Re: Jacaranda right along the coast

david feix wrote:
Nan,
I should have qualified my advice on Jacaranda
plantings within immediate coastal influence... There
is a world of difference between San Diego and
northern California conditions, and it is obvious that
here in northern California the onshore winds are much
colder, stronger and more consistent, and not to the
liking of Jacaranda.

David
Your reply brings out an unfortunate trait almost universal in keen gardeners of always yearning for the plants which are not suited to the conditions in their local climate range. Somehow wherever one is the plants which prefer hotter or colder, drier or wetter climates than the local one always seem to be the most desirable, but alas in many cases all one achieves is a poor shadow of the same plant grown where it is actually suited.

In the case you are discussing the operative limiting factor seems to be mostly wind and this is one of the biggest concerns for us in NZ where almost everywhere in our islands this is a severe limiting factor.

I am so lucky in my own garden which is sheltered against the worst of the prevailing winds, but in my professional career I was greatly chastened to work with a garden no more than few miles away which was windblown almost all the time and where a still day was a luxury not likely to be met more than a handful of times in the year. One thing it taught me was the value of the sclerophyll foliage you mention and the way it helped such woody subjects as Metrosideros, Griselinia, Cedrus atlanticus, Cupressus macrocarpa and other conifers along with Banksia integrifolia to not only survive but grow and flourish. I was interested to see you recommending Melaleucas. On thing that surprised me was that in this particular garden one similar species which did not cope well was any sort of Callistemon, in spite of the small leathery foliage and the fact they are common in the Wellington area generally. Even choosing species which _seem_ suitable may not always be the answer and one may have to resort to informed advice such as you were offering or simply to trial and error.

The most important lesson the site taught me though was that in the particular circumstances deciduous trees were totally unsuitable, as they come into leaf at the worst time of year - when the spring gales
are at their height.

I also learnt what a small wind shadow a substantial single story building offers, after planting a copper beech where I thought it would be protected and having it die in two years after the whole of the first output of leaves each season was scorched irreparably. The first year it managed the effort of producing a whole new set of leaves once the winds had somewhat abated, but the second year it got stripped was too much and it simply gave up. An Atlas cedar replaced it had better luck.

One extra problem of the site was that it was situated on the crown of a hill right at the head of a wind-funnel valley stretching several miles to the coast where the prevailing winds (westerlies) come in off the sea. Not only did the winds hit with full force, but fences did little good because of the site. To make substantial shelter they would have needed to be at least 20 feet high and would have then excluded most of the light.

Moira

--
Tony & Moira Ryan,
Wainuiomata, North Island, NZ.     Pictures of our garden at:-
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/cherie1/Garden/TonyandMoira/index.htm
NEW PICTURES ADDED 4/Feb/2004

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