WEEKLY Jizo Garden Caretaking
Winter is for Weeding--and Planting
All are welcome to join in mindful weeding at Jikoji. No prior knowledge or skills are required—and if you bring skills or knowledge, we can all learn from each other.
Some recent activities...
• Gerow and others have built another tremendous retaining wall, this one below the residents’ building.
• In the vegetable garden, the new planters are sprouting edibles.
• A volunteer built a French drain up at Kobun’s memorial area, diverting water from a spring.
• In the Jizo garden, we have cleared weeds and trimmed and removed some shrubs to create garden areas, and we’ve planted bulbs and seeds in one or two areas that are marked off by string.
• Lots of new gravel has been spread along Jikoji’s footpaths.
• Seed bombing! We made seed bombs containing local native flowers and spread them about. Made of clay and soil, they help protect seeds from birds.
Coming up...
• In California, fall and winter are good seasons to plant shrubs and perennials so they can get established before the dry summer. We hope to plant some native flowering currants in the Jizo garden, as well as other young shrubs and perennials. New plantings need water every month or so through their first summer or two, till their root systems have developed.
• We’ll also be watching for local native flowers to sprout from the seedballs we scattered a few months ago! We still have some seedballs to scatter—and we can make more, too. It’s a fun activity.
• A volunteer suggested low bamboo fencing in some parts of the Jizo garden, so we’ll be working on that, and maybe we’ll add some in other places too.
• And—of course we’ll be weeding... especially Stinky Bob!
About Stinky Bob
Stinky Bob, AKA Herb Robert and Geranium robertianum, has escaped into the wild wherever there are shady, moist forest areas. It quickly forms a dense monoculture that can crowd out the native vegetation, as well as garden plants.
We unknowingly transport seeds on our shoes, clothes, vehicles, pets, etc. That’s likely how Stinky Bob arrived at Jikoji five or more years ago. It’s a pretty plant, so we were reluctant at first to pull it. Now we weed along Jikoji’s footpaths, so that the sticky seeds won’t spread from our shoes and clothing to other places.
We’ve also been weeding in the Zendo garden and nearby areas. This year, there are way fewer seedlings coming up! We have a good chance to pull all of them before they can set seeds! Dormant seeds will still pop up for a few years, but we can stay on top of it and expand our efforts to other garden areas.
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