703 Ralph, new native landscaping.

Despite my best efforts, the native plant rescue project I started at the beginning of the year didn't go anywhere. The water pressure at Green Street, where we were housing the plants, was so low that it was too much of a burden to try to keep the plants alive. Since we'll be redeveloping I eventually gave in to the climate and let the plants go. I also realized along the way that the soil we took the plants from was so different from what we've got in Riverside that it might have been an uphill battle to keep them looking nice over time.

But even though the details didn't work out, the idea was, and still is, completely solid. I still wanted to do some special native landscaping for our homes, and still hoped I could recycle unwanted plants instead of purchasing new ones.

Ralphie has always seemed like the perfect candidate. The house needed a lot of care to make it look as cute as the homes RADO fixed up right across the street. It had a big, blank front yard, full of mixed weeds, and a few ugly, invasive shrubs near the front door.

I asked my friend Jake Ingram to offer his talents, and he came over one afternoon and sketched out a lovely plan for the property, including a short menu of native plants. I'm sorry to say the folks who laid the sod didn't really follow that plan. I did my best to fix things, but it's hard to overcome the inertia of mislaid sod. Let this be a lesson to ye amateur landscapers out there: DO IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME! Sod is also very itchy, and it's impossible not to get filthy while moving it.

Matt and I went up to Philip's Garden Store in Ortega, but the only plant they had from Jake's menu was lantana. We picked up a dozen gallon-sized lantana, grilled the owner about natives, and left, happy to have met the charming folks who run the store, but still missing most of the elements of the plan.

I planted the lantana that day, and started wondering where I could get the rest of the plants. Jake had recommended beauty berry, oakleaf hydrangea, and one small live oak. I remembered that I had rescued some beauty berries from the Westside the very first day I started working here last fall, so I knew it was possible. I just needed to locate them.

Jacksonville Free Cycle is a yahoo group that connects folks with stuff that would otherwise end up in a landfill. That's it's sole and dedicated mission (the group even prohibits explaining why you want something, because it just bogs down the system). I've been using the service for a few months now, and decided to post a request for the plants I was seeking.

Within a day I had three replies, with beauty berries galore, oakleaf hydrangeas, live oaks, and even some bonus four o'clocks! Since those weren't in Jake's recommendations, I checked my Native Plant guide book, and found them listed under the right soil conditions. I took a few trips to collect the plants, and each time went straight back to Ralph Street to put them into the ground.

This seems to work a lot better than holding on to plants for months, trying to keep them alive in pots until you can put them into a landscape. None of the Ralph Street plants were stressed for more than a few hours, and they got to start recuperating in their final destination within a day. So far the beauty berries I placed in the front have dropped their foliage, but the hydrangeas and four o'clocks, and the beauty berries in the back yard have hardly shrugged at the move.

It's almost too bad that we already have an interested buyer. I wanted to let my collaboration with Jake and Freecycle grow in a bit, and lure some unsuspecting client just by virtue of its waterwise wonder!

Right now the plants are small, but the bahia sod is already lush and green next to the pinestraw mulch. Once the rest of the shrubs fill in their beds it'll be really lovely.