The Know Maintenance Approach to Perennial Plant Gardens

Great talk at the Toronto Botanical Gardens with the author Roy Diblik. Know Maintenance was first published in 2014, which is probably why Diblik didn't dwell too much on the book itself. Still, I was quite disappointed when I went to purchase the book just after the talk, and all the copies were sold out. I arrived less than a minute too late, someone triumphantly holding up the last copy. Kind of funny, actually, the stampede to the store following the talk of anti-consumerism.

Roy talked about the industry built up around selling plants, chemicals, mulch, and how so much is truly unnecessary, if not out-right counter-productive. Wood chip mulch kills a lot of the nutrients and organisms in the soil, but many home gardeners are addicted to the looks of it, conditioned by magazines. Plants fall in and out of style, fuelled by trends and popularity - but well chosen and well placed, there is no reason not to use and favour the tried and true. The Northwind Perennial Farm lists16 of Roy's perennial favourites which he insists can be arranged in thousands of different combinations.

I enjoyed his sensibility about "coming to know plants" and observing how certain plantings thrive as social communities; natives and non-natives together. Diversity key.

Block out on grid paper plantings not just for their height and time of bloom, but choose companion plantings for growth rate.

Plants are like people, Diblik insists, so plant a garden community. Avoid including "aggressive bullies" who have a tendency to take everything over, or high-maintenance prima donnas who rely too heavily on chemicals for survival.  Take plants out of their pots and plant more closely together, so they can touch each other. (Planting in this way also helps avoid unwanted weeds).

For shade: sedges!

Alex and Penny have a garden that is opposite of mine: sunny and sandy. And they are happy to have me help create something in their backyard.  I'm inspired to try monarda, coreopsis, salvia, geranium, echinacia, allium, a "hydrangea meadow"...

These plantings are in the style of Piet Oudolf, a perennialist with an international following known for making meadows in public spaces like the U.K., U.S. (Battery Park, High Line) and Netherlands. Most of the successful plantings I've seen are larger in scale however I'm certain principles can be adapted for smaller backyards.