Creating a soft growing environment

Our 1 acre was a very harsh environment when we started out. Sand, heat, heavy winds with no windbreaks. I would still plant things that are perceived to be hardy. I said “toughen up, you can do this.” I viewed their needs a bit like my own at the time: As unnecessary “neediness.” They mostly responded by dying. Because it turns out needs are needs.

The term “soft” is a helpful term for growers. A soft environment is where all a plants’ needs are met at the perfect moment. Yet the soft growth that results is… soft. Green. Plants grown for large scale horticulture often struggle to adapt to people’s home environments because they’ve been grown in soft environments where they grow rapidly, but that growth is very soft. If you put all that green growth out in a sunny windy environment, there’s a good chance it won’t be able to cope.

The term “hardening off” means gradually allowing a plant to feel minor stressors, to build up their strength. Yet most of what we like to eat is pretty soft. We don’t generally like chewing on fibre. Vegetables’ needs tend to be less flexible than woody perennials.

Many places use physical human-made structures to create a soft environment: shade net or plastic. We use these in a limited way ourselves, and they’re essential to the food system as we know it right now.

However, I love the idea of creating soft environments slowly, using truly hardy trees and plants that occur naturally in our climate, and using collective strength of groups of plants. Human-made structures create a stark difference between environments, and try to exclude natural elements like birds and insects. In contrast, adding more plants to alter an environment integrates birds and insects and everything else.

Creating a soft environment naturally is slow, but makes for a more resilient space. Over time, you’ll learn which plants can be hardened off, which plants can handle poor-quality well-point water.

Very young seedlings need all their needs met to do well later on. If a plant’s needs aren’t met when they are young, they often become protective of their scarce resources their entire life. Pegged to survival, but never able to thrive. A metaphor for almost everything.

Here’s to making soft environments and growing the plants and trees that can thrive where you are. If you’re in a very harsh environment, take heart! Over time, you’ll change your environment just by slow observation and small concentration of water, nutrients, and love.

Green November Green November starts this weekend, with 50% off a huge range of plants and trees. It’ll include all our bromeliads, hibiscus, ficus nitida, white pear, grasses and more. Come and visit! Sat and Sun, 9am-1pm.