Leaf-blower Lament

Oh the sounds of spring are here! It is a wonderful time of year to be in the garden just listening to nature. For me, it is the songbirds that steal the auditory show- a new call seemingly added to the choral collection every day- some whose voices I can identify, but many more that I (sadly) cannot. The collection of songs is exuberance for life put to sound. Hearing them makes it seem as though the whole world is shouting out ‘Rejoice! Rejoice! It’s spring!’

The American Robin- A sure sign of spring both in sight and sound. Photo courtesy of wirestock on www.freepik.com. (What can I say, like bird call identification, bird photography is just not my strength!)

And then it inevitably happens- I am ripped from my blissful bubble of birdsong by a low chugging noise followed by some revving and repetitive crescendos of a screaming engine. Two, three, even four more often join in on the obnoxious party. Asynchronous and without rhythm they create a dreadful chorus that drowns out all other sounds and thoughts.

Oh leaf-blower. How I despise your sound and so many other things about you!

Am I being harsh? Maybe. After all, leaf-blowers have made fast, light work out of many once onerous gardening tasks. But, is it really worth it? There are some serious drawbacks to the indiscriminate use of leaf-blowers in a garden. Let’s have a look at a few of them:

Loss of Soil

How often have you seen a landscape crew rip through a yard during a spring or fall clean-up shrouded in a cloud of dust and mulch pieces? For me the answer is: ‘way too often’.

The top layer of garden soil is the garden’s most valuable layer. It is where the majority of plant roots reside, where the majority of soil organisms live, it is also the layer with the highest organic mater and nutrient content. Essentially it is the topsoil (including the organic layer that lies on top of it) that sustains life. As gardeners, we spend so much time building up this layer by adding compost, manure, shredded leaves, and/or mulch- why would we want to blow all that away?

A little graphic that depicts a very generalized soil profile. In a garden setting, unless groundcovers have been planted, the organic and topsoil layers are exposed, making it really easy for leaf blowers to blow away these layers!
<a href='https://www.freepik.com/vectors/education'>Education vector created by brgfx - www.freepik.com</a>

Damage to Plants

In addition to losing valuable organic matter and nutrients, blowing away the surface of our beds can also expose the roots of some of our more shallow-rooted plants (such as Rhododendron, Hydrangra and Buxus just to name a few). When roots are exposed to air, they ultimately die and this loss of roots can be a stressor on our plants. To take this one step further, plants that are under stress are more susceptible to attack by pests such as insects and disease-causing organisms.

Damage to the Pocketbook

Blowing away mulch and topsoil (as well as other products previously bought to incorporate into the soil) is essentially sending money into the wind. Nothing like spending money and getting nothing in return!

Fossil Fuel Use
Leaf-blowers are terrible for the gas they consume both from the standpoint of fossil fuel consumption, as well as the fumes that the operators must endure.

Noise!

Did I mention that I can’t stand the noise of these blowers?! I am sure I am not alone in this sentiment. Electric and battery powered blowers are far quieter to operate, which is nicer for neighbours, and kinder on the eardrums of the operators too!

FINDING THE BALANCE

Despite this rant, I will admit, I have a leaf blower (gasp!). Not a gas powered beast, just a battery powered piece of equipment. It is a valuable tool in my truck. It makes the cleanup of hardscape a breeze. It is much more effective to blow off (rather than sweep) the mess of potting soil that extends out 10 feet in all directions from any pot I plant-up (hey, what can I say, I’m a messy planter!). It is also way more efficient to blow off a driveway rather sweep it!

My well-used battery powered blower has been worth every penny. It makes hardscape clean-up a breeze and is gentle on the soil when I must use it within the softscape. (I am not affiliated to Stihl in any way!)

Ok, so the good ‘ol blower is great for hardscape, but what about the softscape? Do I use this tool in the garden? Sometimes… and sparingly. Now I will start by saying my blower is not as forceful as it’s gas powered cousins and it has a great range of air speeds that I can easily control. For my needs, this is a good thing as I find soil tends to stay put when I use my blower on it. Additionally, I do not use my blower to make a garden spotless, I generally use it as a rough and quick ‘inital pass’ on the beds (usually only during spring and fall clean-ups) and I leave the detail work to be done by hand, which ensures that garden mulch and soil remains in place. Picking out debris by hand has the added benefit of putting me into the garden where I am better able to spot issues within the beds or on the plants.

Well thanks for hearing out my rant! If anything, let this post be ‘food for thought’. A reminder that all our actions will have consequences that affect our gardens and even small adaptations to how we conduct ourselves can make a difference in the overall health of our garden soil and therefore plants.

