The Coastal Gardener - April, 2008
Wildflowers and Snails
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Last evening, I took the dog for her walk down the road with the warm air fragrant with new cut grass and the full moon showing above the ridge well before sundown. I like to cut my grass later, when it has run to flower, assuring me that I will not have to repeat this chore again.
Near the switchback is a shady road cut that has more variety of species than most anywhere on the hill. There are the usual roadside flowers; succulent blue lupine, yellow buttercups, red paintbrush, deep blue larkspur, and new shoots of clarkia. Later, white fairy lanterns and yellow mariposa lily will finish the display.
Three different ferns had established themselves. The tiny goldback fern with its golden sporia coating the backs of finely cut leather green leaves. Then there is the maidenhair with clamshell leaflets arranged in lacy groups on wire black stems, plus the wood fern just unfurling fuzzy croziers. Among these were dudleya, or live-forever succulents, some with green leaves, others with grey, which will send up gold and pink spires of blooms in July. They need the most time to establish, testifying to the long stability of this road cut.
The Long Border of my garden runs from the ocean-facing porch towards the orchard gate. It is about 8 feet deep and 200 feet long, backed by the tall, wire deer fence, with a colorful mix of natives and drought tolerant perennials graded from start to end by water needs. The most water needy plants are clustered nearest the faucet, while several blue ceanothus, pink-flowered arctostaphylos, and shrubby eucalyptus occupy the drier end.
In the bays between larger plants are spots of annual color provided this month by golden California poppy, orange and yellow calendula, and rose purple linaria. But all these are susceptible to the scourge of the garden: snails. Last fall the garden had been free of snails, but one or two must have hitchhiked home from the nursery one day. Now he (more really an “it”, and I will get to that) is working hard to populate the new Promised Land. European Brown Snails are voracious eaters who dine on nearly any green matter but prefer the soft tender growth of vegetable and flower seedlings. Brown Snails are effective colonizers because any two individuals that meet have the potential to mate. They are hermaphrodite, having both male and female organs. So once you have two snails, you are bound to have a great deal more, quickly.
The first instinct might be to grab for some snail bait, and there are many options available. The safest option is the new iron phosphate baits such as Sluggo. Iron is a vital mineral for plant growth and much less toxic to pets and children in the amounts used in the garden. Other baits are effective but may be more dangerous to you and your family. The safest method is the “rule of thumb”. This is the idea that any pest that can be grabbed and destroyed by hand will be dealt with much more effectively than with any chemical. So I find the most snails at night, just before bedtime. Headlamp lit, the dogs and I roam the dark garden crushing any little shelled invaders we can find under my sturdy fire boots.
Last note: don’t forget to feed your roses if you have not done so already. Mine are on their second feeding of a balanced organic food. I prefer Whitney Farms Rose and Flower food. If rust was a problem last year, spray with a fungicide now to avoid new infections.
Dave Egbert
