likes to call them. The primary downside to these is that I've been seen scouting my neighborhood recycling bins since we don't even empty 4 soda bottles a year.

On one of those dog walking/scouting trips, I found two large plastic pots that were being thrown away. They now house the Meyer lemon and a Mexican lime.

The newest plastic additions are the raised bed corner supports I just used to build 3 vegetable beds in a sunny side strip of our yard. Even though I could have constructed simple raised beds without them, they made the project even simpler and offered angles that would have complicated the process by hours. It was during the building of the beds that now famous single word of dialogue from The Graduate began repeating in my mind.

So, give me some feedback: other than the little nursery pots and trays we bring plants home in, what are the ways you're using plastic in your garden? Please tell me I'm not alone in this dirty little secret.

900 and Counting

Amid threats of tornadoes, lightening strikes, and hail, we got about an inch of rain over the past few days. From that ... drum roll please ... we managed to collect about 900 gallons of cloud juice. * The gutters and pipes to the rainwater tank didn't sag or leak (not that we expected them to), the water went where we wanted it, and as an added bonus, we didn't get hit by the hail.

Also, as I was saying to MSS at Zanthan Gardens, now we understand what a friend meant when he said, "Oh, you got the small one!" when he saw our 1660 gallon tank. This is addictive! The clouds give us a little free and we're hooked. Given that Austin averages 32 to 36 inches of rain per year, however, our little lot doesn't have enough room for tanks to catch all of it. Herein lies the dilemma of the suburban rainwater harvester. In most areas, rainfall occurs seasonally. Many of us don't have room for enough storage to catch the entire rainy season harvest and be able to last through times of drought. When we decided to install our tank, I had no idea that not only would I learn how to install the system, I'd also get a lesson in being content with the difference this amount of capture will make. My current plan is to make a pitcher of Texas Martinis, go sit by the pond, listen to the waterfall splashing, and practice being content.

*To figure how much you'd collect, you need to know that one inch of rain on a 1000 sq. foot catchment area yields roughly 600 gallons. We aren't using our full (oddly shaped, irregular) roof surface and had to guess at our total catchment area. One of the best free sources of information on rainwater harvesting in Texas, including average annual rainfall, is The Texas Manual on Rainwater Harvesting (do an online search and the entire manual can be downloaded at no cost.)

The Choice

My husband has no idea, but he's about to be very happy that Tim was "right". We stand to save a lot of money; because as far as I'm concerned, my local nursery went out of business this week.

I've made a tough decision to stop being a customer there - the place where I'd drop by to visit on the way home and find myself spending $50 when I really didn't need anything, the place I'd find myself sometimes 3 times a day when I was in the middle of a gardening project, and the place I'd go at least once a week even if nothing special was going on in the garden. I could always convince myself that something, some plant or pot or sculpture, was irresistable. But resisting is the current plan. Why the drama? Because the owner was rude to me. Details don't really matter. Technically, he was right. I parked where they said not to. He yelled at me. My feelings are hurt. If he cared about customers, he wouldn't have said what he did in the way he said it. He most certainly doesn't care if he keeps me as a customer. So I'm responding the only way I feel is appropriate.

I used to be in retail. I was a manager for Williams-Sonoma. And, I've been in the restaurant business most of my adult life. So, I really understand the complexities of customer relationships. When you're part of the staff, you sometimes feel like the customers can be demanding and unreasonable. As a customer, I try to remember what that feels like and be respectful and appreciative of people in service industry jobs. I don't expect special treatment, I wait my turn, I try not to bore them with too many stories. And, I always try to shop local.

So there were a lot of choices in this little gardening melodrama - the choice to say things, how they were said, what was really important, and how to react. There's also the choice of whether to shop local or drive to where they're nice to you; whether to save on petrol and support the local economy, or go across town or 15 miles to the north. Whatever else may come of it, it made enough of an impression on me that I hope I'll stop and think twice before I feel the need to "be right" about something.

No pictures in my post today, just ranting. Although I do have to tell you that I have two baby cardinals in a nest just outside my bedroom window. I was afraid the mother had abandoned it during the installation of our guttering. Instead, she and her mate kept their vigil and hatched the two eggs. In the midst of my trivial human drama, something that really matters is happening - and all's right in my little garden.

The First Crop

Spring Fling 2008 was better than anyone could have imagined - the knowledge and generosity of my fellow garden bloggers overwhelmed me to the point of silence. Anyone who knows me is impressed by that! It has been captured so well on other sites, I've decided to leave it at that. Sometimes something is so good, my feeble attempts to describe it only diminish it. Check out Pam's "Digging'" for info, pictures, and links. It was perfect. Enough said.

