Do It Yourself

Installation
Watering
Maintenance

INSTALLATION

The Right Plant
Choose native plants that are appropriate to your local plant community and soil conditions. Be sure to select potted plants that are not root-bound, diseased, or that appear stressed. It is also important not to buy plants that are too large for their pot. Plants with top growth more than twice the size of their container have often been heavily fertilized and will not be heat-hardy while young. In particular, chaparral plants that have been coddled by the nursery in this way will have a much higher mortality rate than normal their first summer. Do not look for plants in bloom as many potted natives will not bloom unless excessively fertilized, though there are some exceptions. Always pop the plant out of its pot to see if it is root-bound. Reputable native nurseries should allow you to do this or will do it for you. The general rule of thumb is moderate top growth with no sign of leaf damage indicates a healthy potted plant.

Preparing the Site
Remove all debris and weeds prior to planting. Drought-tolerant California natives do not like organic matter in their planting holes so it is important to remove all leaves, weeds, and pre-existing organic mulch. It is especially important to completely kill, to the root, all perennial weeds before planting. Bermuda and Crab Grasses, invasive Oxalis, Mexican Evening Primrose and other spreading perennial weeds can be a long-term problem if not eradicated before planting.

Planting
Dig a hole slightly wider and the same depth as the size of the pot the plant comes in. If badly root bound, very lightly break up the roots trying not to dislodge much of the potting soil. Plant so the crown of the root (where the top of the plant meets the root) is a centimeter or so above soil level. Potting soil is generally lighter than real soil and will sink slightly over time leading to root rot if the plant ends up lower than the surrounding soil level. Add only real soil to the planting hole. DO NOT ADD ORGANIC MATTER OR AMENDMENTS. Lightly compress the soil surrounding your new plants to remove air pockets and then water them in.

Water your new plants deeply, just after planting, until the surrounding soil is SATURATED. Do not skimp on the water the first day or you could lose half your plants right off the bat! Hand-water deeply again once per week for the first six weeks—the exception is with heavy clay. In gardens with heavy clay only deeply water once on planting day. Following the initial heavy watering period, stop watering your drought tolerant natives directly at the root. Instead use an overhead irrigation system and follow the Water Reduction Schedule™.

Mulching
Add mulch! This is critical. Mulch will help to create drought-tolerance and will shade the roots allowing the use of a wider palette of plants even in hot inland microclimates. Good mulch, applied in a two to four inch thick layer, will also retard annual weeds (remember to kill your perennial weeds to the root before planting) as well or better than pre-emergent herbicides. Good mulch can be expensive but is well worth the cost. Skipping top mulch is the most common mistake made by new native gardeners and usually results in expensively high losses of plants.

Coastal Sage Scrub and Chaparral plants do best with slow-to-decompose organic wood and bark mulches. The best of these is shredded redwood bark, otherwise known as Gorilla Hair due to its red color and fibrous texture. Gorilla Hair breaks down very slowly and so is often a one-time mulch, completely covered by growing plants before it has fully decomposed. This makes it a good buy even though it is often the most expensive option up front. Other bark and wood chip mulches are acceptable alternatives to Gorilla Hair. But we recommend against compost or green mulches from the dump. These break down too quickly, flushing the soil with nutrients like a fertilizer, and come with weed seeds. Save your compost for the vegetable and exotic flower garden, not your native garden.

Most native plants, especially desert and beach plants, will work with Decomposed Granite (DG). This is an inorganic mulch that looks like rough sand and comes in many colors. The DG local to Southern California, which is the least expensive and has the smallest carbon footprint, is a pleasing tan color and gives even young gardens a finished appearance. Be careful to use only pure DG around your plants. Some products come stabilized with portland cement for use in creating paths, but these products will interfere with water percolation and may create toxic soil conditions over time. DG is less effective at weed prevention and soil temperature moderation than organic mulches and this should be taken into consideration when designing your garden.

Once you have planted, watered in your plants individually, and put down your top mulch, it is then ideal to water the entire landscape with an overhead sprinkler system for several hours until the mulch is saturated. This intensive watering period should only be done on planting day. After this you should follow the Water Reduction Schedule™ to wean your garden off of water and naturalize it to its surrounding conditions.