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Old 15-02-2004, 11:41 AM
Nick Maclaren
 
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Default Mountain Gardening

In article ,
Neil wrote:

"Peggy" wrote in message
news:LtWWb.16587$jk2.55911@attbi_s53...
Hi everybody-
I'm moving from the middle of the corn belt and leaving my beloved garden
for the 6000 ft alt. rocky side of a mountain near Lake Tahoe. Shall I
start crying now, or can anyone give me any tips on gardening here. What
I've found so far indicates that I might as well forget my English cottage
garden and my heirloom tomatoes...


Your heirloom tomatoes will probably do better. There are longer and
hotter summers there, compared with our extended period of undecided
season.

Look at the local native plants. Many of these will have relatives and
derivatives at the local nurseries (check that the hardiness is not bred
out). Alternatively, in the Himalayas bamboos grow well at those altitudes,
may small flowers specialize in altitude in the Alps in Europe and there are
many smaller conifers as well as broadleaves that will flourish at altitude.
The secret is to look at the niche (ecological conditions) locally and
compare these to other locales around the world.


Yes. In that location, there will be a define (cold) winter and a
warm summer (hot by UK standards). Don't do as many of the locals
seem to do, which is to plant totally inappropriate plants and rely
on summer watering to keep them alive. And I recommend getting a copy
of the Sunset New Western Gardening book, which is a very decent
reference to conditions and plants in the area. Also, the better
and more general British gardening books are applicable, but you
will have to translate.

Most interestingly, some tender UK plants may well grow there, because
there are a fair number that don't mind cold winters but either need
a hot summer or hate our continual waterlogging at just above freezing
point. So, when you see the Sunset and UK books differ, don't think
that it is necessarily an error.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.