I've been an organic gardener for a number of years and thought I'd share photos and a few brief tips. I hope the photos will illustrate that it really is possible to grow a beautiful garden without herbicides, pesticides or chemical fertilizers as long as you follow a few requirements.

In my opinion, the first requirement for success is to spend a lot of time and effort on soil amendment, unless you are already blessed with very good soil. We started out with terrible soil. The developers hauled something in that resembles concrete - there literally appears to be concrete, as well as large tree branches, large rocks, and very heavy clay beneath our "topsoil," which is only about six inches deep. The topsoil is heavy clay, absent the tree branches, large rocks, and concrete. In order to create our garden beds, I had to mix about equal amounts of quality organic compost with the hard clay and spend a lot of time breaking up the clay and mixing it with the organic matter to create rich soil that drains well.

When you start a bed, there will likely be open areas that are not planted, which means that you have the option of doing the amendment as you fill in these areas in subsequent years so that the task is not so daunting initially. If you do use this piecemeal amendment and planting method, I recommend that you use compost rather than bark for mulch. This will make the amendment process in ensuing years easier because you can simply mix in the mulch compost on top with the soil beneath.

Another suggestion is that you really should avoid plants that are not particularly well-suited to your climate or soil conditions. Many of us see some gorgeous plant we feel we must have even though it's perhaps on the border of our climate range or a bit beyond it. After several disappointments, we usually learn to leave these plants behind. If they don't die, they are generally not gorgeous when planted in the wrong climate or soil. As a Pacific Northwest gardener, I'm blessed with a wide range of options, but I do leave all but very disease-resistant roses behind. It is simply not possible to grow them in our wet climate without dumping loads of chemicals on them. I stick with shrub roses and have had great success with the "Knockout" series.

My final suggestion is to be willing to move plants. I can't count the number of times my first choice of location for a plant did not work out - too much or too little light, too wet, or just didn't look as I had expected in a particular spot. Think of a garden as an ongoing work in progress - particularly if you're growing perennials.

So that's my two cents on what works. We have a variety of Japanese Maples in our garden, so I will highlight those in the photos below. The most recent photos immediately below are from April of this year.  The photos below those are from late June of last year.  At the bottom are photos of the maples from last October.

Photos - April 2010

 

Japanese Maple - Acer Palmatum Beni Maiko (outstanding florescent pink color in the spring)

 

Japanese Maple - Acer Palmatum 'Olsen's Frosted Strawberry' (beautiful color when the leaves emerge in spring)

Olsen's Frosted Strawberry a few weeks later (early May) - Green Filigree leaves in foreground

 

 Japanese Maple - Acer Palmatum 'Koto ito komachi' (A strapleaf dwarf - very delicate, finely cut leaves in the spring)

 Japanese Maple - Acer Palmatum 'Red Select' (an old favorite red dissectum - turns bright red in Autumn)

Japanese Maple - Acer Palmatum 'Otto's Dissectum' (turns brilliant orange in autumn) 

 Japanese Maple - Acer Palmatum 'Filigree' (has a light, feathery look with cream colored veining)

 Japanese Maple - Acer Shirasawanum 'Aureum' (Golden Fullmoon Maple: yellow-green leaves. This one cannot handle much sunlight without burning.)

Magnolia - Elizabeth (beautiful, creamy, long-lasting flowers in April and May)

Magnolia - Elizabeth close up

Photos - June 2009

 

 

 

 

 

 

June photo: Japanese Maple - Acer Palmatum 'Otto's Dissectum'

June photo: Japanese Maple - Acer Palmatum 'Olsen's Frosted Strawberry' 

June photo: Japanese Maple - Acer Palmatum 'Filigree'

June photo: Japanese Maple - Acer Palmatum 'Red Select'

June Photo: Japanese Maple - Acer Palmatum 'Koto ito komachi'

June photo: Japanese Maple - Acer Palmatum 'Beni Maiko'

June photo: Japanese Maple - Acer Shirasawanum 'Aureum'

October 2009 Photos of Our Japanese Maples

Unfortunately, we lost our sunshine just as the maples were turning colors this year (not an uncommon occurence in the Pacific Northwest), so most of these fall photos were taken under cloud cover.

October photo: Japanese Maple - Acer Palmatum 'Filigree'

October Photo: Japanese Maple - Acer Palmatum 'Otto's Dissectum'

October Photo: Japanese Maple - Acer Palmatum 'Koto ito komachi'

October Photo: Coral Bark Maple

October Photo: Japanese Maple - 'Red Select'

October Photo: Japanese Maple - 'Olsen's Frosted Strawberry' (unremarkable fall color - best in spring)

October Photo: Japanese Maple - 'Ben Maiko' (unremarkable fall color - best in spring)