Applegater Winter 2018
9
DIRTY FINGERNAILS AND ALL
Intuitive gardening
BY SIOUX ROGERS
My uncle Abe taught me to never
plant anything I did not like to eat or
buy a tree just because it was on sale. But
it was my grandma Olga who intuitively
understood my garden plants. I could
trust her to walk through my garden
and not step on a lovely flower and then
call it a weed.
Here is a wee example of intuitive
gardening. A good friend was given a
heap load of “deadish” outdoor plants.
Well, most gardeners would have sorted
through the good, the bad, and the
dead, but my friend’s intuition told her
not to waste her time sorting. Instead,
she just toed them all into a healthy,
empty garden bed, fed them a little fish
fertilizer, and watched them grow over
the winter. The survival of the fittest
would determine the winners. That was
good intuition.
Garden intuition comes partially
from books or mentors, partially from
observation, and partially just from the
willingness to try and even fail. Failure
is okay! Failure is the way we learn
about almost anything, even friends.
We believe we have a wonderful new
friendship growing, and it turns out to
be, ugh, a weed. Two choices here: pull
out the weed or find some beauty in it
that you can live with. If neither works,
move on to the next creative endeavor.
An intuitive gardener looks around
to see what is growing and how things
grow. Nature does not grow in straight
rows like a cornfield. Nature does not
grow the tall things in the back “row,”
the mid-size things in the middle “row,”
or the short and stalky things (like me)
placed up close and personal in the
front “row.” Observe a forest, a meadow,
an old homesite. It is not textbook
organized. Nature plants things where
they grow best. For example, nature
wouldn’t plant an apple tree that might
get 50 feet tall under the eaves of a house.
Likewise, the intuitive gardener plants
an apple tree far away, in the orchard.
That is good intuition or just plain smart
observation.
Gardening intuition means you
respect a plant’s preferences. Say you have
a plant that needs to wear sunglasses and a
hat when in the sun. But you do not have
a shady place for it, and it’s one of your
favorite plants. Use your intuition. What
would you do if you wanted to get out
of the sun? Maybe tuck yourself under
a big bush, hide under a fern, or better
yet, make a wonderful garden statement
by setting out an umbrella and creating a
nice shady place to relax out of the bright
sun. Goodness, I have done that with my
succulents so they would not sunburn, as
I have seen happen. I placed them under
“statement” umbrellas.
Intuitively, for me, a “resting” spot in
my garden is an absolute necessity. This
can be an old hollow tree trunk, a bench,
just the earth under a large tree, or a
few chairs tucked into wherever you feel
comfortable. Here is one of my favorite,
albeit silly and weird, resting places: a
few bales of hay in my chicken coop. Yes,
way weird, but I do so love the silly antics
of the mixed flock of chickens, ducks,
turkeys, and geese. They peck around
me, jump up on the hay bale, and usually
want to know what’s in my evening wine
glass. Peck, peck, peck.
An intuitive idea: Get sprawlers like squashes,
melons, and cucumbers above the ground;
grow your shade plants underneath.
Responsive,
accurate, and locally
minded.
Grown Rogue
An ”intuitive” resting spot in the author’s garden where she hangs out
with a glass of wine and her turkeys and other birds.
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Sioux Rogers
Perhaps, in a
very few words,
intuitive gardening is based on what
makes both you and your plants feel
comfortable. If you are unhappy burning
in the hot sun, chances are your plants
will be unhappy in the same situation.
If you are shy and like little hidey holes,
I’ll bet some of your plants feel the same
way. Follow your nature-based intuition,
not a lecture you just heard or a book you
read. A dear friend recently said, “If you
step on the ground and are barefoot, you
will understand what the earth wants.”
That is real intuition.
Trust your intuition. It’s your soul
talking to you. —Tony Kelbrat, The
Natural Order of the Universe
Sioux Rogers • 541-890-9876
dirtyfingernails@fastmail.fm
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