Native Garden Maintenance
12-month garden management calendar for a maturing native garden
(3-5 years old)
January
If the garden has a red fescue meadow, it will need occasional thatching. Cut back the meadow hard and thatch (remove dead grass material) every other year or every third year in areas where dead undergrowth appears. Reseed patchy areas as necessary with red fescue, clarkia, poppies and Chinese houses or other selected annual seeds. Lay down a 2-inch layer of rich humus/compost as a seed bed. Cover with a sparse layer of leaves to keep birds from the seeds. Include native bulbs. If you want the bulbs to naturalize, install in a mix of decomposed granite and site soil.
Cut back water on the meadow areas in summer or bulbs will rot. Make sure all bulbs are in gopher cages if gophers are present.
Adjust irrigation.
Transplant, pot up, or compost new seedlings, natives that have germinated or naturalized in the garden, such as buckeyes, wood mint, holly leaf cherry, toyon, and so on.
Remove invasives.
February
Continue to cut back woody undergrowth on baccharis and other deciduous shrubs.
Cut back bunch grasses hard to the base. Remove thatch (dead grass undergrowth).
Divide irises.
Cut back remaining dead growth on perennials that haven’t set bud.
Continue to remove weeds and invasives.
March
Replace sparse areas with new mulch until plants are able to make their own mulch to cover bare soils where the roots will be exposed to increased heat from the sun.
Train espaliered shrubs to trellis or vertical stakes or fences.
Tip prune or pinch back.
After plants are in bud, refrain from any additional pruning or shaping.
Weed invasives.
Lay down snail bait or organic solutions, especially around young plants or any lupine species.
April
Don’t cut back spent bloom tips on ceanothus until rainy season is past.
Remove spent flowers on most plants to prolong blooms.
Cut back short-lived perennials hard after flowering period to prolong life.
May
Continue to shape new growth of young shrubs and plants before they enter into heavy growth period.
Define each plant’s shape within the context of its relationship to the other plants around and near it, in order to create a balanced composition. Each plant should have its own space and not encroach on others. Remove plants that are crowding each other.
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