It surprises me how many people are tracking the progress of my rain harvesting tank installation. Just for them - here's the big unveiling! The morning after Spring Fling, we went to the local big box and got the PVC piping and fittings to connect the tank.

If you're not used to doing a lot of projects with PVC, I encourage you to gently connect all the pieces while you're there at the store to test for fit. They always have short sections of piping for sale. Assemble joints and use one of those short sections to test everywhere you think straight lengths of pipe will be. Four inch and three inch inside diameters begin to look a lot alike when faced with a wall of white plastic. We went armed with the downspout adapter installed by our guttering company. In the picture below, it's the rectangular piece with a round outlet at the bottom of the spout. It's screwed on, not riveted, so it can be removed to go on your walkabout with you.

In this shot, you can see the top of the tank. There is a lid that screws on over the drop-in basket, but we chose to leave it open for now. The removable strainer basket catches leaves and anything that makes it past the "first flush". Many people just cut a hole the size of the pipe and let the water flow directly into the tank. As the water in this type of installation is only for landscape purposes, that works fine. We just didn't want to cut a hole until we were certain we had everything the way we want it. I'm making a little wooden "roof" (that looks a lot like a birdhouse) to sit over the opening to deflect leaves and protect the basket from falling twigs.

So, what's a "first flush"? It's the stretch of pipe that has to fill up before water backs up and begins to flow into your tank. The picture above shows ours, which will hold about 8 gallons before water flows off to the tank (through that pipe to the left at the very top of the picture). Gravel, bird droppings, and other junk is washed down by the initial rainfall, and settles in the pipe. It's also possible to install a valve with a float in this section - it seals off the opening when the first flush pipe is full. But in landscape applications, it's not really necessary. Just remember if you live in a city that gives rebates on rainwater harvesting systems (like Austin), you are required to include a first flush. At the very end of the pipe, there's a screw on cap you remove to release the first flush water into the garden. Lots of people loosely attach that cap so it drips a little all the time and doesn't really have to be opened completely. Just be sure it's snug enough to contain the water during a rain.

Now, how to get the water OUT of the tank. The piece shown below is screwed into the opening at the bottom of the tank to adapt the opening size to the opening of the valve:

A heavy duty valve like the one shown is necessary to hold up to the pressure of all that water. It goes on next:

The next fitting, an adapter, will size the opening down to your pump hose or a regular garden hose. We'll soon be installing a Grundfos pump that has a 1" pipe connection; but for now, we're putting in a 5/8" adapter to connect a hose faucet.


Then this ...

All assembled, it looks like this:
I actually have the hose faucet outlet pointed sideways now so I don't bang my knuckles on it when turning the handle on the big valve. This picture was taken when it still pointed down ( before I banged my knuckles.)

I didn't tell you before, but the deciding factor in chosing a guttering company was this little design element shown above. We have one of those crazy rooflines - little sections interrupted by windows and several different levels. Our salesman had enough experience in rainwater harvesting, he was able to suggest things like this to capture that little extra bit of rain. The installers crafted this out of a section of downspout. It catches a valley in the roofline that otherwise just would have been wasted. Listen for things like this that prove they understand what you want and are not just delivering their canned sales pitch. Luckily, all three of my salesmen were well informed. It was a hard choice.

Yesterday we got our test rain - a downpour of about 1/2 inch in a short period. All the parts stayed stuck together, even though we didn't use any adhesives. I was like a kid seeing snow for the first time - out there listening to the drops ping down into the big tank. My husband wanted to turn on the tap, but I didn't want to waste a drop. Now, if I can just get a good night's rest. I kept dreaming of all the little lizards who might be trapped by a sudden storm. Nature lovers! We're a mess, aren't we?

Today's Blooms

This time of year it's great to be a gardener in central Texas. The leopard frog in my pond has resumed his nightly serenade after a winter's rest, we're getting some much needed rain, and everything looks so fresh and healthy in the cooler weather. Yesterday I was talking to a plant supplier in Virginia who is still having to worry about the effects of snow and cold weather. I was telling him how we are trying to get plants started now so they can get a good start before the killing heat sets in.

I missed Bloom Day, so here's what was blooming in my garden on the ides of March ...


A few years ago, I found this small tulip at a local nursery. It's t. clusiana "Cynthia" and will naturalize here in Austin. Above are three pictures of the same plant; I'm trying to capture the wonderful yellow and deep pink of the blooms. The top photo is the closest, but it didn't show the pink as well as it was taken later in the day when the blooms had opened.


Colleen's Climber rose

Chandler strawberries

"Old Blush" rose - one of several started from cuttings last year and already looking like this!

