What is sustainable landscaping?

According to the California Integrated Waste Management Board's (CIWMB) "Sustainable Landscaping" publication:

"Sustainable landscapes are managed by using practices that preserve limited and costly natural resources, reduce waste generation, and help prevent air, water, and soil pollution. The goal is to minimize environmental impacts and maximize value received from dollars expended."

At Capitol Wholesale Nursery, we are dedicated to utilizing sustainable landscaping practices to keep California’s natural landscape intact and thriving, so that our plants and yours will flourish for years to come.

California Native Plants & Seeds

Why Native Gardens? 

Here are a few of the many reasons, from The California Native Garden Foundation's website:

·  Natives are more resistant to local fungal diseases and pests.
·  Natives save money by requiring less water, very little fertilizer, and a minimum of other maintenance chores.
·  Natives are diverse and display a wide range of sizes, growth patterns, cultural requirements, and flowers.
·  Many natives are beautiful and show their own unique floral design.

Call us if you're looking for California Natives!

If you're looking for more information, here are some more websites where you can find more information about working with California Native Plants:

PlantNative
California Native Plant Society
Native Habitats
California Gardens
The Theodore Payne Foundation

When you're looking for erosion control or a natural looking landscape, using California Native Plant Seeds is a great solution. Not only do you get a beautiful-looking floral scape but also a typically durable and low-maintenance garden. 

For availability of California Native Seeds, the following websites can help:

Larner Seeds
S&S Seeds
Clyde Robin Seed Company
Anderson's Seed Co.
The Wildflower Seed Company of Napa Valley

Mediterranean Climate Plants

We understand how important it is to provide plants that will thrive in our unique Bay Area climate. That's why we carry Mediterranean climate plants year round, so you have access to the plants you want when you want them.

The region around the Mediterranean Sea has a climate of mild, rainy winters and hot, dry summers. This distinctive climate pattern is also found in four other widely separated parts of the world: California, Chile, South Africa, and Australia. The shared Mediterranean climate pattern of the five areas is now associated with fine wines and excellent fruit. The native flora of each of these regions, however, is genetically distinctive. Nevertheless, plant species have remarkably many features in common as a result of having survived the challenges of a similar climate.

Looking for some plants? Feel free to search our comprehensive plant list using the navigation bar at the top of the page.

Mediterranean and Native Turf Grasses

If you drive through any suburban neighborhood today, you're more than likely to see several landscapes that include some form of lawn or turf grass. What you may not know is that all turf grasses are not the same. In fact, there are varieties for many different environments. From full sun to shade, from putting greens to hillsides, turf grass has a large diversity of applications. For more on the peat-grown versions we represent from Delta Bluegrass Company, please visit our Delta Products page.

How can turf grass fit into sustainable landscaping? First of all, turf grass, when planned for and installed properly, can help curb erosion, and be a vital part in filtering groundwater from rainfall run-off, amongst other reasons (for more information, visit Delta's website).

Here are some links for more information about planning and working with turf grass:

Environmental Benefits of a Sustainable Lawn
Selecting a Turfgrass
The Northern California Turf and Landscape Council

Drought-Tolerant Plants

Xeriscaping? "While xeriscape translates to mean "dry scene," in practice xeriscaping means simply landscaping with slow-growing, drought tolerant plants to conserve water and reduce yard trimmings." - CIWMB's xeriscape web page

Limiting the use of California's natural resources like water is important in any situation, but the use of drought-tolerant plants also allows a designer, landscaper, and/or homeowner to use plants that are also frequently native to California. 
When the desire is to create a low-maintenance, drought-tolerant environment, xeriscaping is the perfect solution. Let us help you find the plants for your next xeriscaped project!

Here are some links for more information about planning and working with drought-tolerant plants:

Santa Clara Valley Water District Water-Wise Landscaping Guide 
StopWaste Bay Friendly Home Gardening Guidelines

Root Inoculants

Want to avoid transplant shock? Concerned your new plants may not be ready to resist whatever diseases or pests might attack them in their new home?

The answer doesn't have to lie with chemical, non-organic fertilizers and pesticides.  There's a natural way to give your plants the head start they need, even as they're being transplanted: through organic fertilizing and with live beneficial microbes for root inoculation.

One example of a microbe living inside plant roots is Rhizobium, which lives inside the roots of plants such as peas and clover. Another group of microbes living inside roots are mycorrhizal fungi. Rhizobia and the mycorrhizal fungi live with plants in symbiotic relationships. Symbiosis is the living together of two or more organisms. Often, this association helps both organisms. Call or e-mail us for more information on the root inoculants we can provide for all of your plants!