Now, back to my symphony…

It's Gardening Season- Dig in!

Spring is upon us and gardeners everywhere are chomping at the bit to get their hands dirty and turn winter dreams into reality. With all this unbridled enthusiasm in the air during the early days of spring, it is no surprise that the most common question to arise in conversation tends to be: “how soon can I start planting?”.

My answer, to the shock (and sometimes horror) of many people, is “if you can get a shovel in the ground, then you are good to plant!”

Spring has sprung!

Now this may seem like a nice concise answer and the end of the blog post, but by now I think you know that I am not exactly a short-winded writer. Like all gardening statements, this one comes with some caveats that we should really take a few moments to discuss.

Soil Workability vs. Suitability

While the lack of frozen soil is an indication that the ground is workable and able to receive some new plant material, the question becomes whether or not it is suitable to be working in the garden. One common condition that makes soil unsuitable for gardening (which can occur during any season but is frequently a problem after snowmelt and spring rains) is that it is too wet. Trampling on wet soil is an easy way to cause soil compaction (bad!), not to mention that planting in waterlogged soil does nothing to start new plants off on the right foot! In fact, it is a good way to essentially drown them.

Not sure if your soil is too wet? Try the ball test! Scoop up a handful of soil with a trowel and squeeze it into a ball. Now ask:

Does the soil leave a mud impression on my hand/does the soil stick to my fingers?

Do I see free water squishing out from the soil when I squeeze it?

Does the ball remain in tact if thrown in the air?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, the soil is too wet to be worked and it should be allowed to dry out to the point that it is able to crumble after being squeezed into a ball, or break apart when thrown into the air. Obviously if you garden in heavy clay soil, the ball test is much less straightforward as clay particles have an uncanny ability to stick together. Therefore, in the case of clay soils, the presence of water/soil staining on fingers becomes a very useful observation when determining soil moisture levels.

The ‘Ball Test’ (clockwise from top left): a scoop of soil is collected from about 12” down, it is squeezed into a ball, the ball cracks upon the opening of my hand, the ball completely crumbles after tossing it in my hand. Visually the soil is not excessively wet and I have very little staining my fingers. Looks like I’m good to go!

Suitablility of Plants

While dormant trees, shrubs, and perennials can be planted at the first opportunity that soil conditions will allow, plants that have leafed out may not be ready for the ‘outside world’ if they have spent the entire winter and early spring being coddled in the highly controlled environment of a greenhouse. They are wimpy and need an adjustment period to acclimate to the harsher conditions (more intesnse sunlight, presence of wind, and temperature swings) that are found outdoors before they are permanently relocated to a garden home. At this time of year, when purchasing plants, you can ask the garden centre if the plants are ready to be transplanted outside; alternatively you can play it safe and ‘harden off’ the plants on your own by gradually increasing their daily time spent outdoors (bringing them indoors at night), and gradually increasing their exposure to sunlight over the course of about a week. A quick Google search on “hardening off” will provide you with numerous reputable resources if you are not sure how to do it.

Beautiful in dormancy, Cornus stolonifera ‘Arctic Fire’ awaits relocation to a garden home where they can continue to shine!

As a final note on plant suitability, we must keep in mind that while temperatures are warming up quickly, there is still a risk of frost for weeks, or even months to come. Plants that cannot tolerate hard frosts should not be planted outside until at least the last frost date has been reached. With that said, there is still the probability of frost after this date so it is best to wait longer before installing tender plants. To illustrate this point: the last spring frost date in my area (according to The Old Farmer’s Almanac) is listed as April 20, but it is standard practice to not widely plant tender summer annuals until mid to late May to be ‘on the safe side’. So going back to my blanket statement about planting when the soil is workable… well that comment has absolutely no validity when it comes to tender plants!

Coleus and Petunias- two tender plants that have no place in the garden for at least another month and a half!

Well, for me, annuals are a distant speck on my radar at the moment, but I just happen to have big plans for adding trees, shrubs, and perennials to the garden this year. With the arrival of the planting season in my neck-of-the-woods, it is now time for me to make my shopping lists, do some stretches, and get ready to work the dirt. (Yeehaw!)

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Additional Resource:

United States Department of Agriculture. Natural Resources Conservation Service. No date. Program Aid Number 1619. Estimating Soil Moisture by Feel and Appearance. https://www.cdpr.ca.gov/docs/county/training/inspprcd/handouts/soil_moist_feel_test.pdf (GREAT PHOTOS!)