by Laurie Keit

Consider our basic needs as human beings: air, water, food, shelter and — for optimal health — an environment free of toxic chemicals. Would it surprise you to learn that plants have these same requirements?

Our success as gardeners depends on our ability to understand these needs, and to provide them in the plant’s growing environment. In exchange, plants provide a variety of mental and physical health benefits back to us.

Our need to breathe — and in so doing, to convert oxygen to carbon dioxide — is counter-balanced by our plants’ need to breathe and convert carbon dioxide into oxygen, and therein lies the symbiotic relationship. Plants need oxygen in their root systems. Compacted soil has lower levels of oxygen and is not conducive to growing desirable plants.  It is a very good medium for growing weeds, which thrive in low-oxygen environments.

Water is life for both people and plants. Likewise, too much water can kill both people and plants. Check your irrigation system. Power outages, dead batteries or forgetting to turn the system back on after the winter are all causes for plant failure. Animals can also knock the emitters off your drip systems.

Plants need nutrition and you can provide that in one of two ways: by fertilizing or by ensuring that your soil is fertile and free of inorganic chemical fertilizers. The organisms in the soil will naturally go through nutrient cycles, thereby feeding your plants “the old-fashioned way” used before the adaptation of chemicals in agriculture began killing off the beneficial organisms in our soil.

Finally, there is shelter, which I interpret as putting the right plant in the right place to ensure it thrives. It amazes me how many people buy a plant because it’s pretty, not knowing a thing about it. I’ve seen pine trees planted within six inches of a brick building. Cute six-inch babies can grow into 100-foot monsters. Investing in a copy of the Sunset Western Garden Book will pay for itself in the first growing season.

The many benefits plants return to you include lowering blood pressure, providing nutritious food, purifying the air (both indoors and out), teaching children about the natural world and how it works, nurturing our senses, creating beauty, keeping our bodies in shape, and reconnecting to the earth.

Happy Gardening!

Laurie Keit is a garden designer  and florist who has been doing business on the coast through her company, Seasonal Celebrations, since 2001. An 18-year Pacifica resident, she can be contacted at 650-722-0091, by e-mail at keit@sbcglobal.net or through her Web site, www.seasonalcelebrations.com.