managing microclimates
Identifying Microclimates
A good understanding of a garden’s
microclimates can be a powerful
tool. Think of yourself as a real estate
agent with a botanical bent. What’s
the first rule of real estate? Location,
location, location! Your challenge is
to first identify the microclimates in
your landscape, and then pair them
with plants that can capitalize on
their unique benefits.
Your house is probably one of the
largest shade-producing objects in your
garden. At different times of the year
it casts a larger, smaller, stronger or
weaker shadow based on its directional
orientation and the sun’s elevation
through the seasons. Understanding
where and when that shadow will hit
can be a valuable tool in maximizing—
or minimizing—the sun’s impact on
your plants. Using shade creatively can
be a subtle but important stratagem.
For example, morning light and afternoon shade may help keep cilantro and
dill from bolting as quickly, and could
make it easier to maintain lettuces and
spinach outdoors in summer.
That wet, somewhat boggy spot
around your downspout may not be
the best place for lavender, but it
could be perfect for mint, especially if
you provide better drainage with soil
amendments. That hot, dry area near
your garage, the one that gets bright
afternoon light and plenty of reflected
heat from your concrete driveway, may
be a terrible home for lawn grass, but
could be the best location on your lot
for globe amaranth or cosmos.
You might already realize the southfacing hill behind your house is hot,
dry and not very plant friendly. Other
areas of your garden can be harder to
evaluate, though. There are a number
of tests you can perform to analyze
the temperature extremes, available
sunlight and soil conditions in different sections of your property. You’ll
get useful results right away from soil
and sunlight tests, but the big bonanza
comes from evaluating your garden
through a number of seasons to get a
complete microclimate profile. This
involves weekly testing and some record
keeping, but it’s worth it.
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Maximum Yield USA | April 2015
The first step is to choose
sections of the garden
to evaluate. This can
be as easy as treating your front, side
and back yards as
independent locations, or exploring
elevated, windward
or low-lying areas
separately. Based
on the information
above, you probably
already know which
spaces you want to
look at individually.
Even though you can
get a lot of information
by being observant and
taking the time to position
and reposition a simple
thermometer
around your
landscape
to track
temperature
variations,
there are
tools that can
make the
testing phase
of microclimate analysis easier and
more productive. They include:
"Microclimates offer enhanced variety
in the garden, and understanding them
can help you avoid planting mistakes
that result in unnecessary losses."
• Outdoor thermometers
• Soil test kits and meters
• Moisture meters
• Sun gauges
• Wind gauges
Multitasking tools that can gather
more than one type of information
are available, too. One is a weather
station that can track weather
conditions from multiple probes
positioned around your garden.
The data is transferred to indoor
equipment wirelessly, eliminating
the need for manual testing in
inclement weather or during the
late-night hours. Although data
tracking features will vary based on
the manufacturer and model you
choose, some weather stations will
monitor temperature, wind speed and
direction, rainfall and humidity.
Creating Microclimates
It’s pretty easy to see that a few small
variations can produce a microclimate. In fact, you’ve likely created
microclimates using old standbys
like cold frames, row covers and
raised beds. The idea of building a
whole new microclimate may have
occurred to you, too. Once you
understand what’s really going on
in the garden, you can use your current microclimates creatively, and
even build new ones.
Microclimates offer enhanced variety
in the garden, and understanding them
can help you avoid planting mistakes
that result in unnecessary losses. What
you learn will even answer lingering
questions you may have about why
some plants thrive in your landscape
and others don’t. Armed with good
information, you can start to grow a
better garden outdoors, just the way
you grow