Here are some links for more information about some of the microbes used in root inoculants:

Microbe Zoo
Benefits of Mycorrhizal Fungi
FAQ about Fungi and Mycorrhizae

Organic Compost

Compost - What Is It? Compost is the product resulting from the controlled biological decomposition of organic material.

"More specifically, compost is the stable, humus-like product resulting from the biological decomposition of organic matter under controlled conditions."  - From the CIWMB website

Why use organic compost materials? "If a garden is failing, some people will pour more water on it or put chemicals on it... This can waste water, and if chemicals are placed in the soil, those chemicals wash into our drains and water sources... Compost is a natural alternative to chemical soil additives." - LCRA Feature Story

Your garden can't thrive unless the soil is capable of providing the basic nutrients needed for the plants to survive. Adding organic compost as an amendment to your soil is an important part in creating a sustainable landscape.  

"When you garden organically, you think of your plants as part of a whole system within Nature that starts in the soil and includes the water supply, people, wildlife and even insects. An organic gardener strives to work in harmony with natural systems and to minimize and continually replenish any resources the garden consumes." - From our supplier of fine organic materials, E. B. Stone

Organic Fertilizer

Why organic fertilizer?

"At the most basic level, organic fertilizer simply means a fertilizer derived from organic matter, such as cotton, bone, kelp, or manure. [Whereas] Chemical fertilizers are often processed from things like petroleum, or some of the gases
that are found in places where petroleum exists." -  From "Why Use Organic Fertilizers?" Written by Travis Saling on The Westside Gardener website

We reccomend products from E.B. Stone Organics: one is Sure Start (4-6-2), which is a blend of natural organic ingredients formulated to help newly transplanted plants develop strong roots and sturdy growth. Sure Start is rich in natural sources of phosphorous to help your plants develop a strong foundation for future growth. Our gentle and non-burning formula is safe to use with even the most tender transplants. Contains Blood Meal, Feather Meal, Bone Meal, Dried Chicken Manure, Bat Guano, Alfalfa Meal, Kelp Meal, Potassium Sulfate, Humic Acids and soil microbes including mycorrhizal fungi.

And for optimum plant maintenance try E.B. Stone Organics All Purpose Plant Food (5-5-5),  which is a blend of natural organic ingredients formulated for use throughout the garden. It is suitable for use on vegetables, trees, shrubs, lawns and flower gardens. All Purpose Plant Food is ideal for use when preparing new planting areas and for feeding existing plants. Contains Blood Meal, Feather Meal, Bone Meal, Dried Chicken Manure, Bat Guano, Alfalfa Meal, Kelp Meal, Potassium Sulfate, Humic Acids and soil microbes including mycorrhizal fungi.  

Along with granular fertilizers, there are other powerful organic fertilizers and trace minerals such as fish emulsion with liquid seaweed/kelp. These fertilizers are some of the most powerful natural fertilizers in the world. One such product is E.B. Stone Organics Fish Emulsion with Kelp. Fish products are excellent sources of N-P-K & trace minerals and are fast-acting. Kelp has been confirmed to help in increasing crop yields, drought resistance, frost protection, and stress recovery. Kelp's value is more as a growth stimulant than a fertilizer. When you combine fish emulsion with kelp, you then have a product that enhances both the sustainability as well as the growth potential of your plants!

Also, there is F.S.T. (Iron and Sulfur) that contains 33% iron to help plants overcome yellow leaves. F.S.T. contains iron, sulfur, manganese and zinc, which are essential elements for plant growth. F.S.T. is recommended as a supplemental feeding to the normal fertilizer program to improve growth, fruiting, flowering and helps plants overcome yellow leaves. Especially helpful to citrus, gardenias and azaleas. Helps lower soil pH. Contains 19% Sulfur, 33% Iron, 0.50%, Manganese and 0.50% Zinc. Call us for more information on E.B. Stone Organics and Fish Emulsion with Kelp!

Green Business Principles

Why be a "Green" business? Because it makes good business sense!
A Green business...

• Improves employee morale & the health of the workplace

• Holds a marketing edge over the competition

• Strengthens its bottom line through operating efficiencies

• Is recognized as an environmental leader

Get recognized for being Green—sign up to become a Green Business today!

"Green landscape design is a sub-discipline of landscape design.  Like green building, it is setting a new, more environmentally friendly standard for its parent field.  The field generally emphasizes the use of native plants to restore or maintain natural habitats and the healthy functioning of ecosystems.  Because it is interested in maintaining or enhancing the health of soils and plant and animal communities, it also avoids using harmful chemicals, such as pesticides that will be detrimental to the flora and fauna locally, downwind, and downstream." From "Rise of Green Business"

Being a Green Business in the 21st century is taking the best of the old and mixing it with the best of the new into our everyday business environments. For more information on being a Green Business, please visit the following websites:

GreenBiz.com
Co-op America: Green Business