Flowering quince - puts on a show just once a year then goes back into hiding

"Apple" pelargonium - scented geranium that smells just like Juicy Fruit gum

"Attar of Rose" pelargonium - one of the strongest rose scented geraniums

Lady Banks rose - this one was cut almost to the ground when repairing the fence, but she's coming back in style. (Plants teach me a lot about resilience and patience.)

Meyer Lemon - it makes just enough lemons each year for one batch of Lemon Ginger Marmalade using a recipe my mother-in-law gave me. This year, I modified the recipe and also made a second batch from those little clementine oranges and some chipotle chiles. Our"Mexican Mandarin Marmalade" was a huge hit!

Butterfly weed or Milkweed (Asclepias curassavica) - the flowers attract butterflies and the leaves are a favorite food of the caterpillars of Monarch butterflies that migrate through central Texas

Mexican Lime - it's looking like we might have to make margaritas to use them all up

Mrs Oakley Fischer rose with friend

Dicentra ("Bleeding Heart")

Borage

"Peter's abutilon (Vesuvius?)

"Marilyn's Choice" abutilon

Bengal Tiger rose - profits from the sale of this rose go to a tiger preservation fund

Martha Gonzales rose

Mlle. Franziska Kruger rose

Dianthus

We attended the 20th birthday celebration and benefit at Eastside Cafe this past weekend. After seeing how vibrant and healthy their garden is, I was almost embarassed to show you mine. If you're in the Austin area, please do yourself the favor of seeing what they've managed to do with a small city plot. It's inspiring.

Hope you enjoyed our flowers. Not pictured are the Mutabilis rose and spirea that are putting on a show in the front yard. Also, we're hoping to have a major update on the rainwater harvesting soon. Check back in about a week. If we don't have any more rain delays, we can start collecting it. Gotta love the irony!

Plants with a Past

Driving to work the other day, I noticed something seemed out of place in a utility easement off to my right. Days passed before I had a reason to drive that way again; but knowing where to look, this time I could clearly see the green crowns of German iris plants scattered in profusion throughout the trenched and packed down right of way.

The New Digs

Yesterday, my husband and I went back and brought a few of them home to a pampered existence of amended soil, mulched surfaces, and regular watering. After surviving for over 50 years in neglect, they'll probably die from the shock. But it made me unbelievably happy to have this connection to the past scattered about my garden. These irises predictably bloom white or blue, but I don't really care which. They're in my garden to provide a feeling more than a flower.

That spot of town has been a cow pasture for as long as most people can recall, but the railroad used to run along there. The only memory of that now is the name of the street - "Railroad" - and a largely neglected historical sign along a park path. However, in the mid-1890's, our little town had a population of 250. The arrival of that railroad doubled the population. Though the railroad, too, is long gone, back then many of the town's homes were situated close to the commerce along the tracks. No telling what humble home was brightened by my plants' ancestors. And no telling how long they've survived there without any help from anyone.

"Peter's" abutilon (from Barton Sprgs. Nursery)

Source often determines what I will commonly call the plants I've started from cuttings - even when I know their botanical names. In my garden you'll find "Jeri's Llano Pink" (an unidentified antique rose from my friend Jeri's home on the Llano River), "Colleen's Climber" (found and shared by my friend Colleen Belk and later officially named for her), "Doug's Peach Iris" from my friend Doug's unbelievable cottage garden in Austin, "Lucinda's Hoja Santa" (started from an offshoot of my long time friend Lucinda's mother plant), and others.

Most of my shrimp plants were started from cuttings from the extension office demo garden. When I'm admiring the startling blue blooms on the Mexican salvia, I'm thinking of the first time I ever enjoyed the contrast of that color against its lime green foliage at Ila's house, then went home with precious cuttings wrapped in damp paper towel. Even lambs ears hold a memory for me of the day I first felt their soft leaves in the early 1970's and went home with a piece of the plant from Madalene Hill's herb garden in East Texas. It or its descendants have been in every single garden I've had since.

"Ila's" Mexican salvia

Many of our local nurseries propagate plants that become known by the gardener who first shared them or where they were originally found: "Marilyn's Choice" abutilon, "Peter's" abutilon, "schoolhouse" lily, the hugely successful "Martha Gonzales" rose, and the more recent "Peggy Martin" rose.

Schoolhouse (or Oxblood) Lily

When I walk through my yard, seeing these plants makes me feel connected to others, whether to dear friends who sent me home with cuttings, other gardeners with a plant I've admired and begged a piece of, or to unknown settlers who put a few irises on either side of a door to brighten the path. Let me know if there are "pass along plants" in your garden.

