Photos by Tom Bean Rain gardens and a rock wash run the length of the house parallel to the front porch. Access to the front door is by oversize flat boulders that cross the wash, mimicking steppingstones over a creek. The striking foliage of a Canada red chokeberry tree (left) accentuates golden clumps of deer grass.

WEED WARRIORS - Dorothy and Ken Lamm Embrace Their High-Country Surroundings

It was the towering ponderosa pines in a grassy meadow that first attracted Dorothy and Ken Lamm to the Flagstaff property they now call home. Before the couple relocated from Wisconsin in 2004, Dorothy began studying books on Arizona’s native plants. “Our goal during design and construction of the home and landscape was to retain as much as possible in its natural state, while adding native plants around the house,” she explains.

Dorothy was an experienced Wisconsin gardener. “When we put our home up for sale, some visitors were more interested in viewing the gardens than our house,” recalls Ken with a smile. To further understand Arizona’s growing conditions, Dorothy completed the Master Gardener course at the University of Arizona Coconino County Cooperative Extension. “I learned that compaction of this area’s soil damages tree roots and often results in death, so I discussed the issue with our builder,” she says. “He was careful to contain construction disturbance in as small an area as possible, and his crew parked on the street,” to avoid compacting the soil. The efforts paid off, as the Lamms’ trees remain healthy.

Landscape architect Janel Wilcox worked with the couple to incorporate low-maintenance plants around the home for color and impact, and they seeded wildflowers and grasses to offer a succession of blooms throughout the growing season. “In Wisconsin, I was always deadheading spent flowers, but here I let everything go to seed, so the plants will reseed and eventually cover more area,” Dorothy comments.

Lush western white clematis (Clematis ligusticifolia) sprawls across boulders near the side porch. The area is designed for harvesting rainwater.

On frequent strolls around the meadow, she has discovered native treasures such as Indian paintbrush, prairie smoke, pussytoes and small clumps of cholla, mammalaria and prickly pear cacti. As Dorothy became more knowledgeable about western plants, she realized that invasive species had crept onto the property. “Invasives are a problem because they out-compete native plants and destroy wildlife habitat,” she explains. “Also, invasive plants such as cheatgrass provide fuel for wildfires,” notes Ken.

Eliminating invasive weeds has become a mission for Dorothy, who pulls cheatgrass, dalmatian toadflax, diffuse knapweed and Russian thistle while on her walks. “Spot weeds when they are young and it’s easy to pull them out, whereas mature plants such as field bindweed can have roots that dive 20 feet deep,” Dorothy observes.

She trained Ken to recognize the culprits, and the duo has almost vanquished invasive plants on their property. “I’ve noticed that without competition from the invasives, more desirable native plants have been able to establish,” she reports. These include such grasses as Arizona fescue and blue grama, as well as redroot and sulphur buckwheats, globe mallow, goldeneye and Wheeler’s thistle.

The meadow is irrigated solely by natural precipitation, although plants around the home benefit from rainwater-harvesting techniques, including rain chains, a rock-lined wash, and rain gardens (shallow depressions).

Dorothy and Ken Lamm ready themselves for a day of gardening.

Rain chains hang from the house and garage eaves. Rainwater pours down the chains and is directed to plants. “Water does splatter off the chains, so they may not be a good option suspended immediately adjacent to a wood house,” advises Ken. “Otherwise, they work great, especially where a downspout isn’t feasible or attractive.”

The Lamms enjoy the variety of creatures browsing the property, and the meadow provides ongoing discoveries for a plant lover like Dorothy. She says she is always on the lookout for ephemerals—species that pop up and quickly complete their life cycles when growing conditions are suitable.

Inspired by experiences in her landscape, she continues to learn about invasive species and shares her knowledge with the community. “Invasives are a serious problem all over the country, causing considerable monetary damage and environmental degradation,” states Dorothy. “If we don’t start controlling them, it will be even worse in the future.”  

The Lamms’ landscape received the Best Use of Native Plants award in the 2009 Flagstaff Garden Competition and Public Tour. Check Arizona Native Plant Society Flagstaff Chapter’s website—aznps.com/chapters/flagstaff.html—for information on entering 2012’s contest and obtaining tour maps.

TIP
If pulling weeds is physically challenging, you can control some biennial species by cutting off and bagging their flower heads for disposal. If the flower heads are not bagged, they may still have enough energy to seed after removal. Dorothy Lamm has had success using this method for yellow and white sweet clovers and bull and Scotch thistles. She advises regular follow-up every three to four weeks to remove
later-maturing flowers.

 
KNOW YOUR WEEDS
At the Flagstaff Public Library, Dorothy Lamm and Hattie Braun from Coconino County Cooperative Extension’s Master Gardener program have teamed up to provide an invasive species exhibit that runs spring through fall. It includes samples of plants to help residents identify weeds at various stages of maturity.   
   
Lamm and Braun also organize “weed pulls” with volunteers. “We’ve started eradicating diffuse knapweed and other invasives that infested the Pioneer Museum grounds and spread along the highway,” Dorothy says. During a two-year period, they have filled almost 100 garbage bags with weeds.

For additional help with identifying invasive plants, view species fact sheets at southwestlearning.org/topics/biological/vegetation/invasive.

A Gardener’s Bookshelf
Dorothy Lamm recommends these books for high-elevation gardeners:
• A Field Guide to the Plants of Arizona, Anne Orth Epple (Falcon Press, 1995)
• Field Guide to Forest & Mountain Plants of Northern Arizona, Judith D. Springer, et al. (Northern Arizona University, 2009)
• Native Plants for High-Elevation Western Gardens, Janice Busco and Nancy R. Morin (Fulcrum, 2003)
• River and Desert Plants of the Grand Canyon, Kristin Huisinga, et al. (Mountain Press, 2006)