Flowers and irrigation
I am thrilled to see our coyote mint and gumweed are already flowering in our pollinator plot! Also, the buckwheats have sprung to life although they were struggling for months after planting.
Although we had a couple rain sprinkles last week, several of our new native plants were dry (based on the moisture meter readings). So I watered them.
This weekend Phil plans to irrigate the orchard. The apricots need water now to fill out and become juicy in June.
I noticed one of the apricot saplings from last year died. It has mummified apricots and the sienna colored leaves associated with brown rot fungus.
Our orchard intern met with city staff to discuss issues associated with soil wash into the storm drain on San Antonio Road. The city could lose their permit for stormwater drains if any material other than water enters storm drains. This is part of the Regional Plan to protect San Francisco bay from water pollution:
https://www.losaltosca.gov/publicworks/page/storm-water-protection
Apparently the concern is mostly about soil washed across the sidewalk during rainstorm events in autumn when there is not a bank of weeds along the edge of the sidewalk (extending from the Civic Center sign to the Library entrance walkway). We will need to work within the constraints of limited budgets, so are thinking in terms of a phased approach. This might include grading the soil first, then gradually ramping up as we find sources of funding and volunteer effort. Our Foothill College intern, Melanie, has created a new concept design to landscape this strip at the orchard edge: Hedgerow Swale Garden. The concept integrates elements from Pollinator Hedgerows planted at orchard edges, Rain Gardens and Bio Swales designed to capture rainwater runoff from impervious surfaces. Watch for more later as her ideas develop further.
Pollinator Hedgerows
https://xerces.org/sites/default/files/2018-05/16-031_01_XercesSoc_Estimated-Cost_Pollinator-Hedgerows_web.pdf
Rain Gardens
https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/nrcs142p2_011366.pdf
BioSwales
https://www.sandiego.gov/sites/default/files/legacy/thinkblue/pdf/bioswalelidcard.pdf
