There are a myriad of ways to fool mother nature. (As long as she doesn't find out, of course, you know her "not nice" stance on that.) Unfortunately, this seems to apply on a plant-by-plant basis. Do you want a ton of anecdotes, or do you have something in particular in mind? I hope She doesn't peek in here...

Nothing in particular really. Just thought i had seen/heard it somewhere before and knew I could get solid verification here at good ole GW. :)

Microclimates are small areas that because of a variety of potential influences, differ from the mean climate of a surrounding area. An open courtyard with black stone on the ground & white walls to reflect light might provide a wind-free microclimate that could be a full zone or zone.5 warmer than the surrounding area. That eastern exposure with a window air conditioner that drips water all summer long might provide a perfect microclimate for the alocasia that the surrounding garden is too dry for. The grade level planter whose back wall is the house's foundation wall might also be able to supply warmth in the root zone needed to sustain a zone 5 or 6 plant in zone 4.

In certain types of soil that drain poorly (clay, silty clay), you might create a microclimate that is NOT beneficial to a large % of the plants you might like to grow. When you dig a hole and partially fill it with gravel, the air spaces between the gravel particles can quickly fill with water when it rains or you irrigate, which can kill, damage, or set plants back if the surrounding soil drains too poorly.

The basement area where I grow under lights & keep the humidity N of 50% is a microclimate, though we usually think of microclimates in terms of the outdoors.

Sometimes we take an active part in arranging conditions in order to trump Mother Nature's plan, and at other times, we simply take notice of the variation in how Mother Nature has ordered conditions so as to create her own microclimate, and take advantage of her whimsy.

Al

My house sits in a secluded area that has large Pines trees and other Hardwoods that circle my house and land. This gives my cleared land that ability to grow Palms that are protected from the strong winds from the north and to be able to handle the other weather woes around that would affect my trees if i was on the oceanfront without this protection. I have a "pocket" to protect my yard and provides a great micro climate for some trees tht are hard to grow in my area. Especially some of these Plams.

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Winter here with the snow around the palms.. it melts fast so it doesnt affect them at all
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i contribute my little microclimate in my backyard to the overall health of these palms..

Mother nature does work wonders...

Take care,

Laura

love the palms Laura! thanks for the lovely pics!

hey al,
your post made me realize that what I really meant was specifically zone hardiness and it may have been Paul James the Gardener Guy's show(what was that,gardening by the yard?)where i picked up that little tidbit. it's been years since I've seen it so I'm not exactly sure.

This guy?
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Definitely an entertaining guy, but many times as I was watching, I'd be thinking "what an idiot!" But I always admired his energetic, humorous approach, and unbridled enthusiasm. The last shows I remember were significantly about fixing his prior mistakes. He would find part of an idea and go wild with it, later realizing mistakes, an understandable disconnect from reading vs. experiencing.

The general idea that improved drainage can help in zone pushing has validity, but I agree, building a french drain under a planting area isn't the way to do it.

I have witnessed many examples of excellent drainage allowing a higher zone plant to survive winter. What's tricky is knowing if it's purely low temperature, temp swings, or clammy moisture that kills a particular plant.

That's 3 factors to consider, drainage, avoiding wild and/or daily thawing/freezing, and actual soil temp. Whether it saves any particular plants or not, piling leaves on beds for winter is inarguably beneficial to the soil, even if they aren't fully digested in situ and moved to compost pile in spring. Helps prevent soil from having wild temp swings, moderates moisture levels, so certainly worth adding to any zone-pushing attempts.

YEAH Purp,that's the guy alright! lol

Oh well I AM pretty gullible so I suppose I got mislead(happens all the time unfortunately).

I really don't watch any tv anymore so i imagine enthusiastic cheerleaders of that type won't be getting their hooks into me through that avenue.
Thanks so much guys n gals,you're the bees knees!