#native landscaping

[growingwildgardens]

Winter Sowing 🥶🍀🪻

Winter sowing is the act of planting seeds, particularly native northern plants and those that require cold stratification, in mid-Winter, rather than waiting for warmer weather 🌬🌧❄️

Winter sowing has several benefits ☃️✅️

-Best way to awaken dormancy from native/northern seeds that require 1-3 months of cold stratification and moist soil, especially those that need a false spring and then return to cold (as we're likely to have several of these in Zone 8b)

-Allows early germination and success of the strongest seeds most suited to your local environment

-When done in jugs or some other type of mini-greenhouse increases the temperature, and increases how early and vigorously seeds germinate

-Allows you to have many of your flowers, bushes, and fruit trees planted very early (mid-January to early March) so you can focus on annual food crops as your yard or greenhouse warm up

It's also a pretty easy process, mostly done with recycled materials! ♻️

The easiest way to winter sow seeds is to save excess plastic jugs - milk, juice, even vinegar bottles - anything with clear or slightly opaque plastic 🫙

1. Rinse out your jugs, use a wood burner/heated screwdriver/whatever is easiest to poke holes in the bottom

2. Cut them roughly in half, leaving a good amount of space in the bottom area

3. Fill with soil, ideally deeper and with slightly more starting nutrients than a typical seed mix - this will give you flexibility to let things grow in and not need immediate up-potting

4. Scatter your chosen seeds - prioritize wildflowers, native bushes/trees, fruit trees, and anything that says it requires cold stratification. Avoid hot weather annuals like tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants that will suffer in the cold nights

5. Cover very lightly with soil and water deeply, since this is a pretty closed system you'll only need to water about once a week until real growth or warmth sets in

6. Label inside and out, then use tape to reconnect the two halves. Put lids back on to retain heat and humidity, if can't be found can use styrofoam, aluminum foil, or plastic wrap rubber-banded on

Winter sowing is an easy process that let's you get a headstart on planting, increases germination rates in native plants and wildflowers, and uses recycled materials to grow more food 🌱🫐🍎🪻🌿

Message me for any questions, I'll discuss troubleshooting and alternatives later this week 💚

[ID: Two pictures; the first shows 3 1-gallon jugs, half full with dirt, and labeled things like "oregon grape" and "juneberries." The Second shows a long line of these jugs of varying types lined up against a garden fence, each closed and labeled.]

[millionmovieproject]

[dousaflavor]

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[shadesofbrixton]

NYTimes did a great article (paywall free link) on some ladies who realized the city was mowing milkweed and literally just tracked down the guy in charge of the lawnmowers and were like "hey could you please stop" and he was like "oh... yeah, okay." You know, after they were polite and gave him reasons why etc.

Easier said than done obviously but man we are so trained to not even Try or Ask, it's kind of crazy what you can get done when you just Attempt The Thing.

I would not say that lawn mowers and brush cutters don't have a place in the world, but I would say that if every lawn mower and similar machinery vanished from existence tomorrow, we would suddenly notice a multitude of obvious practical uses for plots of land that were not consciously considered to be "land" at all, but rather just "space" separating two constructed things.

[hairyisgood]

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[charlieharvey]

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[growingwildgardens]

Let's talk Cold Stratification 🥶 🌱❄️

It's early February in Zone 8, and that means it's time to prepare seeds that require cold stratification to germinate!

Cold stratification is a period of 1-3 months of cold, damp conditions that many seeds need in order to recognize that conditions are right to come out of dormancy in the Spring. Many tropical plants, like most of our hot-weather annuals, don't need this treatment. However, many plants native to the Pacific Northwest require it in order to mimic their natural environment.

For cold stratification, think:

-🫐Native bushes (snowberry, oregon grape, serviceberry, etc)

-🪻Native flowers and bulbs (Lupine, camas, milkweed)

-🍎Cool-weather Perennials (strawberries, chives, some fruit trees)

Methods:

-🍁Fall sowing - Simply scatter the seeds where you want them to grow during the fall or winter, cover very lightly and don't plant on ice or snow. Can also plant in very early spring, but want 1 month minimum of very cold weather left

-🌬Dry refrigeration - Put the seeds in the fridge or outside (somewhere dry and in the shade!!) for at least 1 month

-🌧Wet refrigeration - Place seeds in a plastic baggy with a damp paper towel for 1 month, check for mold or rot

-❄️Winter sowing - Plant seeds in the late winter/very early spring in winter sowing jugs; we'll discuss this method more later this week!

I have a handful of seeds for sale LOCALLY (Willamette Valley) that need cold stratification, so need to be planted soon! Contact me if you're interested in some - $3 each

-Oregon Grape

-Serviceberry/Juneberry

-Italian Plum

-Agrimony

-Evening Primrose

-Purple Foxglove (2nd year blooming)

-German Chamomile

-Mullein

[ID: Picture demonstrating a method of outdoor cold stratification, winter sowing - plastic juice bottle is half filled with soil and taped back together, "Agrimony" on the label]

[lemaquillage]

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