The Scrub Evolves

Weeds emerging from the scrub sand

As I expected, the area that I have been planning my scrub in has fast become fertile ground for weeds. Despite the fact that I have added 250 pounds of clean play sand to this area, the weed seeds residing in the soil beneath it all are germinating.  I'm not surprised  by what is happening right now. Weed seeds are some of the most tenacious living organisms on the planet and they are always around, waiting their chance to sprout and take possession of a disturbed landscape; even in relatively sterile sand like I have here.

I have planned for this. It's taken me a great many years of gardening experience, but I've learned not to plant a new bed immediately. I now wait for the weeds before I plant and I pull them as they emerge. If I had planted this area right away, the weeding would have been made much more difficult. I know now that everything that emerges in this new bed is unplanned.  Forget the oft-written platitudes I see on social media about "free plants" - EVERYTHING that comes up here now is unwanted. It does not matter to me if it is native or not. I have a planting plan for this spot and only those plants are wanted. There is no room for the "freeloaders". If I had wanted them, they would be waiting in pots like all of the others. What is popping up are mostly the lawn weeds that exist in adjacent areas of my yard - Mexican clover (Richardia scabra) being one of the most common and Asiatic dayflower (Commelina communis) coming in second. There will be no native scrub or sandhill plants without my intervention. They are not in my lawn nor in my clean sand.  

I am a strong proponent of planned landscapes. I know what I intend to plant. I already have some of them. I will get the others in the weeks ahead. Because I do not have unlimited room (and who really does?), I have planned carefully. Scrub plants in particular hate being too crowded.  As much as I plan things initially, I also know that this landscape will evolve and change over time.  I will pull everything that I have not purposely added, but I also may have to thin some that do too well or accept the demise of certain things that might not like what I'm introducing them to. That's a fact of life in landscaping - native plants or not.

I like to plant new specimens in the late fall and early winter. The elements are not as harsh here then and plants seem to adjust quicker.  As I add my new specimens, I will keep you posted to my progress.

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