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Published April 9th, 2014
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How to Plant in Lamorinda's Microclimates
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| Fog and topography a big factor when planning your garden |
| By Sophie Braccini |
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| Now is the time to be planting fruit trees. Matt Cameron of the Moraga Garden Center shows a bare-root black mulberry tree to Hye Yeong Min of Orinda. She is curious about the roots. Photo Chris Lavin |
Y ou don't need a green thumb to know that we live in an area of microclimates, but observant local gardeners will you tell that sub-microclimates may exist on any single plot of land. Microclimates vary from eastern Lafayette to western Orinda, Canyon to southwestern Moraga, so when deciding what vegetables and fruit trees will grow well on your property, the devil is in the details.
Serious gardeners keep a record of what happens year after year, observing the sun, wind and hardscape, and sometimes even installing small weather stations to capture data in different parts of their gardens. The Moraga Gardens Farm, during its spring plant sale, is refining its neighborhood map to illustrate what vegetables grow best in which locations.
"I noticed that the tomatoes I plant in my garden do not grow the same way as the ones that are planted in the Gardens Farm," says Bobbie Preston. "I live in the Camino Pablo/Larch neighborhood of Moraga where the fog lingers longer, while the farm is close to the intersection of Moraga Road and Moraga Way and gets more sun." Preston is part of the team that sells the seedlings grown for sale on site.
As the team noticed these yield differences, its members decided to create a Lamorinda map indicating what varieties do best where, one street at a time. "Right now we have information that comes from our members who work at the Farms and also grow at home," says Preston. "What we're doing this year is collecting information from people who buy our plants all over Lamorinda, telling us what works best and what doesn't grow as well where they live." The information collected will remain anonymous, with locations marked by the closest cross streets.
"It seems Champion tomatoes are doing very well almost everywhere," notes Preston. "On the other hand, the Cherokee purple are not producing much in my garden, they do not get enough sun. It does well at the Farm where there is less morning fog, but here we can't get it to develop its color and flavor." Preston also experimented with tomatoes planted in containers. "We wanted to see what types would do well in pots so we could advise people," she says. "The pots tend to dry out. Ceramic pots and plastic containers get really hot in the sun and the roots get too hot; wood is probably the best." She and other Farm members have noticed that cherry tomatoes tend to do very well in containers. "Artichokes are also very sensitive to weather micro-conditions, but as opposed to tomatoes that need a lot of sun, they enjoy more foggy summers," she adds.
"Climates are critical to the success and failure of crops," confirms Kenny Murakami, owner of the Moraga Garden Center. He recommends an analysis of the topography of each property to determine what to plant where.
"In winter on a slope, cold air is heavier than warm air, so it sinks. If your house is on the slope, cold air gets caught on the uphill side; then the cold air will go around [the structure of your home] causing a little triangle on the downhill side that's a little bit warmer," he explains. "If you have fences or shrubs, they will also deflect cold air. You can think of cold air as a thick viscous liquid and how it flows downhill in winter." Murakami says that avocados, which are very sensitive to frost, should be planted on the downhill side of a home.
Converse to winter cold, there is summer heat. "Lettuce does not like heat, so you can plant it on the east side of your tomato plants so the afternoon sun gets cut off," he suggests. In the sunnier spots he recommends tomatoes, squash, peppers, and melons, keeping the greens in the shade.
He agrees that the conditions in each garden are also linked to where people live. "The main factor around here is the fog," he says. "Depending on when it sets in and burns out will create quite different microclimates." He does not recommend certain plants for the Lamorinda area, such as Kadota figs that require a lot of heat. "If you get closer to Concord you can get Kadota, but here in Moraga with the fog, you will have more success with Black Mission or Brown Turkey figs."
"Half of gardening is observing," states Murakami. He recommends that people watch the pattern changes with the seasons, and record observations year round. For example, people can record the exact time when fruit trees bloom and the associated conditions. Is it sunny? Windy? "If you do that over the years, you will notice slight differences," he adds. For ultimate information gathering, some gardeners install weather stations outside their homes; the data can be uploaded on a personal weather website and shared with weather networks around the world.
The Moraga Gardens Farm will sell its tomato, squash, pepper and herb plants every weekend from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. through April 19 at 1370 Moraga Way (next to the fire station). The Moraga Garden Center is located at 1400 Moraga Rd. For information about weather stations, visit
http://www.windandweather.com/weather-stations/weather-stations.htm.
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| Bobbie Preston with the Moraga Gardens Farm maps. Photo Sophie Braccini |
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| This artichoke plant in a Moraga garden didn't grow in the first spot it was planted and had to be moved to a different location where it is now doing very well. |
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| An avocado tree thrives in a hillside Moraga garden. Photo Cathy Dausman |
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| Fog at Lafayette Reservoir Photo Kathy Bowles |
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA