March 2008
Sat, 29 Mar 2008, 6:19pm, Tinman said
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This winter’s plentiful rains did wonders for our plantings, particularly in the lower plot—but they also benefited the annual grasses. We spent the majority of the time trimming the thigh-high grasses from around the plantings to expose them to much-needed sunlight.
This view toward the north shows the lower planting on the left and the rest of the slope on the right. Tom and Jon weed-whacked the middle swath just outside the fence, while inside the fence we used small hand scythes. Note how remarkably the various shrubs have grown.
Lots of stuff is blooming, once the grasses are removed to expose it. Here you see mimulus (sticky monkey flower) and phacelia:
Another surprise was how well the annual lupine are doing. We seeded these plants a couple of years ago and hadn’t noticed many last year. But conditions must be favorable, as there are many of these lovely purple-and-white flowers about:
Once we’d taken care of the planted plot, we headed out into the radish to help out various treasures we find there—native plants that are surviving on their own despite the grass:
One such plant is suncups (Camissonia ovata) which we haven’t planted but which is doing well once it’s given a chance:
The radish are big and aggressive, so we have to be correspondingly tough on ‘em. Here’s Rosie showing how to intimidate a radish into submission:
This slope is truly doing great compared to the complete radish weed patch it was just a couple of years ago. Next season we’ll expand the fenced area to recover more of the slope.
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