"Lucinda's" hoja santa

Ongoing Saga of the Rain Tank

Every gardener I know sings the same tune this time of year - there's just not enough time and daylight to do everything we want or need to do. Amending soil, pruning, putting out transplants, cleaning up winter's leftovers - just the maintenance could overwhelm a fainthearted person. But we gardeners are a sturdy lot. Bring it on! We do all that and more! No wonder I sleep better this time of year .... And, I can't wail and moan about not having enough time to keep up. I look at other garden blogs (around midnight on nights there's not enough moonlight to garden by) and see the standard everyone else sets - they somehow manage to build and maintain amazing gardens, keep up with regular posts on absolutely breathtaking blogs, and probably look fabulous and sweat-free while getting it all done.

At my house, there's lots of sweat and incomplete tasks. Near the top of the to-do list is getting the rain tank hooked up before the rainy season has passed me by. Having the tank delivered before I was ready to hook it up was part of my plan. It forces this job to the top of the list when you see this 7 foot tall tank lurking around the corner of the house. My last post was about the day the tank was delivered, and today I'll cover the tasks we've gotten done so far.

Although I was sad to pronounce it dead and see it go, the oleander had developed a fatal virus that "burned" its leaves and left it lifeless. We'd been giving it lots of extra love and attention since moving into the house, but finally realized it was time. Not only that, it was right where we wanted to install the rain tank. It may have been lifeless above ground, but it had an amazing root system that required days to defeat.

With the oleander stump removed, we needed to provide a level pad on which to place the tank. This part of the yard slopes, so we decided to build a frame to keep the soil from washing away. How many of you ever bought a bag of "topsoil" only to wonder how anyone could bag and sell that awful stuff? Well, we found a perfect use for it. We used it to build up inside the frame. At about $1.20 for a half cubic foot - it's much cheaper than the $3.00 bags of pea gravel we are also using. We used the topsoil to build up to about an inch and a half from the top of our wooden frame, then topped off with the pea gravel and levelled it. We used bagged product rather than having a load delivered as it was easier for us old folks to manage the bags. Above, Brady checks the first layer out and pronounces it ready for the pea gravel. After pouring on the pea gravel, I smoothed it out and checked it with a level.

Next step is getting guttering installed. I've gotten bids on 4" and 6" guttering with screens and with the solid leaf guards.  Know ahead of time there will be some ongoing cleaning required with screens, but the cost is about half of the systems with solid guards. And, although smaller widths are available, 6" guttering is usually recommended to handle heavy downpours without loss. The "helmets" or "leaf shields" aren't entirely necessary when the water is just being used in landscape applications. They do cut down dramatically on the amount of gravel that is washed into the gutter, but the "first flush" pipe gives you an opportunity to get rid of most of what works its way towards the tank. It's a pipe installed in the downward flow of water from the gutter that must fill up before water can move on toward the collection tank. It has a removeable cap that allows you to drain the debris out from time to time, including gravel from a composite roof or bird poop or leaves and organic gunk that work their way into the system.

When I was taking the rainwater harvesting training, we were actually making some of the parts as they couldn't easily be purchased in the US - things like the transition piece from the rectangular guttering to round PVC piping for downspouts running into collection tanks. Australia is way ahead of the United States in this area. However, most guttering companies in Austin now carry prefabricated transitions in both metal and PVC made specifically for rainwater harvesting applications. All three companies I've contacted have done lots of rainwater projects and knew what I needed without me telling them. They also worked into their bids a plan for the possibility of adding additional barrels or tanks in the future. They've done this enough to learn it's addictive. How could saving money on water bills or having enough and better quality water for your plants be a bad thing?

By the way, if this size tank scares you, Corinne at Triple S says they also have smaller options:  a green tank that holds approx. 1164 gallons that's 53" tall and 86" wide, a green tank that holds 556 gallons that's 64" tall by 48" wide, and a green tank that holds 319 gallons that's 52" tall and 46" wide.  I mention the color "green" because the tanks are also made by another manufacturer in black.  The capacities and specs are slightly different.  She says to feel free to call her at 512.243.0679 if you need any other information.  And, don't hesitate to start with just a barrel.  Many cities, including Austin, have reduced cost rain barrels available.  Really, like I said, how can it be a bad thing - even on a smaller scale!  

Enough for today. I'm hoping to have this installed soon and start catching those pennies from heaven. That phrase has certainly taken on new meaning with frequent droughts and climate change, hasn't it? Austin has lots of gardening fairs, garden tours, and gardening seminars filling the calendar in March and April. Then it's time for Spring Fling! Have to remember to make time for playin' outside! Let me hear from you - what's pushing its way to the top of your to-do list?