NATURAL PERSPECTIVES:

They say that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, hoping for a different outcome. That pretty much describes me and my garden. Every year, I plan to grow my best garden ever. And every year, my garden presents me with challenges, disappointments and failures. Well, this year is going to be different.

Our tree guy, Steve Fifita, came a couple of weeks ago to prune back our olive and liquid amber trees.

The olive tree had gotten too big and was overshadowing my front vegetable garden too much. (Yes, we grow vegetables in our front yard.) After Steve’s expert pruning, the front vegetable garden should do better now that it can get some sun again.

Vic decided that he wanted a flower border in front of the vegetables and next to the sidewalk this year. He felt sorry for our neighbors having to look at my straggly vegetable garden. When I planted it, I felt that the neighbors wouldn’t mind seeing a vegetable garden in our front yard.

But as my fall crops languished in the shade of the olive tree, I could see Vic’s point. My pathetic little vegetable garden looked barer and barer as I harvested what few crops there were. My heads of cauliflower were only the size of tennis balls and my broccoli was covered with aphids. The arugula got leggy and went to seed. My garden was looking pretty awful. I didn’t replant as I harvested because I was waiting for spring. Well, from a gardening point of view, it’s spring already and time to put in more cool season crops.

Vic and I got some floral inspiration from a recent trip to Palm Springs for the International Film Festival. The landscaping of the hotel where we stayed was a riot of color with poppies, pansies and snapdragons. I can only dream of a garden that looks that nice. But gardeners are natural dreamers. Crazy dreamers, always hoping for a different outcome.

After we got back, I went on a shopping spree, filling my car with flats of pansies, poppies, snapdragons, stock and Nemesia. The masses of flowers looked great packed into the back of my sport utility vehicle, but once I got them planted in the border, they looked like microdots of color spread over a vast expanse of bare dirt. I made sure to dig in plenty of compost and steer manure, adding organic starter fertilizer to get the plants off to a good start. I’m trusting that the flower border will fill in with time.

Behind the flowers, I planted a variety of greens. One of my favorites is mizuna, a mildly peppery Japanese mustard green that is good in salads, soups and stir-fries. With deeply cut, feathery leaves, it’s attractive as well as delicious. I also planted arugula, Scotch blue curled kale and rainbow chard. As soon as the ground dries out a bit more after the recent rains, I’ll put in beets, turnips, collards and cauliflower.

While our tree guy was here, I talked to him about our magnolia tree in the backyard. Neither Vic nor I really liked that tree. The poor thing has always been leggy and misshapen. It constantly dropped huge, leathery leaves that didn’t compost well, so they ended up in the green waste bin.

Vic wanted the space to catch up on his reading in the sun, and I wanted the space to grow more vegetables. Steve recommended cutting the magnolia down. I took off the lower limbs with a handsaw. Steve handled the top part, leaving behind a tall stump that Vic and I will dig out later. We’re going to put a patio on half the space and a new vegetable garden in the other half. I get to decide what constitutes half (wink, wink).

I confess that the impetus to finally cut down the magnolia tree was a visit to the garden of one of our readers, Chad Hanna of Fountain Valley. He’s been gardening almost all his life, which has gotten to be a lot of years at this point. The Hannas have a wedge-shaped lot on a cul de sac, with a large backyard. Their entire backyard is devoted to vegetable garden, with boysenberries along the back fence. They have 24 full-sized fruit trees and row after row of some of the most gorgeous cauliflower, broccoli and winter squash I’ve ever seen. The winter garden is about to be harvested, and then Chad will rototill the ground and plant his spring crops. His wife of more than 60 years cans and preserves much of their harvest, putting up as many as 500 jars of produce a season.

One of Chad’s secrets is a huge compost pile. They compost all of their peelings, rinds and grass clippings, putting the compost back onto the garden. Chad is anxious to share his extensive knowledge of gardening with others. If you don’t know where to begin, he can steer you in the right direction. You can e-mail him at ChadHannaFV@aol.com. Mention that you read about him in our column.

If you visit Chad’s garden, you’ll certainly get inspired. When I saw his magnificent vegetable garden, I fell victim to garden envy. I wanted a bigger garden, one that got some sunshine. Last year’s garden was pathetic. We got only one avocado, one Asian pear and zero navel oranges. Those trees, plus a couple of lemon trees, were being shaded out by the magnolia. That’s when I decided to cut down the magnolia tree.

With our great new plans and such a good beginning on the 2009 gardening season, I’m convinced that this is going to be our best gardening season ever. Vic thinks I’m crazy.

VIC LEIPZIG and LOU MURRAY are Huntington Beach residents and environmentalists. They can be reached at vicleipzig@aol.com.