NEXT WEEK IS the end of August, and as we look over the edge of this month, let us ponder on some important issues.
Many of us live along bluffs or hillsides, so let me write again about the perils of tossing lawn and yard waste over the edge of the bluff and steep banks. It seems even residents in such sensitive areas are not fully attuned to the havoc this illegal activity causes.
There are also some other big do-nots as we head full force into the growing season. So here’s a combined beware, stop and desist list of commonly performed but ill-advised (and or against the law) practices.
1. Stay away from the bluff. A strong, well-diverse, healthy, mixed assortment of foliage and native plants with varying degrees of root penetration and mass is the key to stabilizing steep slopes while delaying bluff erosion. They call these “feeder” bluffs for a reason. The waves at the foot of the slope eat away until the bluff feeds the shore, then the tides and wave action transport the sediments along the near shore and eventually out into a sandbar (Ediz Hook, Dungeness Spit, etc). Nothing destroys these crucial stabilizing features faster and more proficiently than tossing debris over the edge of a slope. This organic material almost instantly kills whatever vegetation it falls upon, weighing down the slope. Then, without roots to hold the soil back, it quickly becomes a one-two punch to your beachfront buffer. This steep, pitched, crude compost pile turns into a wet, rotting mass that, especially during winter rains, slides down the hill. With no vegetation except a mount of snap weed, horsetail and an occasional Scotch broom (is that better than no vegetation at all?), our heavy rains in fall and winter start to open up eroding crevices. Start a compost pile on level ground, use the woody prunings to create wildlife habitat and cover or haul off organic material to a recycling facility, but do not throw it over the side! That is taboo and will cause much bigger issues for the safety of your home’s foundation.
2. Be very wary of weed/brush killers. I hate Casoron! It’s great at destroying weeds. But it easily migrates with moisture, so it kills all sorts of aquatic life and does so for months after the initial application. Various “brush killer” herbicides also move from the spot sprayed and exterminate worms and other beneficial soil organisms down under. Pouring boiling water or using a torch to kill weeds adds not only to the carbon footprint of your yard but (along with using vinegar) kills soil organisms and worms as well. Hoeing, mulching, hand-pulling and cultivating are the best ways to kill weeds. Think before you act. Don’t use harmful weed controls!
3. Ponder pesticides. Chemical pesticides can be extremely harmful because of their collateral damage and unintended consequences. Bee populations are crashing because of strong chemical use. Spraying for one bug can be wide-spectrum, killing beneficial insects as well as clearing out the predators, allowing the surviving bad bugs to breed and their ensuing populations to explode. Then, too, who wants a semi-toxic dump as their a yard? Employ sound cultural practices. Water early in the morning, cut out and toss away infected plants — and use biological controls and pheromone treated (sex attractant) insect-specific sticky traps. Hand destroy bad bugs and use insecticidal soaps. Don’t overuse or improperly use pesticides and other chemicals.
4. Extended bloom. Not deadheading or pinching back flowering plants can be one of the most harmful, overall appearance destroying, bloom-reducing things you can do to your perennials, annuals and woody ornamentals. It sounds threatening, but deadheading is not harmful to plants. It’s simply the removal of mature flowers that are turning brown or losing their petals. Left to nature, most of the spent flowers will develop seeds. When they ripen, the plant starts to decline in preparation for dormancy and next season’s growth. Deadheading interrupts this natural cycle, encouraging plants to continue to produce new buds, which prolongs the plants blooming — and that means more flowers for your garden. In the case of perennials and woody ornamentals, disease and insects are also greatly deduced by this practice. Remove, deadhead and pinch — or suffer mediocre results.
And of course … stay well all!
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Andrew May is a freelance writer and ornamental horticulturist who dreams of having Clallam and Jefferson counties nationally recognized as “Flower Peninsula USA.” Send him questions c/o Peninsula Daily News, P.O. Box 1330, Port Angeles, WA 98362, or email news@peninsuladailynews.com (subject line: Andrew May).
