Rescuing Natives: A Hands-On Learning Experience
Probably one of the best learning tools when working with plants is to get your hands dirty and “just do it!” Nipomo Native Garden (NNG) recently secured the opportunity to rescue native plants, thanks to permission from Greg Nester, Owner/Developer, from the development at the corner of Pomeroy and Willow. This area is noted in several books on California native plants as “Ceanothus Corner” and some of the very best Ceanothus impressus variety nipomensis occur there.
Actually, this corner is a diverse and thriving botanical garden that is rich with native plant species. That was the initial observation made by the NNG volunteers when we went there to rescue plants. The very first question was, “Why are these plants doing so well and the same type of plants at NNG are not?!!?” It only took one shovel-full of soil to see why; the soil has an abundance of organic matter. Through years of little to no disturbance, this plant community has established its own composting cycle. Organic matter from leaves, twigs/branches, flowers, fruit, and other material has slowly decomposed and released its nutrients back into the soil where it is taken up by the plant roots, processed by the plant, and turned back into more new growth, flowers, roots, and fruit.
This organic matter holds moisture in the soil, provides food for microbial and fungal life which makes the nutrients available to the plants, moderates the soil pH, and inhibits the growth of harmful microbes and fungus and provides many other benefits. On to the learning by doing:
- On our first foray we chose small plants since loss of any part of the root system would be minimized. This turned out to be the correct choice since the plants exhibited fewer symptoms of shock such as leaf and young stem wilt.
- Our next criteria was to use large pots, in the 2 to 5 gallon range. This allowed us to gather as much of the surrounding soil as possible thereby keeping root disturbance to a minimum and providing a reasonable supply of nutrients from the rich soil; also a good choice.
- We then transported the plants directly to NNG, dug holes, planted, watered well, and mulched. The success curve started going rapidly downhill at this point.
Now to the lessons learned:
1. No matter how careful you are in digging up the plant and trying not to disturb the root system, you will disturb the root system. The plants will go into shock and exhibit dehydration symptoms such as leaf and young stem wilt.
2. Planting them immediately and soaking them well, no matter how carefully done, will not give the plants an adequate opportunity to rehydrate and acclimate to their new location. When planted in a sunny site that is also exposed to wind, dehydration will only worsen.
3. If you live on the Mesa, chances are the soil is sand with very little organic matter. This sand has little nutrients and holds little water for any length of time.
4. Only the most abuse-resistant of the plants managed to survive. These were the Sand Mesa Manzanita (Arctostaphylos rudis), Purple Nightshade (Solanum xantii), and Black Sage (Salvia mellifera). The more sensitive plants such as Monkeyflower, Ceanothus, and California Rush Rose went to Native Plant Heaven.
Being dedicated plant people, we did not let the results of our first foray deter us from further attempts. On the next journey to collect plants, we met at the garden and agreed that several people would stay behind to pre-dig the holes and add compost to the back-fill soil at a 50-50 rate. The rest of us proceeded to the site, collected the plants, returned to the garden, planted, and watered really well both by hand and utilizing the irrigation system. Success was higher this time but the sensitive plants still struggled.
We also had the opportunity to collect a few plants for our home native gardens. This gave me the chance to experiment with the newly collected plants before planting. The following steps gave me 100 percent success on all but the California Rush Rose.
1. Once you have the plants at home, place them on the North side of your house or other suitable structure or tree. The idea is to keep them in the shade most of the day. At his time of year, such a location will give them early morning and late afternoon sun but keep them in the shade the rest of the day.
2. Water the plants, still in the pots, really well.
3. Keep the plants in this location and well-watered for one week. You will see them rehydrate during this time. Wilted leaves and young stems should be erect by the morning of the third day after gathering. After the fifth day, these same leaves and stems should also be erect at the end of the day. Once they reach that stage, they are sufficiently rehydrated. I let them go for another two days just to make sure.
4. On the evening before or the morning of the day I am going to plant, I water the plants well again and also water the areas they are to be planted very well. Gather up sufficient compost and transport it to the areas so it will be ready for use.
5. Dig the planting hole at least three times the diameter of the pot and half again as deep. Make a 50-50 back-fill mixture of native soil and compost.
6. Fill the bottom of the hole with this mixture and tamp well. Place the pot in the hole and check grade level with the soil in the pot. Never plant natives so their root crown is below grade. Add or remove back-fill as necessary and always tamp it well.
7. When the level is correct, invert the pot with one hand while holding the plant with the other and remove the pot. Place your now free hand on the top of the soil, turn the plant upright, and place in the planting hole. Add the back-fill to the hole gradually, gently tamping as you fill until the planting hole is half filled. At this point, slowly add water from a hose until the hole is full and allow this water to percolate in. This gives me the opportunity to dig the next planting hole and make my back-fill mixture.
8. After the water has percolated down, fill the rest of the hole with back-fill, tamping well and make a shallow retention basin around the plant. Place a generous amount (3 inches thick) of compost around the plant and retention basin. Again, add water slowly to the basin area and allow to soak in. That’s it!
This method has yielded 100 percent success for me on the Manzanita, Ceanothus, Black Sage, Purple Nightshade, Monkeyflower, and 67 percent success on the California Rush Rose. I feel the real key to success is to allow the plants the opportunity to rehydrate before planting them into their new home.
