When we finish a yard, we create an informal sketch labeling all the plants for the client. If you applied for a rebate with the water district, we provide you the proper information about the plants in your yard to receive the rebate.
This is an example of a plan our clients receive
We apply a preparation of compost tea, which feeds beneficial soil organisms and helps the plants get settled in their new homes.
Once everything is all set up, it is time to relax, sit back, and watch the plants as they start to fill in!
When the plants are first planted, they look very small and spread out because we use young plants to minimize customer costs.
Here is a house when we first planted it
However, they will fill in when they reach their adult size.
Before we put the plants in the ground, we place them around the yard to adjust for factors like aesthetic balance, and mature grown size.
After purchasing the healthiest and most compatible plants from the nursery, we place them around the yard to get a sense of spacing, balance, practicality, and beauty. Even though plants often start out small, we give them a lot of space to grow. Some plants, like Ceanothus, multiply in size several times even in the course of one year!
Once the plants are placed, they are ready to plant. We dig a hole in the mulch to create a pocket which we fill with planting compost. We add beneficial Mycorrhizal fungi to the plant roots to help establish the root system and improve the soil health.
When we install Natural Front Yards, we minimize the amount of large equipment that we use. A major reason people rototill and add compost when planting is to improve drainage. With our program, we allow for proper drainage in our local clay soil by planting high, with the plant crowns about 2″ above the soil surface, in the mulch.
Irrigation
Drip irrigation is routed to each plant from a rough grid of ½” tubing laid on the surface of the soil, but under the top layer of mulch. Smaller tubing with emitters spiral around the plants.
The black 1/2″ tube creates the “grid” which will be covered by mulch.The drip tubing is laid around the young plants.
We make sure that your drip system is connected to a controller and that the controller is set to properly water the plants. We install a smart controller that automatically adjusts according to your local weather via the attach weather station that is mounted on your roof. During our final walk-through visit, we go over how to program the controller and how to adjust it as the plants become established.
From here, the yard is basically finished. We just need to add a few finishing touches.
Stay tuned for the last installment of the blog series!
