I have to redo my entire yard. Dead plants, ornamental and invasive species everywhere, stones prohibiting plant growth, dead dirt, you name it. Probably even more issues that I don’t know about since I cannot see them. I am on the San Joaquin Delta in the San Francisco Bay Area, California. I have observed dead dirt patches not just in my yard but all around the area. (I imagine because of all the levees built in the late 1800s to sustain large scale farming in the area. But what do I know?)
I have read online that I should know all about my soil, what it’s made of as far as sand, silt, or clay. It’s pH and nutrient content; as well as my plants’ specific needs(sun, water, nutrients). I read on older posts in this subreddit that there are places that do soil testing, but also a lot of comments that you should be able to tell what is in your soil based on what is growing in it and how well those plants are doing. Problem is, when I search for this information online it yields nothing, even when I look into the care of specific plants. I only get answers on sun and watering. Never on what nutrients they need, or what they might leave in the soil. Searching up companion planting online is also a bust. Lots of articles and graphics that say which cultivated foods grow well together, but never why they grow well together! Or how to figure out which plants will benefit each other without looking it up specifically, because there are many plants where that information is not readily available. I want to have some cultivated trees and shrubs that are not native(blueberry, lemon, apple, etc.), as well as different crops throughout the year, but all other plants I want to be native to this area and I do not understand how to figure out which plants can be grown by eachother, and which ones need to be separated so they don’t die. Also i cannot find much information as to why plants have the suggested spacing that they do. Like how you should plant oak trees 40ft (~12m) apart. Does it have to do with the size of the plant only, or does it have something to do with the way the plants’ root system grows?
California has a website https://calscape.org specifically for finding native plants and their care. Some of the plants listed on that website have companion plants listed, but do not explain why they work well together. Many do not even have information on companion plants. And one listing i found particularly confusing is the Fryingpan Poppy(Eschscholzia lobbii). It reads as follows: “Works very will with blue, pink or purple flowered annuals such as Bird’s Eye Gilia (Gilia tricolor)), Baby Blue Eyes (Nemophila menziesii)), Owl’s Clover (Castilleja exserta)), Clarkia spp.), Lupine (Lupinus spp.)), Phacelia, and Sidalcea, or geophytes such as Allium, Brodiaea, Calochortus, Dichelostemma and Fritillaria. Also good with low-growing forms of perennials such as Ceanothus and Manzanita (Arctostaphylos spp.))”. When it mentions the color of the flowers, is that-the colors blue, pink, and purple-supposed to be indicative of something that makes them grow particularly well with the poppy? Or are they just being descriptive?(Possibly as a means of sparking the reader’s creativity since this site is centered around landscaping.) Also would it be correct to assume that all geophytes and low-growing perennials would grow well with this poppy plant? I had to look up what a geophyte was when I read the listing but would it be that geophytes are good with the poppy because the poppy is a low water plant and the geophytes store water? If that is the case, should I consider not planting them next to eachother since I am in a particularly dry area? And how do I know why low growing perennials work well with the poppy? Might it be because the poppy prefers full sun? Or is there something more to it?
Another thing- How do i prevent transplant shock? I have never had it NOT be an issue. I have read about it and taken the suggested precautions but still no luck. If I have a plant now I just try to keep it in its original pot, but obviously I cannot do that with the trees I am trying to plant. In the past I mostly worked with potted plants because I was living in rentals, and have not had any success here either. The person who helped me at the local nursery today was surprised when I did not buy multiple plants for ground cover because I wanted to make sure they would take before I bought more. I guess people are usually more confident than me.
Also are there at home soil test kits? What should be in my soil? What shouldn’t? How do I make sure my invasive Trees of Heaven(Ailanthus altissima) don’t grow back once I cut them down? They pop up everywhere like weeds. Also what are some ’vocabulary words’ I should know? Today I learned what a geophyte was but in all of the stuff I have read over the years I have never come across that word. Are there other, more specific, types of plants like that I should know? Does anyone have a good source for understanding the Latin around scientific names? My ‘Intro to Taxonomy’ book asserted learning plants by scientific name is easy if you have a basic understanding of Latin. Which I do not, but would like, to have for that reason. (No, I did not complete the Intro to Taxonomy book because it took a long time and a lot of brain power looking up every other word in that book.)
I’ve been reading online for days and I am overwhelmed by all of the information I need but cannot seem to find. ANY information that can explain any of this would be very much appreciated! Or if there is anything y’all think I should know please share!!
Please note that I do not have a lot of money so I cannot hire a professional landscaper, and free information is preferred but books that I have to buy can be accommodated occasionally.
