Mountain Gardner: Evey soil is worth celebrating

“The earth is made of butterfly wings, dinosaur teeth, pumpkin seeds, lizard skins and fallen leaves. Put your hands in the soil and touch yesterday; and all that will be left of tomorrow shall return so that new life can celebrate this day.”
— Betty Peck, teacher and gardener
Soil is a wonderful thing. It grows our food, anchors our trees and provides a foundation under our feet. But it sure can be hard to work with if it’s not the soft, crumbly loam that many plants prefer.
It’s amazing that anything grows in some of the soils here in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Some folks garden in an ancient seabed of sand, and there are others who have such heavy clay in their gardens that you wonder how anything survives. Recently, I helped plant in the dense clay of Garrahan Park in Boulder Creek, and I dedicate this column to those of you with similarly inhospitable soils.
The soil in Boulder Creek required a pickax to break up enough to plant. Sound familiar? Although rich in nutrients, it needed compost in many areas to provide the environment necessary so beneficial microbes, worms and other critters could do their work and aerate the soil. A thick layer of mulch will be spread over the soil by Boy Scouts to preserve the structure and prevent it from packing down again.
There are many plants that are tolerant of clay soils, and plant selection is half the equation. The park chose mostly California natives that won’t need fertilization or pruning, eventually can be weaned from irrigation and will provide food for birds and visiting children. Juncus grass, red-flowering currant, redtwig dogwood, California rose and western redbud will be the stars of the park’s wet, clay soil. The drier side of the park was planted with deer grass, toyon, California rose, huckleberry, coffeeberry, ceanothus, native honeysuckle, vine maple, native iris and California fescue grass.
I’m sure the park will be the crown jewel of the area, and I hope you will stop by to visit and see the progress of the plants. It’s kinda like a local demonstration garden in the San Lorenzo Valley.
There are plants from similar environments in other parts of the world that would also do well if you garden in heavy soil. One of my favorite trees for these conditions is the strawberry tree. Hackberry, ash, gingko and paperbark trees also work well. Shrubs to try include flowering quince, bottlebrush, Australian fuchsia, smoke tree, escallonia, pineapple guava, mahonia, osmanthus, Italian buckthorn, elderberry and vitex. Easy perennials for clay soils are yarrow, bergenia, carex grasses, fortnight lily, coreopsis, echinacea, nepeta, salvia, teucrium and verbena to name just a few.
If you’re not familiar with some of these plants, it’s easy to see what they look like by searching online for images. It’s what I do to see a plant full grown, and not just a line drawing or a close-up of the flower.
So, you see, there are plants that will be successful even in heavy, clay soil. You just have to pick the right ones.
Jan Nelson, a landscape designer and California certified nursery professional at Plant Works in Ben Lomond, will answer questions about gardening in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Contact her at

ja******@ao*.com











or http://jannelsonlandscapedesign.com.