Getting your Landscape Ready for the Growing Season

Mythology tells us that getting your landscape ready for spring growing requires removing a lot of stuff from the ground, then putting a lot of other stuff back into the soil. This is hogwash (unless you happen to be selling the "other stuff").

Following the example of what Mother Nature does and the success she has had over the centuries, here's all you really have to do to prepare for the upcoming season:

1. Gently remove large objects from the ground's surface.
   These include sticks, large rocks, and piles of dead leaves thicker than about an inch. Actually, a few dead leaves are hugely beneficial when they are worked into the soil. They eventually become water-conserving humus. Never "clean" the ground totally; since nature abhors a vacuum and fills it with weeds.
2. Work into the soil the dead vegetation that happens to be left.
   The brown, dead vegetation from last year is broadly called "organic matter" and, as it decomposes, greatly adds to the soil's ability to soak up and hold water. It helps if you cut it down, shred it up and just leave it on the ground. (If you happen to have any composted organic matter on hand, this is the time to use it- no more than one part compost for five parts of native soil). Cultivate it into your soil.
3. Plant plants that are compatible with this area.
   Common sense tells you that a plant that?s from New England (for example) probably won?t do well here. So stick to plants that are native to Texas, or well-adapted. (You may need to talk with your county extension agent about this) Most of the time you won?t need to "improve" the soil with additives, since native plants actually prefer the soil that?s naturally here.
4. Water the area thoroughly.
   This hastens microbial activity, helping the new organic matter transform into soil. If we have a soaking rain, or if you use collected rainwater, that's best, but water from a hose will do.
5. Check the planting depth of each plant to make sure it hasn't "settled."
   The spot on a plant?s stem or trunk where the roots start should be slightly higher than the level of the soil's surface. Sometimes plants "sink" over the winter, so gently lift it up the fraction-of-an-inch necessary, and it?ll be OK. In the case of new trees, keep in mind that the roots will wander far, wide and deep. Eventually, tree roots may be all throughout several tons of soil. There's no practical way anybody can change the natural chemistry of all this soil, although I've heard of expensively futile attempts via dumping loads of additives on the ground.
6. Cut your lawn twice, leaves and all.
   Bringing a lawn back up to snuff for the growing season requires a similar approach. Start by picking up any large sticks that are there, and raking away any thick accumulations of dead leaves. However, if one-half of the lawn's surface area (or less) is taken up by fallen leaves, leave them there. Then simply cut the lawn at least TWICE, going in a different direction each time, letting the clippings blow back onto the lawn. (This shreds the leaves and grass clippings into very tiny pieces that will decompose rapidly.) Spread an organic fertilizer (never "weed & feed"). If you have some unwanted "weeds" in your lawn, just cut them with the lawn mower ? they?ll stop growing in a week or two. Finally, water the lawn well. (You'll notice that these hints rarely rely on expensive items from store shelves.)

Nature doesn't rely on additives, man-made poisons and artificial chemicals. It simply makes the best of what's already there. If you do the same starting from Day One, you'll be rewarded with a safe, healthy, water-efficient, low-maintenance landscape throughout the growing season.

Owen Yost is an area landscape architect specializing in designing low-maintenance landscapes while incorporating native plants with hardscape. He is a member of the American Society of Landscape Architects, Keep Denton Beautiful and the Native Plant Society of Texas. His Denton office is at 4516 Coyote Point; call 940-382-2099 or 940-383-9655 or e-mail him at Yost87@charter.net