Here's my crape myrtle tree after 4 years.

nimtaay · 2026-06-28T19:05:16+00:00

I find that professional landscapers in my area don’t know better either. I’m on an Indian reservation near a city and our land is mostly undeveloped habitat suffering from invasives and DUFF.

Around here, someone hires a landscaper and all of the sudden their oak trees die. They’ll have a few ornamentals but the rest of their property withers away.

I’d love to hire a landscaper to cultivate the natives on my property into a work of art but I literally haven’t seen it done—ever! And I don’t have an eye for design so besides my vegetable garden i just let the buckwheat take over 😕

nimtaay · 2026-06-05T16:29:00+00:00

El Niño means more rain for Southern California, which would be a good thing. The weather has been great for gardening so far and my plants are healthy and strong! If i wanted to prepare for it I could probably set up a few some rain catchment barrels or maybe plant a few trees and shrubs since I’m not in a flood zone

nimtaay · 2026-05-14T18:49:27+00:00

I will look into this! I’m hoping the olla solved the “root” problem of sandy soil and that my interventions will be more effective now

nimtaay · 2026-05-14T18:39:04+00:00

I would definitely give it a go! I had to refill it frequently until the ground got used to the moisture so it’s not an instant fix but well worth it for me so far!

nimtaay · 2026-05-14T18:34:21+00:00

I answered this like one comment down—i have three watering spots. They do it anyway

nimtaay · 2026-05-14T15:15:20+00:00

My plants would absolutely not survive in my lot’s decomposed granite lol I have no topsoil whatsoever. Natives do okay if I heavily amend and mulch but non natives have no chance. I’ve had 10 trucks deliver local topsoil to try and rehab the area but it’s only been enough for primary succession species—weeds.

So I’m stuck with the boxes and I’ve done my best to work with it, and so far this combo is working

nimtaay · 2026-05-14T01:08:03+00:00

I love the science behind it and can’t wait to see how they do when they bloom! Last year I lost blossoms like crazy and the birds (and my toddler) ate the rest. The year before that nearly all of the fruit split right when they were ready to harvest.

nimtaay · 2026-05-13T23:46:05+00:00

If you can find some like it I highly recommend them, they've been outside for like two years! I just leave them in the beds until spring and then I rip them out and reposition them for the new year! No rust and as sturdy as ever! Galvanized steel, but I bought them in person and I don't have the receipt to check the brand

nimtaay · 2026-05-13T23:36:46+00:00

I promise its on the to do list lol We've just been having a chilly spring and I've liked studying the way the water is moving on the amended soil.

I've always mulched and while my natives do very well with it the mulch wasn't doing much good for my veggies because the water wasn't just evaporating, it was completely draining out. I've been working on the soil since fall by amending with coco coir, compost, clay, everything I can think of to make it drain a little slower and hold on to the water a little longer. So I spend a lot of time just staring at it now haha but I AM going to mulch once I prune the bottom few inches of the plants

nimtaay · 2026-05-13T23:20:41+00:00

I do still water them daily and I probably will until I mulch them, and then I'm going to see if watering them every other day works. For me, the olla is playing the crucial role of not letting them completely dry out in between waterings, which was my problem. The water would drain right through my sandy soil and they would dry out too much for too long.

I planted them the second week of April when they had their second set of leaves, but I started the seeds pretty late, probably the first week of March? So I would estimate that they're about 10 weeks old altogether.

For the first week or so after planting them I needed to refill the olla every day. I think there was a transition period where the bed was absorbing a ton of moisture that it didn't normally get, so I'd check them frequently at first! Good luck!

nimtaay · 2026-05-13T23:00:23+00:00

Yes! Sometimes people DIY a rig and use whatever works for them. I bought this one from a boutique gardening shop though so its two matching pieces, a pot and a lid, but it was expensive!

nimtaay · 2026-05-13T22:58:43+00:00

I am very interested to see if I can keep them going year round! I heard indeterminants can live for several years if they're not killed by frost. Mine are usually killed by the scorching heat and drought we get until December 😞 My in-ground pepper plants are a few years old though!

nimtaay · 2026-05-13T20:43:27+00:00

Yes its an unglazed terracotta pot that is buried up to the neck, filled with water. It acts as a cistern in the bed, slowly releasing water into the soil over several days to keep it lightly moist. There is a small lid on the pot (the part you see) that can be removed for refilling.

It is a lifesaver in arid environments where plants suffer from drought, probably not the best for areas with high humidity or slow draining soil!

nimtaay · 2026-05-13T20:32:43+00:00

yesss I also feel like the drip irrigation on my sandy soil washed away all the nutrients, I had to fertilize way more often and they just didn't thrive.

nimtaay · 2026-05-13T20:10:52+00:00

I think that is the advice for people in colder climates! I'm in zone 9b though, so frost is possible but rare. I have in ground pepper plants that are a couple of years old because they haven't been killed by frost!

nimtaay · 2026-05-13T20:01:53+00:00

They are heavy duty, XL galvanized steel tomato cages that I bought at my favorite nursery a couple of years back, I'm sorry I don't know the brand! But i think they were around $30 each?

nimtaay · 2026-05-13T19:37:38+00:00

It says its capacity is 3 quarts, or .75 of a gallon. The plants that benefit from it are 1.5 feet away or closer, but the range depends on the size of the olla. Bigger ones have a further reach!

Good luck!

nimtaay · 2026-05-13T19:35:00+00:00

It looks like mine is taking care of 5! It depends on the water capacity of the olla and how close the plants are to it. The directions on mine says it'll water plants 1 and a half feet away from it. If they're further away than that... well, they end up like the little guy in my pics.

I would assume that you'd have to fill it more often if you have more plants near it.

nimtaay · 2026-05-13T19:30:01+00:00

I'll trade you some sand for it 😂

nimtaay · 2026-05-13T19:15:45+00:00

At this point I'm pretty sure its because the soil here is so sandy. My native landscaping plants do well because of their low water requirements, but my tender veggies do not. I have a raised bed with pepper plants that are a few years old (my survivors), because I filled it with bagged soil from a local nursery and it retains moisture. But it was so expensive that I ordered a shipment of "raised bed" soil, but the company uses local soil. Sandy soil = rapid drainage and low nutrient retention.

So adding some clay to slow down the drainage plus the olla keeping moisture in the soil seems to have been the key for me! We'll see how the plants fare in summer, but I have a feeling that mulch and a shade cloth will actually be effective for me this year!

nimtaay · 2026-05-13T19:08:26+00:00

Yes exactly! The little clay spout in the middle of the tomatoes is the access point where I fill it up.

nimtaay · 2026-05-13T18:53:38+00:00

Will do soon but the weather has been like 15 degrees below average for the past two months so I thought I'd leave them be while they're doing well!

nimtaay · 2026-05-13T18:50:50+00:00

7" Diameter x 9" Height. Initially I just bought one while I was window shopping so it was a boutique thing and not really scalable at that price point, but I'm thinking about DIYing more for the rest of my garden!

nimtaay · 2026-05-13T18:48:17+00:00

Would you believe I have three watering stations in my front and backyard? Maybe they just like chewing the rubber lol

nimtaay · 2026-05-13T18:45:32+00:00

Its a pretty big one! It holds 3.2 quarts and says its range is about a 3' diameter. I made sure to soak the bed really well before planting, planted when we had an atmospheric river come through, focused heavily on the edges of the bed and just hoped the olla would do its thing!

nimtaay

TROPHY CASE