Summer Strong Yard winner makes wildlife a priority
Robin Netzer created the pollinator garden of her dreams after losing two trees. Now it buzzes with bees and other insects. Courtesy Robin Netzer
Robin Netzer had thought about making over her South Land Park for years. The loss of two trees in 2012 prompted her to finally take action.
“The removal of two old and dying liquid amber trees was the final straw for installing a pollinators landscape,” recalls the Sacramento artist and master gardener. “I was heavily influenced by other gardeners and gardens, Mendocino, Wine Country gardens and English landscapes. I’m heavily influenced by different painters’ landscapes such as Japanese screens, Klimt and Van Gogh.”
With a new sunny space to work with, Netzer created the pollinator garden of her dreams.
“Its focus has been as a habitat for pollinators,” she says. “The joy has been a bounty of beauty. … I love the changing tapestry of flowers, leaves, bees, butterflies and insects.”
For her efforts and for providing inspiration to others, Netzer was recently honored as a “Summer Strong Yard” winner by the Regional Water Authority. Her garden and its story are featured on https://bewatersmart.info/.
Netzer and husband Mark Paul have lived in their Sacramento home for many years. Their sloped and oddly shaped lot was a challenging space to landscape and irrigate; water wanted to flow off, not soak in.
By putting the right plants in the right place, Netzer added bold and bright color as well as reduced water use.
“We’ve seen a 20% to 50% decrease in annual water use, depending on whether it’s been a dry or rainy year,” she says.
Her water-wise landscape features many eye-catching plants such as a desert willow, California and Shirley poppies plus matilija poppies (“crepe paper white crowned with a fluff of yellow stamens”), a giant ‘Pride of Madeira’ echium and an oakleaf hydrangea that provides multiple seasons of color.
“Always try seeds in the fall for a crazy and bountiful spring,” she says.
Netzer got expert help in her redesign. “I have done a lot of the work but Joel Brungardt (of Brungardt Landscaping in Davis) was instrumental in irrigation and streamlining much of the new planting, terracing and assembling vegetable garden boxes.”
Total cost was less than $3,700 in 2012 without rebates. Current rebates from the City of Sacramento could have lowered that cost even more.
During the summer, Netzer focuses on her trees.
“I take special care to water my trees,” she says. “I water early in the morning and use a moisture meter to check soil moisture.”
Her advice for other gardeners thinking about a pollinator garden?
“Do your research but – remember – to take time to enjoy the process; everything from dirt piles to finishes,” Netzer says. “Install irrigation if you can and mulch, mulch, mulch. There’s never enough plants nor time; enjoy it.”
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Garden Checklist for week of Nov. 3
November still offers good weather for fall planting:
* If you haven't already, it's time to clean up the remains of summer. Pull faded annuals and vegetables. Prune dead or broken branches from trees.
* Now is the best time to plant most trees and shrubs. This gives them plenty of time for root development before spring growth. They also benefit from fall and winter rains.
* Set out cool-weather annuals such as pansies and snapdragons.
* Lettuce, cabbage and broccoli also can be planted now.
* Plant garlic and onions.
* Keep planting bulbs to spread out your spring bloom. Some possible suggestions: daffodils, crocuses, hyacinths, tulips, anemones and scillas.
* This is also a good time to seed wildflowers and plant such spring bloomers as sweet pea, sweet alyssum and bachelor buttons.
* Rake and compost leaves, but dispose of any diseased plant material. For example, if peach and nectarine trees showed signs of leaf curl this year, clean up under trees and dispose of those leaves instead of composting.
* Save dry stalks and seedpods from poppies and coneflowers for fall bouquets and holiday decorating.
* For holiday blooms indoors, plant paperwhite narcissus bulbs now. Fill a shallow bowl or dish with 2 inches of rocks or pebbles. Place bulbs in the dish with the root end nestled in the rocks. Add water until it just touches the bottom of the bulbs. Place the dish in a sunny window. Add water as needed.
* Give your azaleas, gardenias and camellias a boost with chelated iron.
* For larger blooms, pinch off some camellia buds.
* Prune non-flowering trees and shrubs while dormant.
* To help prevent leaf curl, apply a copper fungicide spray to peach and nectarine trees after they lose their leaves this month. Leaf curl, which shows up in the spring, is caused by a fungus that winters as spores on the limbs and around the tree in fallen leaves. Sprays are most effective now.
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