by Jack McKinnon

I am amazed by what you can see taking place in gardens when you look at them closely. Getting to know the plants I am growing, where they originated, what their ideal environment is and how to complement that environment gives me years of continuing education. This month’s tips will be on how to learn from your garden in order to make it better and better.

1. Learn a plant a day by getting a plant encyclopedia and trying to identify a new plant each day. Learn its Latin name in order to have a sure identification and the ability to communicate with other gardeners better.

2. Study some plant structural  characteristics to help identify and remember what you have seen. Here is one basic question: Is it a tree, shrub, ground cover, flowering plant or food plant? This narrows down the search considerably.

3. Look at the green part. Does it have leaves? Are they opposite each other on the stem or alternate? Do the edges have teeth on them or are they smooth? How thick are the leaves?

4. Find a healthy plant and look at the soil it is growing in. Try to notice if it is moist, dry or sandy. Does it have a lot of organic matter? Is it hard, or can you stick your fingers down into   it pretty easily? These things tell you what the plant likes and flourishes in.

5. Learn where different plants come from, Cyclamen, for example. are found in a surprising number of countries.

6. I have found people interested  in gardening to be very creative, intelligent and even flamboyant. Get out and meet some gardeners; if nothing else, it will make you more interesting yourself.

7. Get yourself a good magnifying glass or jeweler’s loupe. Look at leaves, bark, stems, flowers, insects, worms, slugs and snails, roots, seeds and a thousand other things.

8. Visit many gardens. My personal goal is to visit 100 world-class gardens. I still have about 70 to go.

9. Share your garden with others — or, if you don’t have a garden, adopt one. There are community gardens to join or even parking strips to spruce up. I know one horticulturalist that cultivated a street median in San Francisco.

10. Teach a young person about gardening. They say the teacher learns more than the student. If you know something interesting about how to garden, share it. It will make the world a better place.

Good Gardening!

Jack McKinnon worked in the Sunset’s gardens for 12 years and is now a garden coach. He can be reached at 650-879-3261, on his cell phone at 650-455-0687, or by e-mail at jack@jackthegardencoach.com.